Mark 16
Mark 16 is the final chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Christopher Tuckett refers to it as a "sequel to the story of Jesus' death and burial". The chapter begins after the sabbath has ended, with Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome purchasing spices to bring to the tomb next morning to anoint Jesus' body. There they encounter the stone rolled away, the tomb open, and a young man dressed in white who announces the resurrection of Jesus. The two oldest manuscripts of Mark 16 conclude with verse 8, which ends with the women fleeing from the empty tomb, and saying "nothing to anyone, because they were too frightened".
Textual critics have identified two distinct alternative endings: the "Longer Ending" and the unversed "Shorter Ending" or "lost ending", which appear together in six Greek manuscripts, and in dozens of Ethiopic copies. Modern versions of the New Testament generally include the Longer Ending, but place it in brackets or otherwise format it to show that it was not part of the original text.
Text
Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:- Codex Vaticanus
- Codex Sinaiticus
- Codex Bezae
- Codex Alexandrinus
- Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus
Verses 1–8 (the empty tomb)
Verse 1
The Sabbath ended at dusk, on the day known to Christians as Holy Saturday.Verse 2
Just after sunrise, Mary Magdalene, another Mary, the mother of James, and Salome come with the spices to anoint Jesus' body. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome are also mentioned among the women "looking on from afar" in, although those who "saw where the body was laid" in were only Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses.Luke 24:1 states that the women had "prepared" the spices but seems to say that Nicodemus had already anointed his body. John 20:1 and Matthew 28:1 simply say "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary" came to see the tomb.
Verses 3–4
The women wonder how they will remove the stone over the tomb. Upon their arrival, they find the stone already gone and go into the tomb. According to Jesuit writer John J. Kilgallen, this shows that in Mark's account they expected to find the body of Jesus. Instead, they find a young man dressed in a white robe who is sitting on the right and who tells them that Jesus "has risen" and shows them "the place where they laid him".Verses 5–7
The white robe indicates that he is probably an angel: Matthew 28:5 describes him as such, and has him seated on the stone, away from the entrance. In the account in there were two men. John says that Mary Magdalene saw two angels after finding the empty tomb and showing it to the other disciples. She comes back to the tomb, talks to the angels, and then Jesus appears to her.Jesus had predicted his resurrection and returning to Galilee during the Last Supper in Mark. Mark uses the passive verb form ēgerthē, translated "he was raised", indicating God raised him from the dead, rather than "he is risen", as translated in the NIV.
Peter, last seen in tears two mornings previously, having denied any knowledge of Jesus, is mentioned in particular. Gregory the Great notes that "had the Angel not referred to him in this way, Peter would never have dared to appear again among the Apostles. He is bidden then by name to come, so that he will not despair because of his denial of Christ".
The last appearance of Peter's name in verse 7 can be connected to the first appearance of his name in Mark 1:16 to form a literary inclusio of eyewitness testimony to indicate Peter as the main eyewitness source in the Gospel of Mark.
Verse 8
Mark 16:1–8 ends with the response of the women: Those women, who are afraid, then flee and keep quiet about what they saw. Kilgallen comments that fear is the most common human reaction to the divine presence in the Bible. Mike Winger, in his video series on Mark, explains the note that the women "said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid" not as indicating that they never spoke about it, ever, but that on their way to report to the disciples and Peter, they did not stop to pass the time of day or gossip with anyone until they had delivered the message.This is where the undisputed part of Mark's Gospel ends. Jesus is thus announced to have been raised from the dead, and to have gone ahead of the disciples to Galilee, where they will see Him.
Alternate endings
Mark has two additional endings, the longer ending, and the shorter ending.Longer ending
Text and interpretation
In this 12-verse passage, the author refers to Jesus' appearances to Mary Magdalene, two disciples, and then the Eleven. The text concludes with the Great Commission, declaring that believers that have been baptized will be saved while nonbelievers will be condemned, and pictures Jesus taken to Heaven and sitting at the Right Hand of God.Shorter ending/conclusio brevior
The "Shorter Ending" or "conclusio brevior", with slight variations, is usually unversed, and runs as follows:Some texts add "Amen" at the end.
