Mark 16:9-20

[WJL]

I’ve read that Mark 16:9-20 is not the authentic ending of the Gospel of Mark, and that it either originally ended at Mark 16:8 or that the original ending had been lost and replaced with Mark 16:9-20. Is this true?

I also have a question about an alleged “contradiction” between the Gospels. The women in Matthew 28:7-8; Luke 24:9; John 20:2 do not flee from the tomb and tell no one, as in Mark 16:8 but return and tell the disciples about their experience. How is this apparent discrepancy resolved?

 

[patrick457]

I’ve read that Mark 16:9-20 is not the authentic ending of the Gospel of Mark, and that it either originally ended at Mark 16:8 or that the original ending had been lost and replaced with Mark 16:9-20. Is this true?

I also have a question about an alleged “contradiction” between the Gospels. The women in Matthew 28:7-8; Luke 24:9; John 20:2 do not flee from the tomb and tell no one, as in Mark 16:8 but return and tell the disciples about their experience. How is this apparent discrepancy resolved?

Well, many historians think that it is a possibility that Mark ended with 16:8, either because (1) the original ending was lost, (2) Mark never got around to finishing the gospel, (3) Mark finished the gospel there on purpose. The current consensus is that verses 9-20 is a very early addition.

This link might explain things a bit more clearly.

Literally translated, verse 8 reads:

And, having come forth quickly, they fled from the tomb, and trembling and amazement had seized them, and to no one said they anything. They were afraid, for

 

[Ron_Conte]

I’ve read that Mark 16:9-20 is not the authentic ending of the Gospel of Mark, and that it either originally ended at Mark 16:8 or that the original ending had been lost and replaced with Mark 16:9-20. Is this true?

The older copies of Mark from Africa (where Mark went after he wrote the Gospel) have a different ending after verse 8:

“But they reported briefly to Peter and those with him all that they had been told. And after this Jesus himself sent out by means of them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.”
bible-researcher.com/bobbiensis.html

One theory is that this is the original ending written by Mark, and that another author (also acting under inspiration) completed the Gospel. Of course, it is also possible that Mark himself completed it, at a later date.

I also have a question about an alleged “contradiction” between the Gospels. The women in Matthew 28:7-8; Luke 24:9; John 20:2 do not flee from the tomb and tell no one, as in Mark 16:8 but return and tell the disciples about their experience. How is this apparent discrepancy resolved?

Perhaps it was the case that, at first, they were afraid and told no one; then, they took courage and went and told the Apostles.

 

[NHInsider]

Perhaps it was the case that, at first, they were afraid and told no one; then, they took courage and went and told the Apostles.

I always took it that they told no one before the got to the Apostles - not proclaiming the news to everyone they passed in the street. (Compare the shepherds leaving the manger in Luke.)