Mark 16:18 - Deadly Poison

[DonnyT]

17 And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

I've heard a few theories which all seem speculative:

I've heard some churches (in the south) practice snake handling and venom drinking.

This isn't the real ending for Mark (if so why is it in the Bible and what's to say anything else isn't the "real" writings of the Bible?)

"taking up serpents and "drinking deadly things" are allegorical, (what about laying of hands, speaking in tongues, and casting out demons?)

This only pertains to those in that room whom Jesus was talking to. (what about when he says, "... and these signs will accompany them that believe"

What say ye?

 

[ViaCrucis]

As far as it not being the "real" ending of Mark, it's generally agreed that the traditional ending of Mark isn't originally Marcan but is a very early addition to the text. There are generally three arguments:

1) Mark was never finished.
2) Mark's original ending is lost to us.
3) Mark intended to end the gospel at verse 8 and it offers a sense of awe and mystery and invokes a sense of the Story is now continually unfolding in us who read and live in the reality of the Gospel Story.

There are two other endings to Mark, the Shorter Ending is almost as frequent as the Traditional Ending, and a number of modern translations have incorporated it into the Traditional Ending (c.f. the NASB which places the Shorter Ending with italics). There is also another alternate ending found in only one manuscript known as the Freer Logion, found in Codex Washingtonius that inserts itself between 16:14 and 16:15.

What the Traditional Ending contains is likely an anachronistic look at some of the events found in the Acts, such as the speaking of tongues, the being bitten by poisonous snakes (happened to St. Paul) and the like.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Rick Otto]

Maybe John Gill can help:

Mark 16:18

They shall take up serpents…
The Arabic version adds, "in their own hands"; and in an ancient manuscript of Beza's it is read, "in the hands"; so the Apostle Paul had a viper, which fastened and hung on his hand, which he shook off, without receiving any harm from it, (Acts 28:3-6) .
And if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;
not that they were hereby warranted to drink poison, to show what power they had; but should they accidentally drink it, or rather should they be forced to it by their enemies in order to destroy them, they should find no hurt by it: and Papias F24 reports of Barsabas, surnamed Justus, who was put up with Matthias for the apostleship, (Acts 1:23) , that he drank a poisonous draught, and by the grace of the Lord, received no hurt: and the Jews themselves report F25, that

``a son of R. Joshua ben Levi, swallowed something hurtful; and one came and whispered to him in the name of Jesus, the son of Pandira (so they call our Lord), and he did well.''
​

It follows,
and they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover;
as the Apostle Paul did on the father of Publius, who was thereby healed of a fever, and a bloody flux, and also others, (Acts 28:8,9) ; nay, some were healed by the shadow of Peter, (Acts 5:15,16) , and others, by handkerchiefs and aprons taken from the body of Paul, (Acts 19:12) . The Persic version adds, without any authority, "whatsoever ye ask in my name, shall be given unto you".

 

[DonnyT]

So what your saying is the author came after the life of Jesus and wrote about events that hadn't happened yet? That seems logical, much appreciated.