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'Mark 16' is the final chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. There are several known endings to Mark. Scholars dispute whether or not Mark wrote the longer ending now printed in most Bibles (verses ). The authenticity of the longer ending is questioned for two main reasons: (1) on the basis of language and concepts found in those verses which appear to differ from that of the rest of the Gospel; and (2) the fact that the verses are entirely missing from some early manuscripts of Mark that have been found.
In the shorter ending, Mark concludes with verse 8 of chapter 16. It asserts the discovery of Jesus' empty tomb by Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James who might or might not be Jesus' mother, and Salome. They find a man dressed in white who announces Jesus' resurrection.
In the disputed longer ending section, Mary Magdalene sees the resurrected Jesus and tells other followers of Jesus about this, but they do not believe her. Jesus then appears to the Eleven,^[1] gives them instructions and then is taken up into Heaven.
There is much debate about the ending of Mark, and many textual problems — there are nine different endings (or combinations of endings) known — but most of the debate focuses around the so-called "longer" ending. There is evidence that these verses are not part of the original document, but rather an ancient 'completion' of it. Bible scholar Daniel J. Harrington maintains that they are probably a second century compilation of resurrection stories mostly found in Luke 24 and some from John 20.^[2] However, John J. Kilgallen believes they were more likely composed in the first century.^[3]

Contents

The empty tomb

Jesus' appearances and his ascension into Heaven

Hypotheses regarding the Longer Ending

The Longer Ending

The Shorter Ending

The Freer Logion and expanded endings

Mark 16 and reading in the ancient world

Scholarly conclusions

Theological implications

See also

Notes

References

External links

The empty tomb

Mark says the Sabbath is now over and Mary Magdalene, another Mary, and Salome, mentioned in Mark 15:40, come to anoint Jesus' body, which Luke 24:1 agrees with. John 19:40 seems to say that Nicodemus had already anointed his body. John 20:1 and Matthew 28:1 simply say Mary went to the tomb, not why.
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. This shows that, according to Mark, they did not expect to find a resurrected but a dead Jesus.^[4] They find a "young" man dressed in a white robe who tells them:
: ''"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' " (6–7)
The white robe might be a sign that the young man is a messenger from God.^[5] Matthew 28:5 describes him as an angel. According to Luke there were two men. John says there were two angels, but that Mary saw them 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.
Mark uses the word ''neaniskos'' for young, a word he used to describe the man who fled at Jesus' arrest in Mark 14:51–52.^[2] Jesus had predicted his resurrection and returning to Galilee during the Last Supper in Mark 14:28. Mark uses the passive verb form ''ēgerthē'' — translated "he was raised," indicating God raised him from the dead,^[7] rather than "he is risen" translated in the NIV^[8]
The women, who are afraid, then flee and keep quiet about what they saw. Fear is the most common human reaction to the divine presence in the Bible.^[5] This is where the undisputed part of Mark's Gospel ends. Jesus is thus announced to have been resurrected from the dead and to have gone into Galilee. It is probable that Mark's intended readers already knew the traditions of Jesus' appearances, and that Mark leaves the story here to highlight the resurrection and leave anticipation of the ''parousia''.^[10] Some have argued that this announcement of the resurrection and Jesus going to Galilee is the ''parousia'' (see also Preterism), but Raymond E. Brown argues that a ''parousia'' confined only to Galilee is improbable.^[11] Gospel writer Mark gives no description of the resurrected Jesus, perhaps because Mark did not want to try to describe the nature of the divine resurrected Jesus.^[12] Brown argues 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.^[13] 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 8:31, 9:31, 10:34, and Jesus' prediction during the Last Supper of his rising after his death.^[14]

