What To Do With Mark’s Ending

How Did We Get The Bible?

In Favor of the Long Ending

Almost all the manuscripts include it

there are currently 1,664 known manuscripts that include the ending of the gospel of Mark, and 1,653 of them include all the way up to verse 20. That means of the 1,664 manuscripts we have of the gospel of Mark ranging from the fourth through the fifteenth centuries, 99.8% of them include the bracketed section.

Verse 8 seems like a very strange, abrupt ending

Many scholars question why Mark would end his gospel account with the disciples being afraid of the empty tomb. None of the other canonical gospels end this way, so why should Mark?

The early church Fathers knew about the long ending

Irenaeus (c. 180 ad) quoted from Mark 16:19

Mark 16:19 ESV

So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

Justin Martyr (160) also seems to quote from the long ending of Mark. Third, Fourth, and Fifth century church fathers all seem to at least know about the bracketed section as being at the end of Mark.

In Favor of the Short Ending

The oldest manuscripts don’t include the longer ending

Codex sinaiticus and vanaticus stop at Mark 16:8

Mark 16:8 ESV

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.

Verse 9 doesn’t seem to flow well from verse 8

It reintroduces Mary Magdalene again, but this time as the woman who was healed of demons. This is information from Luke’s gospel, not Mark’s.

It restates the time of day, just one verse after Mark had already done that

Mark had written twice that Jesus would appear to the disciples in Galilee, but the longer ending doesn’t include that at all. If Mark had written it, it seems reasonable that he would have included the appearances in Galilee

Eusebius Canon

Eusebius (300 ad) had written a canon of the Scriptures, and he had Mark ending at verse 8. At his time, he said almost all the copies of Mark ended there, and especially the accurate ones.

What Does This Mean?

The agreement - Mark almost certainly did not write the bracketed section.

While almost everyone agrees that Mark didn’t write the section in brackets, they also agree that it was written very early - probably in the late first or early second century. It could have been written by another Apostle, or it could have been written by other members of the church.

The reason for adding it was probably because

Mark intended to add this information, but was prevented from finishing his account for some reason

It harmonized the gospel of Mark with the other canonical gospels, giving us an account of the resurrection appearances.

The content is NOT bad theology. It is consistent with the rest of Scripture

Basically - if you take this as being canonical, it doesn’t change the theology of the church already laid down in the rest of the canon of Scripture

The content is not a pillar for any doctrine that the church has ever held universally

Basically - if you take this as not being canonical, it doesn’t change the theology of the church already laid down in the rest of the canon of Scripture.