While the New Revised Standard Version places this verse between verse 8 and 9, it could also be read as verse 21. The women, in this passage, fulfill the instructions given in verse 7, but this obedience would appear to contradict the silence reported of them in verse 8, unless their fear was only temporary.
Manuscripts
The earliest extant complete manuscripts of Mark, Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, two 4th-century manuscripts, do not contain the last twelve verses, 16:9–20, nor the unversed shorter ending. Codex Vaticanus has a blank column after ending at 16:8 and placing kata Markon, "according to Mark". There are three other blank columns in Vaticanus, in the Old Testament, but they are each due to incidental factors in the production of the codex: a change to the column-format, a change of scribes, and the conclusion of the Old Testament portion of the text. The blank column between Mark 16:8 and the beginning of Luke, however, is deliberately placed.- Ends Mark at verse 8 : Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Syriac Sinaiticus, Codex Bobiensis, one Coptic manuscript from the 5th century, many Armenian manuscripts, some Georgian manuscripts, Minuscule 304, Eusebius of Caesarea, Hesychius of Jerusalem, Severus of Antioch, possibly also Clement of Alexandria and Origen of Alexandria.
- Includes verses 9–20 in its traditional form: The Majority/Byzantine Text, Family 13, Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Bezae, Codex Ephraemi, Codex Koridethi, Athous Lavrensis, Codex Sangallensis 48, minuscules: 33, 565, 700, 892, 2674. The Vulgate and most of the Old Latin, Syriac Curetonian, Peshitta, Bohairic, most Sahidic, Gothic, the Harklean Syriac, Epistula Apostolorum, Justin Martyr, Diatessaron, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Vincentius of Thibaris, De Rebaptismate, Acts of Pilate, Fortunatianus, Apostolic Constitutions, Aphrahat, Ambrose, Augustine, Cyril of Alexandria, Prosper of Aquitane, Nestorius, Peter Chrysologus, Leo the Great, Eznik of Golb.
- Manuscripts including verses 9–20 with a notation: A group of manuscripts known as "Family 1" add a note to Mark 16:9–20, stating that some copies do not contain the verses. Including minuscules: 22, 138, 205, 1110, 1210, 1221, 1582. One Armenian manuscript, Matenadaran 2374, made in 989, features a note, written between 16:8 and 16:9, Ariston eritzou, that is, "By Ariston the Elder/Priest". Ariston, or Aristion, is known from early traditions as a colleague of Peter and as a bishop of Smyrna in the first century.
- Manuscripts including verses 9–20 without divisions: A group of manuscripts known as "Family K1" add Mark 16:9–10 without numbered κεφαλαια at the margin and their τιτλοι at the top. This includes Minuscule 461.
- Includes verses 9–20 with the "Freer Logion" : Noted in manuscripts according to Jerome and the Codex Washingtonianus includes verses 9–20, and features an addition between 16:14–15, known as the "Freer Logion":
Explanations
Ending at verse 8
Although scholars almost universally reject Mark 16:9–20, a debate continues about whether the ending at 16:8 is intentional or accidental.Intentional
Numerous arguments have been given to explain why verse 8 is the intended ending.There is scholarly work that suggests the "short ending" is more appropriate as it fits with the 'reversal of expectation' theme in the Gospel of Mark. Having the women run away afraid is contrasted in the reader's mind with Jesus' appearances and statements which help confirm the expectation, built up in,,, and Jesus' prediction during the Last Supper of his rising after his death. According to Brown, this ending is consistent with Mark's theology, where even miracles, such as the resurrection, do not produce the proper understanding or faith among Jesus' followers. Richard A. Burridge argues that, in keeping with Mark's picture of discipleship, the question of whether it all comes right in the end is left open:
Burridge compares the ending of Mark to its beginning:
Kilgallen proposes that maybe Mark gives no description of the resurrected Jesus because Mark did not want to try to describe the nature of the divine resurrected Jesus. Some interpreters have concluded that Mark's intended readers already knew the traditions of Jesus' appearances, and that Mark brings the story to a close here to highlight the resurrection and leave anticipation of the parousia. Others have argued that this announcement of the resurrection and Jesus going to Galilee is the parousia, but Raymond E. Brown argues that a parousia confined only to Galilee is improbable.