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 (16:1–6). The two oldest manuscripts of Mark 16 (from the 300s) 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" (verses 9–20) and the unversed "Shorter Ending" or "lost ending",Jerusalem Bible, footnote at Mark 16:8 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 (325–350; extant verses 1–8) Codex Sinaiticus (330–360; extant verses 1–8) Codex Bezae (~400; complete: 1–20) Codex Alexandrinus (400–440; complete: 1–20) Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450; complete: 1–20)
Sources While some scholars argue that Mark 16 is a Markan composition,Crossan, John Dominic, "Empty tomb and absent Lord (Mark 16: 1-8)", The Passion in Mark: Studies on Mark 14, no. 16 (1976): 135-52. others argue that the chapter comes from an older tradition in the pre-Markan passion story.MacGregor, Kirk Robert. "The ending of the pre-Markan passion narrative." Scriptura 117 (2018): 1-11. Those arguing in favor of Markan creation point to the numerous time indicators in verse 2, which bear similarities to other phrases in Mark.Collins, Adela Yarbro. The beginning of the Gospel: Probings of Mark in context. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2001. Pg. 131 The scholars who argue in favor of Mark's use of a prior tradition argue that phrases such as "on the first day of the week" instead of the "third day" motif indicate a primitive tradition. Furthermore, many phrases found in Mark 16 seem to be non-Markan in their vocabulary. Dale Allison argues that, "The reduction of the empty tomb to Markan creativity, whatever the redactional motivation postulated, is not a compelling point of view...the case for the redactional origin of Mark 16:1–8 is unpersuasive, which is why so many Markan scholars, despite their differences on the details, see tradition here." The fact that Mark 16 is extremely reserved in its theological expression, having no Christological titles, proofs or prophecies, descriptions of the resurrection, and a reserved description of the angel at the tomb indicate a more primitive narrative source.Craig, William Lane, "The historicity of the empty tomb of Jesus", New Testament Studies 31, no. 01 (1985): 39-67.
Verses 1–8 (the empty tomb)
Verse 1
The Sabbath ended at dusk,Footnote b at Mark 16:1 in the New Catholic Bible, accessed 25 March 2023 on the day known to Christians as Holy Saturday.
Verse 2
Just after sunrise, Mary Magdalene, another Mary, the mother of James,Bauckham, Richard, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2006), p. 50 n. 43. 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).
Verses 5–7
The white robe indicates that he is probably an angel:Tuckett, M., 57. Mark in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary , p. 920 Matthew 28:5 describes him as such, and has him seated on the stone, away from the entrance.: Expanded Bible (2011) 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".Saint Gregory the Great's Sermon on the Mystery of the Resurrection, catholicism.org accessed 13 December 2017
The last appearance of Peter's name in verse 7 (also the last among the disciples' names to be mentioned) can be connected to the first appearance of his name (as 'Simon') 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 (compare ), 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 (verse 9–20), and the shorter ending (unversed). Versions of Mark Version TextMark 16:6–8 undisputed text = Shortest/Abrupt Ending And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.Longer ending 16:9–14Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.Freer Logion (between 16:14 and 16:15)United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, New American BibleAnd 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 dominated by the spirits. Therefore, reveal your righteousness now. — thus they spoke to Christ. And Christ responded to them, The limit of the years of Satan's power is completed, but other terrible things draw near. And for those who sinned I was handed over to death, that they might return to the truth and no longer sin, in order that they might inherit the spiritual and incorruptible heavenly glory of righteousness.Longer ending 16:15–20And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.Shorter ending/ conclusio brevior (unversed)And they reported all the instructions briefly to Peter's companions. Afterwards Jesus himself, through them, sent forth from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. [Amen]. (Greek text)
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 Twelve Apostles minus Judas). 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.
: Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, who is now described as someone whom Jesus healed from possession by seven demons. She then "tells the other disciples" what she saw, but no one believes her.
: Jesus appears "in a different form" to two unnamed disciples. They, too, are disbelieved when they tell what they saw.
: Jesus then appears at dinner to all the remaining eleven Apostles. He rebukes them for not believing the earlier reports of his resurrection and tells them to go and "proclaim the good news to all creation. The one who believes and is baptised will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned." Belief and non-belief are a dominant theme in the Longer Ending: there are two references to believing (verses 16 and 17) and four references to not believing (verses 11, 13, 14 and 16). Johann Albrecht Bengel, in his Gnomon of the New Testament, defends the disciples: "They did believe: but presently there recurred to them a suspicion as to the truth, and even positive unbelief."Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament on Mark 16, accessed 14 December 2017
: Jesus states that believers will "cast out demons" and "speak in new tongues". They will also be able to handle snakes, be immune from any poison they might happen to drink, and will be able to heal the sick. Kilgallen, picturing an author putting words in Jesus' mouth, has suggested that these verses were a means by which early Christians asserted that their new faith was accompanied by special powers. According to Brown, by showing examples of unjustified unbelief in verses 10–13, and stating that unbelievers will be condemned and that believers will be validated by signs, the author may have been attempting to convince the reader to rely on what the disciples preached about Jesus.