Jesus' appearances and his ascension into Heaven

The book then describes Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene who is now described as someone whom Jesus healed from possession by seven demons. She tells the other disciples what she saw but no one believes her. Jesus' appearances to Mary are also found in , , and .
Then Jesus appears "in a different form" to two unnamed disciples. They, too, are disbelieved when they tell what they saw. Jesus appearing to two disciples is also in .
Jesus then appears at dinner to all the remaining eleven Apostles. He rebukes them for not believing the earlier reports of his resurrection and then gives them instructions to go and preach his message and heal others (see also the Great Commission. Those who believe — those who are baptised and according to the book are "saved" — will speak in "tongues." Tongues could be the languages of the various Christian communities. It could also be glossolalia. They will also be able to handle snakes (see also ), be immune from poison, and will be able to heal the sick. These could be assertions Early Christians made about powers they claimed their new faith gave them.^[15] Those who do not believe will be condemned. By stating this and showing the examples of unjustified unbelief, this could be attempts to convince the reader to rely on what the disciples preached about Jesus.^[16]

Jesus appearing and talking to the disciples is also recorded in , , and . Jesus' fighting against unbelief and the negative portrait of the disciples is in keeping with the themes of Mark.^[17]
Jesus then is taken up into Heaven where Mark claims he sits at the right hand of God. The right hand is seen as the position of power. Jesus quoted Psalm 110:1 in Mark 11 about the Lord sitting at the right hand of God
After the ascension, his Eleven then went out and preached "everywhere." Several signs from God accompanied their preaching. His ascension is also recorded in and in the Acts of the Apostles 1:9–11. Where these things happened is not stated, but one could presume they took place in Galilee. Luke, however, has this happening in Jerusalem.

Hypotheses regarding the Longer Ending

★ The original ending of Mark was lost, and at a very early date someone in the early Church completed the gospel. C. H. Turner has suggested that the original version of the gospel may have been a codex and the last pages might have been lost. However, it seems unlikely that Christian use of the codex form stretched as far back as the proposed date for the writing of Mark, though there is evidence for its adoption in the second century.

★ The author of Mark ''intentionally'' ended the gospel at 16:8, and someone else at an early date ''completed'' the gospel.

★ The author died or was otherwise prevented from finishing the work.

★ More than one edition of Mark's Gospel was made, so some Christian communities would have possessed the longer ending edition, and others would have possessed the edition that stopped at 16:8.

★ The original ending was inconvenient to the church and was replaced.

The Longer Ending

Verses 16:8–9 read as follows in the New Revised Standard Version:
: ''(16:8) So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. (16:9) Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.''
Note the way the narrative flow abruptly changes from "they were afraid" to "now after he rose." Also, Mary Magdalene, introduced at the beginning of the chapter (16:1), is reintroduced almost as though she had not already been mentioned. That she had been exorcised by Jesus might come from Luke or Luke's sources ().
Verse 9 states that "he [Jesus] rose [by his own power]," in seeming contrast with the earlier statement () by the man at the tomb that Jesus "has been risen [by God's power]"^[18]. The Gospel of John also states that Jesus raised himself from the dead^[19] However, most Christians consider Jesus to be the second person of the Trinity and thus to be God.
The final sentence in v.8 is regarded as strange by some scholars. In the Greek text it finishes with the conjunction γαρ (''gar'', 'for'). It is contended by those who see 16:9–20 as originally Markan that γαρ literally means ''because'', and this ending to v.8 is therefore not grammatically coherent (literally, it would read ''they were afraid because''). However, others say this objection misunderstands the nature of the Greek language. Since Greek is an ''inflexive'' language as opposed to a ''syntactic'' language, such as English, word order is not as important. (Compare ''Grammar'' in Greek language and ''Grammar'' in English language.) Although γαρ is never the first word of a sentence, there is no such rule that states it can never be the last word, though it is very rare for a book to end with γαρ. Mark also used γαρ as part of an ending comment in 6:52.
The issue of γαρ aside, the grammar of v.8 is still considered by some to be odd, as the verb φοβεομαι (''phobeomai'', 'I fear') has no object. Robert Gundry mentions that only 10% of Mark's γαρ clauses — 6 out of 66 — conclude pericopes (''Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross, Chapters 9–16''). As such, this statistic favours the view that, rather than concluding 16:1–8, v.8 begins a new pericope, the rest of which is now lost to us. Gundry therefore does not see v.8 as the intended ending; a resurrection narrative was either written, then lost, or planned but never actually written. Either way, the originality of vv.9–20 is denied by Gundry — and by the overwhelming majority of textual critics.
Mark 16:9–20 appears in most of the undamaged Greek copies of the Gospel of Mark. A copy of a manuscript, however, is only as good as the text being copied, so all of the texts with 16:9–20 may simply be copies of the same non-Markan addition. The verses are absent in the oldest manuscripts of Mark, including the vitally important Codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, which both conclude the gospel at 16:8. Vaticanus in particular displays a long blank space after 16:8, rather than ending at the base of a page as if further pages were missing.
Many of the early church fathers also appear to use 16:9–20:

★ Justin Martyr wrote in his ''First Apology'' (ch.45) that the apostles, "going forth from Jerusalem, preached everywhere." A comparison of this paragraph shows that it is highly likely that he was borrowing his terms from the longer or shorter ending;

★ Irenaeus quotes Mark 16:19 in ''Against Heresies'' III:10:5–6, which was written ''c.'' 185;

★ Eusebius of Caesarea and Philip of Side record the writings of Papias (''c.'' 125–150), who mentions that Justus Barsabbas (c.f. Acts 1:23) once drank a poisonous drink and suffered no ill effects. The motivation for this story may have been to provide an example of the fulfillment of Mark 16:18; furthermore, Papias claimed that Mark did not omit anything that Peter had preached.

★ Eusebius and Marinus (''c.'' 330) both reflect knowledge of the existence of the longer ending, in Eusebius' work ''Ad Marinum''; but Eusebius also relates that the Long Ending is not in the accurate manuscripts. Eusebius provides Marinus with a scheme to harmonise (and thus retain) Mark 16:9 via the use of .

★ Augustine (d. 430) used 16:9–20 in Easter sermons. This demonstrates that, by the early 400's, the longer ending had been established in the lectionary in North Africa.
However, Mark 16:9–20 is absent in other early church fathers (e.g., Clement of Rome, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Jerome). All that can be concluded from this use of the longer ending is that, rightly or wrongly, Mark 16:9–20 had become part of Church tradition and scripture much like other apocryphal writings such as The Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache, neither of which are now considered canonical.
Parts of the longer ending seem to be based on various elements found in the other three Gospels, the Pauline epistles, and the book of Acts:

★ v.9a early on the first day, he rose (, active^[20], rose by his own power instead of being raised by God, cf. of ) (, );

★ v.9b first appeared to Mary Magdalene ();

★ v.9c from whom He had cast out seven demons ();

★ v.10 she went and reported to the others ();

★ v.11 they refused to believe it ();

★ v.12–13a two returned and told the others ();

★ v.13b they refused to believe it ();

★ v.14 appeared to the Eleven (, , );

★ v.15 Great Commission (, );

★ v.16 salvation and judgement (, , , );

★ v.17a cast out demons (, , , , );

★ v.17b speak with new tongues (, , , ...);

★ v.18a pick up serpents (, );

★ v.18b lay hands on the sick (, , , );

★ v.19a ascension of the Lord Jesus (, , , , );

★ v.19b sat down at the right hand of God, (, , , , );

★ v.20 confirmed the word by the signs that followed ().
One could argue that the longer Markan ending is a pre-synoptic, primitive tradition (thus being original), and that the comparative pericopes in Matthew, Luke, John and Acts are extended versions of this tradition. However, given the absence of Mark 16:9–20 in the earliest manuscripts, this seems unlikely.
The longer ending in the original texts does not use Jesus' name until verse 19. Thus one must use verse 6 of the undisputed ending and assume that all the "he" pronouns in the longer ending refer back to the undisputed section.^[18]

The Shorter Ending

: ''And all that had been commanded them they told briefly to those around Peter. And afterward Jesus himself sent out through them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.'' (NRSV)
Some manuscripts conclude Mark's Gospel with what is known as the shorter ending (or intermediate ending) shown above. This ending is found in several uncial manuscripts of the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries, as well as a few minuscule manuscripts and some older Coptic and Ethiopian texts. As well as this, some manuscripts containing the shorter ending then follow it with the longer ending, such as the Codices Bobbensis and Regius of the 8th century.

