Mark 16

Mark 16 is the final chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It begins with the discovery of the empty tomb by Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome — there they encounter a man dressed in white who announces Jesus' resurrection.
Verse 8 ends with the women fleeing from the empty tomb, and saying "nothing to anyone, because they were afraid." Most scholars take 16:8 as the original ending and believe the ending () was written later and by another hand as a summary of Jesus' resurrection appearances and several miracles performed by Christians. In this summary of other gospel sources, the author refers to Mary Magdalene, two disciples, and then the Eleven (the Twelve Apostles minus Judas). The text concludes with the Great Commission, declares eternal life for believers and condemnation for nonbelievers, and pictures Jesus sitting at God's right hand.
Contemporary scholars conclude that Mark's traditional ending was not part of the original text.Funk, Robert W. and the Jesus Seminar. The acts of Jesus: the search for the authentic deeds of Jesus. HarperSanFrancisco. 1998. "Empty Tomb, Appearances & Ascension" p. 449-495. Textual critics have traced various versions of Mark's ending back to the earliest extant manuscripts. An alternative, shorter ending appears on some ancient manuscripts, sometimes combined with the traditional ending, and an additional exchange between Jesus and the eleven had appeared in some manuscripts by the 4th century. The most likely origin for the Longer Ending is that it was written early in the second century, summarizing evidence for Jesus' resurrection. It was appended to the gospel in the middle of the second century.May, Herbert G. and Bruce M. Metzger. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. 1977. It does not fit verses 1-8 well, suggesting it was not written to be Mark's ending. No one knows how the text originally ended, though the story hints that it would end with resurrection appearances and possibly reconciliation between Peter and Jesus.
The Council of Trent, reacting to Protestant criticism, defined the Roman Catholic biblical canon, the Longer Ending along with it. It is part of the King James Bible and other influential translations.
Other Gospels display evidence of having appendages not original to the text, such as Luke's infancy narrativeFunk, Robert W. and the Jesus Seminar. The acts of Jesus: the search for the authentic deeds of Jesus. HarperSanFrancisco. 1998. "Birth & Infancy Stories" p. 497-526. and John's ending.
==The empty tomb==
Mark says the Sabbath is now over and Mary Magdalene, another Mary, the mother of James (who earlier Mark referred to more fully as "Mary the mother of James the little and Joses", 15:40)Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2006), p. 50 n. 43. who might or might not be Mary the mother of Jesus, and Salome, mentioned in Mark 15:40, come to anoint Jesus' body, which Luke 24:1 agrees with. John 19:40 seems to say that Nicodemus had already anointed his body. John 20:1 and Matthew 28:1 simply say Mary went to the tomb, not why.
The women wonder how they will remove the stone over the tomb. Upon their arrival, they find the stone already gone and go into the tomb. This shows that, according to Mark, they did not expect to find a resurrected but a dead Jesus.Kilgallen, p. 297 They find a young man dressed in a white robe who tells them:
: "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you' " (6–7).
The white robe might be a sign that the young man is a messenger from God.Kilgallen, p. 300 Matthew 28:5 describes him as an angel. According to Luke there were two men. John says there were two angels, but that Mary saw them after finding the empty tomb and showing it to the other disciples. She comes back to the tomb, talks to the angels, and then Jesus appears to her.
Mark uses the word neaniskos for young, a word he used to describe the man who fled at Jesus' arrest in Mark 14:51–52.Brown et al., p. 629 Jesus had predicted his resurrection and returning to Galilee during the Last Supper in Mark 14:28. Mark uses the passive verb form ēgerthē — translated "he was raised," indicating God raised him from the dead,"God raised him [Jesus] from the dead" , , ; also , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , rather than "he is risen" translated in the NIV.See for example in the NRSV) and in the creeds. Brown et al., p. 629 (Greek distinguished passive from middle voice in the aorist tense used here.)
The women, who are afraid, then flee and keep quiet about what they saw. Fear is the most common human reaction to the divine presence in the Bible.
This is where the undisputed part of Mark's Gospel ends. Jesus is thus announced to have been resurrected from the dead and to have gone into Galilee. 
