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:

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.
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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

Both the shorter and the longer ending are considered to be later writings, which were added to Mark. Scholars disagree whether verse 8 was the original ending, or if there was an ending which is now lost. In the early 20th century, the view prevailed that the original ending was lost, but in the second part of the 20th century the view prevailed that verse 8 was the original ending, as intended by the author.

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.

Unintentional

The final sentence in verse 8 is regarded as strange by some scholars. In the Greek text, it finishes with the conjunction γαρ. It is contended by some who see 16:9–20 as originally Markan that γαρ literally means because, and this ending to verse 8 is therefore not grammatically coherent. However, γαρ may end a sentence and does so in various Greek compositions, including some sentences in the Septuagint; Protagoras, a contemporary of Socrates, even ended a speech with γαρ. Although γαρ is never the first word of a sentence, there is no rule against it being the last word, even though it is not a common construction. If the Gospel of Mark intentionally concluded with this word, it would be one of only a few narratives in antiquity to do so.
Some scholars argue that Mark never intended to end so abruptly: either he planned another ending that was never written, or the original ending has been lost. The references to a future meeting in Galilee between Jesus and the disciples could suggest that Mark intended to write beyond 16:8. C. H. Turner argued that the original version of the Gospel could have been a codex, with the last page being especially vulnerable to damage. Many scholars, including Rudolf Bultmann, have concluded that the Gospel most likely ended with a Galilean resurrection appearance and the reconciliation of Jesus with the Eleven, even if verses 9–20 were not written by the original author of the Gospel of Mark. Robert Gundry mentions that only about 10% of Mark's γαρ clauses conclude pericopes. Thus he infers that, rather than concluding 16:1–8, verse 8 begins a new pericope, the rest of which is now lost to us. Gundry therefore does not see verse 8 as the intended ending; a resurrection narrative was either written, then lost, or planned but never actually written.

Longer ending

Later addition

Many scholars agree that verses 9–20 were not part of the original text of Mark but are a later addition.
Critical questions concerning the authenticity of verses 9–20 often center on stylistic and linguistic issues. On linguistics, E. P. Gould identified 19 of the 163 words in the passage as distinctive and not occurring elsewhere in the Gospel. Dr. Bruce Terry argues that a vocabulary-based case against Mark 16:9–20 is indecisive, inasmuch as other 12-verse sections of Mark contain comparable numbers of once-used words.
Concerning style, the degree to which verses 9–20 aptly fit as an ending for the Gospel remains in question. The turn from verse 8 to 9 has also been seen as abrupt and interrupted: the narrative flows from "they were afraid" to "now after he rose", and seems to reintroduce Mary Magdalene. Secondly, Mark regularly identifies instances where Jesus' prophecies are fulfilled, yet Mark does not explicitly state the twice predicted reconciliation of Jesus with his disciples in Galilee. Lastly, the active voice "he rose" is different from the earlier passive construction " has been risen" of verse 6, seen as significant by some.

Dating

Because of patristic evidence from the late 100s for the existence of copies of Mark with 16:9–20, scholars widely date the composition of the longer ending to the early 2nd century.

Aimed addition or independent longer ending

Scholars are divided on the question of whether the "Longer Ending" was created deliberately to finish the Gospel of Mark, as contended by James Kelhoffer, or if it began its existence as a freestanding text which was used to "patch" the otherwise abruptly ending text of Mark. Metzger and Ehrman note that

Intertextuality

Verses 9–20 share the subject of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances, and other points, with other passages in the New Testament. This has led some scholars to believe that Mark 16:9–20 is based on the other books of the New Testament, filling in details which were originally lacking from Mark. Jesus' reference to drinking poison does not correspond to a New Testament source, but that miraculous power did appear in Christian literature from the 2nd century CE on.
Julie M. Smith notes that if there was an original ending, "then the Resurrection accounts in Matthew and/or Luke may contain material from Mark’s original ending.

Shorter ending/conclusio brevior

The shorter ending appears only in a minimal number of manuscripts as the sole ending. It is a quick summary, which contradicts verse 8. It probably originated in Egypt, and diverges from the style of Mark. The shorter ending appears in a manuscript sometime after the 3rd century.