The Freer Logion and expanded endings

A version of the text found by Freer in Egypt is thought to date from the 5th century. It has an ending that was not attested elsewhere when it was discovered. This ending is thus known as the 'Freer Logion':
: ''Afterward Jesus appeared to the eleven as they reclined at table and reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen him after he arose. ''
: ''The eleven made an excuse: "This age of lawlessness and unbelief is controlled by Satan, who, by means of unclean spirits, doesn't allow the truth to be known. So," they said to Christ, "reveal your righteousness now!"''
: ''Christ replied to them, "The measure of Satan's years of power is filled up, although other fearful things draw nigh to those for whom I, because of their sin, was delivered to death, that they might turn back and not sin anymore so that they might inherit the imperishable, spiritual glory of righteousness in heaven."''
A variation on the Freer Logion, cited by Jerome, has been found in Codex Washingtonianus. It replaces Mark 16:15–20 of the standard Longer Ending:
: ''And they excused themselves, saying, "This age of lawlessness and unbelief is under Satan, who does not allow the truth and power of God to prevail over the unclean things of the spirits [or: does not allow what lies under the unclean spirits to understand the truth and power of God]. Therefore reveal thy righteousness now" — thus they spoke to Christ''.
: ''And Christ replied to them, "The term of years of Satan's power has been fulfilled, but other terrible things draw near. And for those who have sinned I was delivered over to death, that they may inherit the spiritual and incorruptible glory of righteousness which is in heaven''
: -Translation from Bruce Metzger's ''Textual Commentary on the Greek NT''

Mark 16 and reading in the ancient world

In the ancient world, reading was not the activity it is today. Rather than someone silently reading a book on their own, Mark's Gospel, like other ancient literature, would have been read out loud by someone to a group of people. The low literacy rates in the ancient world demanded that such an approach to reading be taken (see Oral history). Thus, reading would have involved an interaction between the reader(s) and the hearer(s).
If Mark's Gospel, as is postulated by some (notably Beavis, ''Mark's Audience'', pp. 45–67, 167–73), had an evangelistic and teaching purpose, this interactive nature of ancient world reading starts to provide another theory for the ending of Mark. Given that the longer and shorter endings are seen by the overwhelming majority of text critics as not originally part of Mark (see below), these endings can be seen as reader's responses and reactions to what Mark's gospel tells us about the person of Christ. Specifically, the longer ending is a response by a person or community familiar with the other Gospels and Acts, especially Luke-Acts (see above). From this perspective, then, 16:8 starts to look like an ''intentional'' ending — and the acceptance of the longer ending is an indication of the general theological direction in which early Christians saw Mark's Gospel headed.

Scholarly conclusions

Many contemporary New Testament textual critics have concluded that neither the longer nor shorter endings were ''originally'' part of Mark's Gospel, though the evidence of the early church fathers above shows that the longer ending had become accepted tradition by second century. The United Bible Societies' 4th edition of the Greek New Testament (1993) rates the omission of verses 9–20 from the original Markan manuscript as "certain." Baptist New Testament scholar Dr. Frank Stagg labels verses 9–20 as "spurious." He allows for the possibility that there was a now-lost ending which told of an appearance of Jesus to the women.^[22] For this reason, many modern Bibles decline to print the longer ending of Mark together with the rest of the gospel. Because of its historical importance and prominence, it is often included as a footnote or an appendix alongside the shorter ending.
A handful of scholars, particularly those in traditionalist or fundamentalist traditions, argue that the evidence is insufficient to justify its exclusion or that the evidence in fact supports its inclusion. However, in biblical scholarship, changes and advances due to creative detective work and new discoveries have a long past history of proceeding with caution very slowly. The almost unanimous conclusion of the inauthenticity of the ending(s) of Mark should be seriously considered.