==Significance of ending at verse 8==
Some interpreters have concluded that Mark's intended readers already knew the traditions of Jesus' appearances, and that Mark brings the story to a close here to highlight the resurrection and leave anticipation of the parousia.Brown et al., p. 628 Some have argued that this announcement of the resurrection and Jesus going to Galilee is the parousia (see also Preterism), but Raymond E. Brown argues that a parousia confined only to Galilee is improbable.Brown, p. 148 Gospel writer Mark gives no description of the resurrected Jesus, perhaps because Mark did not want to try to describe the nature of the divine resurrected Jesus.Kilgallen, p. 303 Brown argues this ending is consistent with Mark's theology, where even miracles, such as the resurrection, do not produce the proper understanding or faith among Jesus' followers.Kilgallen, p. 148 Having the women run away afraid is contrasted in the reader's mind with Jesus' appearances and statements which help confirm the expectation, built up in 8:31, 9:31, 10:34, and Jesus' prediction during the Last Supper of his rising after his death.Miller, p. 52 Richard Burridge argues that, in keeping with Mark's picture of discipleship, the question of whether it all comes right in the end is left open:
Burridge goes on to compare the ending of Mark to its beginning: 
==Jesus' appearances and his ascension into Heaven==
The book then describes Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene who is now described as someone whom Jesus healed from possession by seven demons. She then tells the other disciples (cf. ) what she saw but no one believes her. Jesus' appearances to Mary are also found in and .
Then Jesus appears "in a different form" to two unnamed disciples. They, too, are disbelieved when they tell what they saw. Jesus' appearance to two disciples is also described in .
Jesus then appears at dinner to all the remaining eleven Apostles. He rebukes them for not believing the earlier reports of his resurrection and then gives them instructions to go and preach his message to all creation (see also the Great Commission). Those who believe and are baptised will be saved, but unbelievers will be condemned.
In verses 17-18, Jesus states that believers will "speak in new tongues." This is likely a reference to glossolalia. They will also be able to handle snakes (see also ), be immune from any poison they might happen to drink, and will be able to heal the sick. Some interpreters, picturing an author putting words in Jesus' mouth, have suggested that these verses were a means by which early Christians asserted that their new faith was accompanied by special powers.Kilgallen, p. 309 By showing examples of unjustified unbelief in verses 10-13, and stating that unbelievers will be condemned, and that believers will be validated by signs, the author may have been attempting to convince the reader to rely on what the disciples preached about Jesus.Brown, p. 149
Jesus appearing and talking to the disciples is also recorded in , , and . Jesus' fighting against unbelief and the negative portrait of the disciples is in keeping with the themes of Mark.Kilgallen, p. 308
According to verse 19, Jesus then is taken up into Heaven where, Mark claims, he sits at the right hand of God. The right hand is seen as the position of power. Jesus quoted Psalm 110:1 in Mark 11 about the Lord sitting at the right hand of God.
After the ascension, his Eleven then went out and preached "everywhere." Several signs from God accompanied their preaching. His ascension is also recorded in and in the Acts of the Apostles 1:9–11. Where these things happened is not stated, but one could presume, from , that they took place in Galilee. Luke-Acts, however, has this happening in Jerusalem.
==Mark 16:9–20 in the manuscript tradition==
The last twelve verses, 16:9–20, are not present in the fourth century manuscripts Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, the earliest complete manuscripts of Mark. (Papyrus 45 is the oldest but has no text from Mark 16 due to extensive damage).
Codex Vaticanus has a blank column after ending at 16:8 and placing kata Markon, “according to Mark.” There are three other blank columns in Vaticanus, in the Old Testament. It has been suggested that Codex Vaticanus may be reflecting a Western order of the gospels with Mark as the last book (Matthew, John, Luke, and Mark).This is suggested by J.K. Elliott. Daniel Wallace stated this at the 2008 Greer-Heard Counterpoint Forum, in debating Bart Ehrman.
Sinaiticus too ends with 16:8 and euangelion kata Markon, “the gospel according to Mark.” With Codex Sinaiticus, four pages produced by the main copyist of the Gospels were replaced by a four-page sheet, on which another copyist (serving as proof-reader) rewrote the text of Mark 14:54-Luke 1:56. The text preceding 15:19 is written more compacted. Afterwards it is written more spaced. However, it is generally agreed the exemplar of Sinaiticus most likely did not contain the twelve verses.
