She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you; and so does Mark, my son.
John Mark accompanied Paul and his cousin Barnabas (cf. Colossians 4:10) on the first missionary journey (cf. Acts 12:25–13:13). For some reason he deserted the team and returned home (cf. Acts 15:38). Barnabas wanted to include him on the second missionary journey, but Paul refused (cf. Acts 15:36-41). This resulted in Paul and Barnabas separating. Barnabas took John Mark to Cyprus (cf. Acts 15:39). Later, while Paul was in prison, he mentions John Mark in a positive way (cf. Colossians 4:10) and still later in Paul’s second imprisonment at Rome, just before his death, he mentions John Mark again (cf. 2 Timothy 4:11).