Mark 16 - New English Translation (NET)

The Resurrection

16 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought aromatic spices^[a] so that they might go and anoint him. ² And very early on the first day of the week, at sunrise, they went to the tomb. ³ They had been asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” ⁴ But^[b] when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled back. ⁵ Then^[c] as they went into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe^[d] sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. ⁶ But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.^[e] He has been raised!^[f] He is not here. Look, there is the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples, even Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.” ⁸ Then^[g] they went out and ran from the tomb, for terror and bewilderment had seized them.^[h] And they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

The Longer Ending of Mark^[i]

⁹ [[Early on the first day of the week, after he arose, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven demons. ¹⁰ She went out and told those who were with him, while they were mourning and weeping. ¹¹ And when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

¹² After this he appeared in a different form to two of them while they were on their way to the country. ¹³ They went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. ¹⁴ Then he appeared to the eleven themselves, while they were eating, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen him resurrected. ¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶ The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages;^{[j] 18} they will pick up snakes with their hands, and whatever poison they drink will not harm them;^[k] they will place their hands on the sick and they will be well.” ¹⁹ After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. ²⁰ They went out and proclaimed everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through the accompanying signs.]]

Footnotes

1. Mark 16:1 tn On this term see BDAG 140 s.v. ἄρωμα. The Jews did not practice embalming, so these materials were used to cover the stench of decay and slow decomposition.sn Spices were used not to preserve the body, but as an act of love, and to mask the growing stench of a corpse.
2. Mark 16:4 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
3. Mark 16:5 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
4. Mark 16:5 sn Mark does not explicitly identify the young man dressed in a white robe as an angel (though the white robe suggests this), but Matthew does (Matt 28:2).
5. Mark 16:6 sn See the note on Crucify in 15:13.
6. Mark 16:6 tn The verb here is passive (ἠγέρθη, ēgerthē). This “divine passive” (see ExSyn 437-38) points to the fact that Jesus was raised by God.
7. Mark 16:8 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
8. Mark 16:8 tn Grk “trembling and bewilderment began to grip them.”
9. Mark 16:9 tc The Gospel of Mark ends at this point in some witnesses (א B sy^s sa^ms arm^mss geo^mss Eus Eus^mss Hier^mss), including two of the most respected mss (א B). This is known as the “short ending.” The following “intermediate” ending is found in some mss: “They reported briefly to those around Peter all that they had been commanded. After these things Jesus himself sent out through them, from the east to the west, the holy and imperishable preaching of eternal salvation. Amen.” This intermediate ending is usually included with the longer ending (L Ψ 083 099 579 pc); k, however, ends at this point. Most mss include the “long ending” (vv. 9-20) immediately after v. 8 (A C D W [which has unique material between vv. 14 and 15] Θ ƒ¹³ 33 M lat sy^c,p,h bo); however, Eusebius (and presumably Jerome) knew of almost no Greek mss that had this ending. Several mss have marginal comments noting that earlier Greek mss lacked the verses. Internal evidence strongly suggests the secondary nature of both the intermediate and the long endings. Their vocabulary, syntax, and style are decidedly non-Markan (for further details, see TCGNT 102-6). All of this evidence indicates that as time went on scribes added the longer ending, either for the richness of its material or because of the abruptness of the ending at v. 8. (Indeed, the strange variety of dissimilar endings attests to the likelihood that early scribes had a copy of Mark that ended at v. 8, and they filled out the text with what seemed to be an appropriate conclusion. All of the witnesses for alternative endings to vv. 9-20 thus indirectly confirm the Gospel as ending at v. 8.) Because of such problems regarding the authenticity of these alternative endings, 16:8 is usually regarded today as the last verse of the Gospel of Mark. There are three possible explanations for Mark ending at 16:8: (1) The author intentionally ended the Gospel here in an open-ended fashion; (2) the Gospel was never finished; or (3) the last leaf of the ms was lost prior to copying. This first explanation is the most likely due to several factors, including (a) the probability that the Gospel was originally written on a scroll rather than a codex (only on a codex would the last leaf get lost prior to copying); (b) the unlikelihood of the ms not being completed; and (c) the literary power of ending the Gospel so abruptly that the readers are now drawn into the story itself. E. Best aptly states, “It is in keeping with other parts of his Gospel that Mark should not give an explicit account of a conclusion where this is already well known to his readers” (Mark, 73; note also his discussion of the ending of this Gospel on 132 and elsewhere). The readers must now ask themselves, “What will I do with Jesus? If I do not accept him in his suffering, I will not see him in his glory.” For further discussion and viewpoints, see Perspectives on the Ending of Mark: Four Views, ed. D. A. Black (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2008); Nicholas P. Lunn, The Original Ending of Mark: A New Case for the Authenticity of Mark 16:9-20 (London: Pickwick, 2014); Gregory P. Sapaugh, “An Appraisal of the Intrinsic Probability of the Longer Endings of the Gospel of Mark” (Ph.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 2012).sn Double brackets have been placed around this passage to indicate that most likely it was not part of the original text of the Gospel of Mark. In spite of this, the passage has an important role in the history of the transmission of the text, so it has been included in the translation.
10. Mark 16:17 tn Grk “tongues,” though the word is used figuratively (perhaps as a metonymy of cause for effect). To “speak in tongues” meant to “speak in a foreign language,” though one that was new to the one speaking it and therefore due to supernatural causes. For a discussion concerning whether such was a human language, heavenly language, or merely ecstatic utterance, see BDAG 201-2 s.v. γλῶσσα 2, 3; BDAG 399 s.v. ἕτερος 2; L&N 33.2-4; ExSyn 698; C. M. Robeck Jr., “Tongues,” DPL, 939-43.
11. Mark 16:18 tn For further comment on the nature of this statement, whether it is a promise or prediction, see ExSyn 403-6.