Another manuscript, minuscule 304 (twelfth century) omits the last twelve verses.Maurice Robinson, after examining a microfilm of 304, states that the commentary on the text ended abruptly as well. It is suggested by some that this reflects damage to 304. This same situation is reflected in two other minuscules (1420 and 2386).
Codex Washingtonianus (late fourth early fifth century) includes verses 9–20 and features an addition between 16:14-15 known as the “Freer Logion”: “And they excused themselves, saying, ‘This age of lawlessness and unbelief is under Satan, who does not allow the truth and power of God to prevail over the unclean things of the spirits [or, does not allow what lies under the unclean spirits to understand the truth and power of God]. Therefore reveal your righteousness now’ – thus they spoke to Christ. And Christ replied to them, ‘The term of years of Satan’s power has been fulfilled, but other terrible things draw near. And for those who have sinned I was handed over to death, that they may return to the truth and sin no more, in order that they may inherit the spiritual and incorruptible glory of righteousness that is in heaven.’”Bruce M. Metzger, Textual Commentary, p. 104
Another ending (indirectly witnessing to the shorter reading of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus) is that of the Latin manuscript, Codex Bobbiensis (k), from the early fifth century. It reads, “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” (English Standard Version [2001] margin). This manuscript also contains an interpolation between Mark 16:3 and 16:4 which seems to picture Jesus' ascension as if it occurred at the time of the resurrection.
The group of manuscripts known as “Family 1” and others add a note to Mark 16:9–20, stating that some copies do not contain the verses. Codex L adds the “shorter ending” after 16:8 and follows it with vv. 9–20.
Mark 16:9–20 is preserved in its traditional form in about a dozen uncials (the earliest being Codex Alexandrinus) and in all undamaged minuscules.Most textual critics are skeptical of the weight of the bulk of minuscules, since most were produced in the Middle Ages, and exemplify such a high degree of similarity that they indicate being copies of copies.
===Versions===
Version 	Text
Mark 16:8 (undisputed text) 	And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
Longer Ending 16:9–20 	Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.
After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.
And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.
Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
Freer LogionNew American Bible	And they excused themselves, saying: This age of lawlessness and unbelief is under Satan, who does not allow the truth and power of God to prevail over the unclean things dominated by the spirits.or, does not allow the unclean things dominated by the spirits to grasp the truth and power of God Therefore, reveal your righteousness now.' They spoke to Christ. And Christ responded to them, "The limit of the years of Satan's power is completed, but other terrible things draw near. And for those who sinned I was handed over to death, that they might return to the truth and no longer sin, in order that they might inherit the spiritual and incorruptible heavenly glory of righteousness. But . . . .'
Shorter Ending 	And they reported all the instructions briefly to Peter's companions. Afterwards Jesus himself, through them, sent forth from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Amen.
===Hypotheses about the ending===
Hypotheses on how to explain the textual variations include:
* Mark intentionally ended his Gospel at 16:8, and someone else (at an early date) wrote the concluding lines.
* Mark did not intend to end at 16:8, but was somehow prevented from finishing (perhaps by his own death), whereupon another person finished the work before it was released for church-use.
* The Gospel originally contained a different (perhaps similar) ending that was lost, for one reason or another, whereafter the current ending was added.
* Verses 16:9–20 are authentic, and were omitted or lost from the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus for one reason or another, perhaps accidental, perhaps intentional.
* Verses 16:9–20 were added later to conform with the endings from the other Gospels.
James H. Charlesworth pointed out that Codex Syriacus (a 5th-century translation), Codex Vaticanus (mid-4th century), and Codex Bobiensis (4th- or 5th-century Latin) are all early manuscripts that exclude the Marcan appendix. In addition to these, approximately 100 Armenian manuscripts, as well as the two oldest Georgian manuscripts, also omit the appendix. The Armenian Version was made in 411-450, and the Old Georgian Version was based mainly on the Armenian Version. One Armenian manuscript, made in 989, features a note, written between 16:8 and 16:9, Ariston eritzou, that is, "By Ariston the Elder/Priest." Ariston, or Aristion, is known from early traditions (preserved by Papias and others) as a colleague of Peter and as a bishop of Smyrna in the first century.
