Mark ending

The true ending of the Gospel of Mark without the subsequent vandalism of its text, as depicted by Annibale Carracci, The Holy Women at the Tomb of Christ, circa 1597-98.

The Mark ending — the final chapter 16 to the Gospel of Mark — was spectacular in its original form but has since been polluted by liberal vandalism, similar to soot obscuring a great work of art. The soot on an Old Master's painting can be removed to restore the artwork to its original splendor. Similarly, the original ending to the Gospel of Mark can be restored to its sensational original form, as depicted by the Carracci painting to the right here ---->

There is extensive scholarly commentary demonstrating that verses 16:9–20 are not authentic: they are not in the earliest manuscripts and express doubtful doctrine. But equally important is to recognize and remove the liberal claptrap inserted as the last clause of verse 16:8. The second half of 16:8 is not authentic, and obscures the powerful original ending by Mark.

Authentic ending

The authentic ending of Mark is an unexpected encounter by three women looking for Jesus at the tomb, and an angel taking the form of a young man. It is best translated as follows (Mark 16:2-8a):

“

Very early in the morning on the day after the Sabbath, they came to the tomb of Jesus at sunrise. And the women said to each other, "Who will roll away the stone blocking the tomb door?" But when they looked, they saw that the massive stone had been rolled to the side. And as they entered the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, wearing a long white garment, and they were afraid. The man said to them, "Don't be afraid. You're looking for Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified. He has been raised up, He is not here - look at the place where they laid Him. Leave now, and tell Peter and the students of Jesus that He has gone ahead of you into Galilee: you will see him there, as he told you." They left quickly and ran away from the tomb, overwhelmed with trembling in ecstasy.

”

Mark 16:8 (ESV) is this translation, with the added unauthentic ending:

“

And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

”

The "and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid" is contradictory with the instruction by the angel in the immediately preceding verse, and contradictory with Mark recording what they women saw. The angel said at Mark 16:7 :

“

But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.

”

The phrase "and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid" lacks authenticity and has the style of liberal claptrap. It is implausible; it is unjustifiably weak in its portrayal of these women; and it undermines what the angel has just instructed them to do: tell the disciples and Peter. Of course these women told others as the angel—a young man displaying strength—asked them to do. Moreover, this event would not be in the Gospel of Mark unless the women told others.

Early manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark have a variety of endings, which reinforces the likelihood that there were improper additions to this Gospel.

Unlikely ending as to meaning

The final words in many manuscripts of Mark 16:8 are “ἐφοβοῦντο γάρ,” meaning “for they were afraid.” But it is implausible that the bold Gospel of Mark originally ended that way. Most scholars have recognized that implausibility, but rather than remove this implausible ending they instead use it to argue for inclusion of another unlikely ending, Mark 16:9-20, which is not even in the earliest manuscripts of Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus.

Unlikely ending as to Greek syntax - the last word of 16:8 cannot be the real ending

The last word in the reported verse 16:8 is "γάρ", which is a post-positive term in Greek such that it is usually the second word in a sentence. "γάρ" is a conjunction meaning "for", "since", or "because", with the reason to follow. It is exceedingly unlikely that the word "γάρ" would be the last word in a book.

Having "γάρ" as the last word of a book is as unlikely as having "since" or "because" as the last word of a book. Scholars have scoured all of Greek writings for any example of this, and the only instance they found was a volume that was part of a larger collection of works.

Flawed, never-used-elsewhere Greek grammar

The Greek grammar for Mark 16:8b is flawed: "to no one nothing they spoke," which reinforces the likelihood that this phrase was a later, non-authentic addition. In Greek the phrase is a nonsensical "οὐδενὶ οὐδὲν," both of which are variations on "nothing" so illogically it is the functional equivalent of "nothing nothing." Neither Mark nor any other biblical author uses that phrase anywhere else, and it is unlikely to have been written by anyone knowledgeable of Greek. It is impossible to translate coherently.

Variations in Mark 16:8

The verse for Mark 16:8 in Codex Sinaiticus is different from that in Biblehub and other sources based on early manuscripts. Codex Sinaiticus has the nonsensical double word ("οὐδενὶ οὐδὲν"), while Biblehub does not and instead ends with only οὐδενὶ, which is Strong's 3762 (meaning: no one, none, nothing), which Biblehub translates in brackets as "[a word to anyone]."

Similarly, many scholars argue that the last two words in Mark 16:8 are areἐφοβοῦντο γάρ (“for they were afraid”), but that is merely because that is the ending of that verse in both the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus. There are no other early manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark to check this against. As explained above, this is a highly unlikely Greek syntax with which to end a book.

Other analysis

Mark would not have had any way of knowing whether the three women spoke to others afterwards, and thus would not have made that assertion in the illegitimate last clause of verse 16:8.

Christian Publishing House provides a detailed analysis, which explains omissions particularly of verses 16:9-20 in virtually all of the early manuscripts.

Surprisingly, Wikipedia's analysis of "Mark 16" is reasonably good, yet omits discussion of the likely illegitimate insertion at the end of verse 8 discussed above.

"The transition from verse 8 to verse 9 is awkward," explains another in-depth analysis.