Theological implications

Very few doctrines of the mainline Christian denominations stand or fall on the support of the longer ending of Mark. The longer ending does identify Mary Magdalene as the woman out of whom Jesus had exorcised seven demons (but so does ), but Mary Magdalene's significance, and the practice of exorcism, are both supported by New Testament texts outside the debated passage.
The longer ending of Mark 16 is of considerable significance in Pentecostalism and other denominations:

★ Mark 16:16 is cited as evidence for the requirement of believer's baptism among churches of the Restoration Movement.

★ Mark 16:17 is specifically cited as Biblical support for some of these denominations' teachings concerning exorcism and spiritual warfare, and also in support of speaking in tongues.

★ The practice of snake handling and of drinking strychnine and other poisons, found in a few offshoots of Pentecostalism, find their Biblical support in Mark 16:18. These churches typically justify these practices as "confirming the word with signs following" (KJV), which references Mark 16:20. Other denominations believe that these texts indicate the power of the Holy Spirit given to the apostles, but do not believe that they are recommendations for worship.
The longer ending was declared canonical scripture by the Council of Trent. Today, however,Roman Catholics are not required to believe that Mark wrote this ending.^[11]

See also

★ John 21

★ Pericope Adulteræ

★ Comma Johanneum

Notes

1. The (Twelve Apostles minus Judas, who had defected and who hanged himself, according to the Gospel of Matthew)
2. Brown et al., p. 629
3. Kilgallen, p. 305
4. Kilgallen, p. 297
5. Kilgallen, p. 300
6. Brown et al., p. 629
7. "God raised him [Jesus] from the dead" , , ; also , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
8. See for example in the NRSV) and in the creeds. Brown et al., p. 629 (Greek distinguished passive from middle voice in the aorist tense used here.)
9. Kilgallen, p. 300
10. Brown et al., p. 628
11. Brown, p. 148
12. Kilgallen, p. 303
13. Kilgallen, p. 148
14. Miller, p. 52
15. Kilgallen, p. 309
16. Brown, p. 149
17. Kilgallen, p. 308
18. Kilgallen, p. 306
19. Jesus raised himself from the dead: ,
20. Perseus verb parser on anastas
21. Kilgallen, p. 306
22. Stagg, Frank and Evelyn Stagg. ''Woman in the World of Jesus. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1978, p. 217.
23. Brown, p. 148

References

★ Beavis, M. A., ''Mark's Audience'', Sheffield, Sheffield Academic Press, 1989. ISBN 1–85075–215-X.

★ Brown, Raymond E. ''An Introduction to the New Testament.'' Doubleday, 1997. ISBN 0–385–24767–2

★ Brown, Raymond E. et al. ''The New Jerome Biblical Commentary.'' Prentice Hall, 1990 ISBN 0–13–614934–0

★ Elliott, J. K., ''The Language and Style of the Gospel of Mark. An Edition of C. H. Turner's "Notes on Markan Usage" together with Other Comparable Studies'', Leiden, Brill, 1993. ISBN 90–04–09767–8.

★ Gundry, R. H., ''Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross, Chapters 9–16'', Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1992. ISBN 0–8028–2911–2.

★ Kilgallen, John J. ''A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark.'' Paulist Press, 1989. ISBN 0–8091–3059–9

★ Mark 16 NIV Accessed 8 May 2007

★ Miller, Robert J. Editor, ''The Complete Gospels.'' Polebridge Press, 1994. ISBN 0–06–065587–9

External links

★ The various endings of Mark Detailed text-critical description of the evidence, the manuscripts, and the variants of the Greek text (PDF, 17 pages)

★ Extracts from authors arguing for the authenticity of Mark 16:9–20

★ Aichele, G., "Fantasy and Myth in the Death of Jesus" A literary-critical affirmation of Mark's Gospel ending at 16:8.

★ Did the Gospel End at 16:8 — and Would That Be a Problem?

★ Catholic Encyclopedia: Gospel of Saint Mark: Section IV. STATE OF TEXT AND INTEGRITY

★ Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel According to S. Mark Vindicated Against Recent Critical Objectors and Established A Book written by Burgon, John William

'Chapters of the Bible'
Preceded by:Mark 15	'Gospel of Mark'	Followed by:Luke 1