===Internal evidence===
Critical questions concerning the authenticity of verses 9–20 (the "longer ending") often centre around stylistic and linguistic issues. On linguistics, E. P. Gould identified 19 of the 163 words in the passage as distinctive and not occurring elsewhere in the Gospel.E. P. Gould, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Mark (New York: Charles Scribner's Press, 1896), p. 303. Dr. Bruce Terry argues that a vocabulary-based case against Mark 16:9–20 is indecisive, inasmuch as other 12-verse sections of Mark contain comparable amounts of once-used words."The Style of the Long Ending of Mark" by Dr. Bruce Terry at http://bterry.com/articles/mkendsty.htm
The final sentence in verse 8 is regarded as strange by some scholars. In the Greek text it finishes with the conjunction γαρ (gar, "for"). It is contended by some who see 16:9–20 as originally Markan that γαρ literally means because, and this ending to verse 8 is therefore not grammatically coherent (literally, it would read they were afraid because). However, γαρ may end a sentence, and does so in various Greek compositions, including some sentences in the Septuagint, a popular Greek translation of the Old Testament used by early Christians. Protagoras, a contemporary of Socrates, even ended a speech with γαρ. Although γαρ is never the first word of a sentence, there is no rule against it being the last word, even though it is not a common construction.
Robert Gundry mentions that only 10% of Mark's γαρ clauses — 6 out of 66 — conclude pericopes (Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross, Chapters 9–16). Thus he infers that rather than concluding 16:1–8, verse 8 begins a new pericope, the rest of which is now lost to us. Gundry therefore does not see verse 8 as the intended ending; a resurrection narrative was either written, then lost, or planned but never actually written.
Concerning style, the degree to which verses 9–20 aptly fit as an ending for the Gospel remains in question. The turn from verse 8 to 9 has also been seen as abrupt and interrupted: the narrative flows from "they were afraid" to "now after he rose", and seems to reintroduce Mary Magdalene. Secondly, Mark regularly identifies instances where Jesus' prophecies are fulfilled, yet Mark does not explicitly state the twice predicted reconciliation of Jesus with his disciples in Galilee (Mark 14:28, 16:7). Lastly, the active tense "he rose" is different from the earlier passive construction "[he] has been risen" of verse 6, seen as significant by some.Kilgallen, p. 306.
===Sinaiticus and Vaticanus===
According to T. C. Skeat, Sinaiticus and Vaticanus were both produced at the same scriptorium, which would mean that they represent only one textual tradition, rather than serving as two independent witnesses of an earlier text type that ends at 16:8.T. C. Skeat, "The Codex Sinaiticus, the Codex Vaticanus, and Constantine", in Journal of Theological Studies 50 (1999), 583-625. Skeat argued that they were produced as part of Eusebius' response to the request of Constantine for copies of the scriptures for churches in Constantinople.T. C. Skeat, "The Codex Sinaiticus, the Codex Vaticanus, and Constantine", in Journal of Theological Studies 50 (1999), 604-609.
However, this view is unlikely, since (a) there are about 3,036 differences between the gospels of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus; (b) the text of Sinaiticus is of the Western text form in John 1:1 through 8:38 while Vaticanus is not; and (c) neither Vaticanus nor Sinaiticus contains Mark 15:28, which Eusebius accepted and included in his Canon-tables.
===Scholarly opinions===
The current consensus among scholars is that verses 9–20 were not part of the original text of Mark but represent a very early addition.
Explaining the reason for adding the verses, text critic and author Bart D. Ehrman says:
Jesus does rise from the dead in Mark’s Gospel. The women go to the tomb, the tomb is empty and there is a man there who tells them that Jesus has been raised from the dead and that they are to go tell the disciples that this has happened. But then the Gospel ends in Codex Sinaiticus and other manuscripts by saying the women fled from the tomb and didn’t say anything to anyone because they were afraid, period. That's where the Gospel ends. So nobody finds out about it, the disciples don’t learn about it, the disciples never see Jesus after the resurrection, that’s the end of the story. But later scribes couldn’t handle this abrupt ending and they added the 12 verses people find in the King James Bible or other Bibles in which Jesus does appear to his disciples.BBC Radio 4 programme on 05/Oct/2008 "The Oldest Bible"
Among the scholars who reject Mark 16:9–20, a debate continues about whether the ending at 16:8 is intentional or accidental. Some scholars consider the original ending to have been verse 8. Others argue that Mark never intended to end so abruptly: either he planned another ending that was never written, or the original ending has been lost. C. H. Turner argued that the original version of the Gospel could have been a codex, with the last page being especially vulnerable to damage. Whatever the case, many scholars, including Rudolf Bultmann, have concluded that the Gospel most likely ended with a Galilean resurrection appearance and the reconciliation of Jesus with the Eleven,R. Bultmann, History of the Synoptic Tradition pp. 284-286. even if verses 9–20 are unautographic.
