The longer ending (vv 9-20) is clearly the most attested reading. It is validated by almost all of the extant Greek manuscripts, a significant number of minuscules, numerous versions, and scores of church Fathers. Geographically it is represented by the Byzantine, Alexandrian, and Western text types. However, one should be careful not to reduce textual criticism into an exercise of manuscript counting. Though the longer ending is widely attested, the vast bulk of manuscripts are from the generally inferior, Byzantine text type dating from the 8th to the 13th centuries (except Codex A which is a 5th century document). Due to the solidarity of the Byzantine text type we may assume that this represents at least a fourth century reading (Bruce M. Metzger,
The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration, 3rd ed. [New York: Oxford University, 1992], 293). The abrupt ending (1) is found in the two oldest Greek manuscripts. These Alexandrian uncials
a B, both 4th century manuscripts, are supported by the Sinaitic Syriac manuscripts, approximately one hundred Armenian texts and two Georgian manuscripts from the 9th and 10th centuries, and several church Fathers including Clement of Alexandria and Origen. That this reading was more prominent is supported by Eusebius and Jerome who claimed that vv 9-20 were absent from almost all known manuscripts (ibid., 226). It is also significant that Codex Bobiensis (k) omits the longer ending as this is deemed the “most important witness to the Old African Latin” Bible (ibid., 73). The genealogical solidarity of the two primary Alexandrian witnesses suggest that this reading can be dated to the 2nd century (Metzger,
Text of the New Testament, 215-216).
To say the least, the evidence is conflicting. One should be careful not to make a firm decision one way or the other regarding Mark’s ending based on the external data alone. Though the majority of New Testament scholars believe that vv 9-20 are not original, virtually none come to this conclusion based purely on the external evidence. Even Farmer must confess that, “while a study of the external evidence is rewarding in itself and can be very illuminating in many ways . . . it does not produce the evidential grounds for a definitive solution to the problem. A study of the history of the text,
by itself, has not proven sufficient, since the evidence is divided” (Farmer,
Last Twelve Verses of Mark, 74).
Most text-critics appeal to the internal evidence in order to demonstrate that vv 9-20 are non-Marcan. One is immediately struck with the awkward transition between vv 8 and 9. In v 8, the subject, “they” referring to Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome (16:1) is implicit within the third, plural verb,
ejfobou`nto. But in v 9 the subject changes to “He” (from the third, singular verb
ejfavnh). The transition is striking because the subject is unexpressed. Furthermore, in v 9 Mary Magdalene is introduced as though she were a new character even though her presence has already been established in the immediate context (15:47; 16:1) while Mary the mother of James and Salome disappear from the entire narrative. This awkward transition coupled with numerous words and phrases that are foreign to Mark, suggest the decidedly inauthentic nature of this ending.
Several examples should prove the point. In 16:9 we find the only occurrence of the verb
faivnw in the New Testament with respect to the resurrection (though the same verb is used in
Luke 9:8 to describe Elijah’s re-appearance). Equally as unusual is the construction
parj h|s ejkbeblhvkei, which is a
grammatical hapax. In v 10, the verb
poreuvomai which is found 29 times in Matthew and 51 times in Luke is not found in
Mark 1:1-16:8, but repeatedly in the longer ending (vv 10, 12, 15). In v 11, The verb
qeavomai which occurs in Matthew (6:1; 11:7; 22:11; 23:5) and Luke (7:24; 23:55) finds no parallel in Mark except for its multiple occurrence in the longer ending (16:11, 14). In v 12, the expression
metaV tau`ta which occurs frequently in Luke (1:24; 5:27; 10:1; 12:4; 17:8; 18:4) and John (2:12; 3:22; 5:1, 14; 6:1; 7:1; 11:7, 11; 13:7; 19:28, 38; 21:1) has no precedence in Mark.
fanerovw which neither Matthew or Luke use to describe resurrection appearances is found in vv 12 and 14 (J. K. Elliott, “The Text and Language of the endings of Mark’s Gospel,”
TZ 27 [1971]: 258). The phrase
e{tero" morfhvis also unique to Marcan vocabulary. Neither
e{tero" nor
morfhv occur elsewhere in Mark and
morfhv only appears in Paul’s description of the kenosis (
Phil 2:6, 7). In v 14,
u{stero", although used by the other evangelists, is a decidedly non-Marcan term having no precedence in 1:1-16:8. Mark seems to prefer
e[scato" over
u{stero" as evidenced by several parallel passages in which Mark opts for the former over the later term found in Matthew (cf.
Matt 21:37–
Mark 12:6;
Matt 22:27–
Mark 12:22). In v 18, aside from other lexical and syntactical phenomenon one is struck by the unusual
exegetical hapax. No other text in Scripture provides a promise for the handling of snakes and imbibing deadly poison without adverse repercussions. In v 19, though Mark sparingly uses the conjunction
ou, the phrase
meVn ou is not found in 1:1-16:8. The longer ending concludes in v 20 with a litany of non-Marcan vocabulary:
sunergevw is not found in Mark or the Gospels and appears to be a Pauline term (
Rom 8:28;
1 Cor 16:16;
2 Cor 6:1) but it is never used with Jesus as the subject, and
bebaiovwalong with
ejpakolouqew are also foreign to the Synoptic Gospels.
As is somewhat evident, the internal evidence raises significant problems with
Mark 16:9-20. The awkward transition between vv 8 and 9 and the non-Marcan vocabulary has led the vast majority of New Testament scholars to conclude that the longer ending is inauthentic. In fact, even Farmer (
Last Twelve Verses of Mark, 103), the leading proponent for the authenticity of the last twelve verses, must confess that some of the evidence warrants this conclusion.
