husband of Mary
Mary's husband, unnamed in the Bible, was the father of John Mark.
Biography
The husband of Mary, mother of John Mark, is an unnamed Levite who appears implicitly in the New Testament narrative surrounding the Jerusalem church. His wife Mary owned the house in Jerusalem where early believers gathered for prayer, and it was to this home that Peter went after his miraculous release from prison by an angel (Acts 12:12). The husband is believed to have died before these events, as Mary appears to head the household independently. As a Levite, he would have held a hereditary priestly role within Judaism. His son, John Mark, became a significant figure in the early church: a companion of Paul and Barnabas, and traditionally the author of the Gospel of Mark, thought to reflect the eyewitness testimony of Peter.
Significance
Though unnamed, this man's legacy is immense through his son John Mark and his wife Mary's hospitality. The home he helped establish became a center of apostolic activity in Jerusalem, a place of prayer and refuge for the earliest Christian community (Acts 12:12). As a Levite, his household stood at the intersection of Judaism's priestly heritage and the emerging Christian movement. His son John Mark's eventual authorship of the Gospel of Mark (2 Timothy 4:11) means this unnamed father's household contributed directly to the canon of Scripture, demonstrating how ordinary family life can become the seedbed of extraordinary Kingdom impact.
Verse Appearances (1)
Acts
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]