Tyndale Open Study NotesMark 16

• At sunset, when the Sabbath day ended, the shops opened again. The women "bought spices so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus" (16:1). They intended to reduce the smell of the dead body.

• The women did not expect Jesus to resurrect from the dead. Even the empty tomb did not convince them of his resurrection (John 20:2, 11–15).

The women wondered how to move the large stone covering the tomb. God had already moved the stone to let them and the other disciples enter.

The angel’s message to the disciples repeated what Jesus had already said (14:28). It reminded them of his promise.

The disciples had abandoned Jesus and denied him, but they would be forgiven. Their role as apostles (messengers sent by Jesus) would be restored.

• The story ends with the women running away from the tomb. They were shaking with fear and confused (not sure what was happening).

• they did not say a word to anyone: This can be understood in two ways. It may be positive. The women may not have spoken to others because they were focused on their task to tell the disciples (16:7; compare Luke 10:4; 2 Kings 4:29).

  Or it may be negative. The women may have failed to deliver the message at that moment (compare Luke 24:5–11; John 20:1–2, 18).

Nearly all scholars agree that Mark did not write the shorter ending and the longer ending of his Gospel. These endings use different styles, vocabulary, and theology (teaching about God). Also, the two best early Greek manuscripts (Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus) do not include these endings.

However, many scholars also doubt that Mark meant to end his Gospel at 16:8. Several reasons support this view:

1. Mark emphasizes that the predictions of Jesus are fulfilled. If the Gospel ends at 16:8, there is no account of Jesus appearing after his resurrection.

2. All the other Gospels include stories of Jesus appearing to the women and the disciples.

3. Some early manuscripts include added endings. This suggests that some early copyists (people who copied texts by hand) thought the Gospel needed a clearer ending.

4. There is no clear reason why Mark would choose to end at 16:8. Many suggested reasons come from modern ways of reading, not from how a first-century Christian writer would likely think.

5. The Gospel begins with a strong statement that Jesus is the Messiah (1:1), but ending at 16:8 would leave the story with fear instead of resolution.

6. The Greek word gar (“because”) appears at the end of 16:8. It is very unusual for an ancient Greek book to end with this word.

7. Mark 16:7 suggests the disciples will meet Jesus in Galilee. If 16:8 was the original ending, it would be the only prediction in the Gospel that did not come true.

Because of these reasons, many scholars think the original ending was lost (for example, the last page may have been damaged or removed) or that Mark did not finish writing it.