Verses 9–20 share the subject of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances, and other points, with other passages in the New Testament. This has led some scholars to believe that Mark 16:9–20 is based on the other Gospels and Acts. Some of the elements that Mark 16:9–20 has in common with other passages of Scripture are listed here:
* v.11 they refused to believe it ();
* v.12–13a two returned and told the others ();
* v.14 appeared to the Eleven (, , );
* v.15 Great Commission (, );
* v.16 salvation and judgment , );
* v.17a cast out demons (, , , , );
* v.17b speak with new tongues (),
* v.18a pick up serpents (, );
* v.18c lay hands on the sick (, , , );
* v.19a ascension of the Lord Jesus (, , , );
* v.19b sat down at the right hand of God, (, , , );
* v.20 confirmed the word by the signs that followed ().
Jesus' reference to drinking poison (16:18) does not correspond to a New Testament source, but that miraculous power did appear in Christian literature from the second century on.May, Herbert G. and Bruce M. Metzger. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. 1977.
===Scholarly conclusions===
The vast majority of contemporary New Testament textual critics (see also Textual criticism) have concluded that neither the longer nor shorter endings were originally part of Mark's Gospel. The longer ending had become accepted tradition by some in the second century. The Complete Gospels states: "The ending of the Gospel of Mark is a classic problem in New Testament textual criticism. The scholarly consensus is that Mark originally ended with the abrupt stop at 16:8. The earliest Patristic evidence (Clement of Rome, Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome) give no indication of any text beyond 16:8."Robert J. Miller ed., 1992, page 425
The United Bible Societies' 4th edition of the Greek New Testament (1993) rates the omission of verses 9–20 from the original Markan manuscript as "certain". Bruce M. Metzger's Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testamentpage 126 states: "Thus, on the basis of good external evidence and strong internal considerations it appears that the earliest ascertainable form of the Gospel of Mark ended with 16:8. Three possibilities are open: (a) the evangelist intended to close his Gospel at this place; or (b) the Gospel was never finished; or, as seems most probable, (c) the Gospel accidentally lost its last leaf before it was multiplied by transcription."
The 1984 printing of the NIV translation notes: "The most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9–20." However, the Committee on Bible Translation has since changed this to read "The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9–20."
===Theological implications===
Few doctrines of the mainline Christian denominations stand or fall on the support of the longer ending of Mark. The longer ending does identify Mary Magdalene as the woman out of whom Jesus had exorcised seven demons (but so does ), but Mary Magdalene's significance, and the practice of exorcism, are both supported by New Testament texts outside the debated passage.
The longer ending of Mark 16 is of considerable significance in Pentecostalism and other denominations:
* Mark 16:16 is cited as evidence for the requirement of believer's baptism among churches of the Restoration Movement.
* Mark 16:17 is specifically cited as Biblical support for some of these denominations' teachings concerning exorcism and spiritual warfare, and also in support of speaking in tongues.
* The practice of snake handling and of drinking strychnine and other poisons, found in a few offshoots of Pentecostalism, find their Biblical support in Mark 16:18. These churches typically justify these practices as "confirming the word with signs following" (KJV), which references Mark 16:20. Other denominations believe that these texts indicate the power of the Holy Spirit given to the apostles, but do not believe that they are recommendations for worship.
The longer ending was declared canonical scripture by the Council of Trent. Today, however, Roman Catholics are not required to believe that Mark wrote this ending. The Catholic NAB translation includes the footnote: "[9–20] This passage, termed the Longer Ending to the Marcan gospel by comparison with a much briefer conclusion found in some less important manuscripts, has traditionally been accepted as a canonical part of the gospel and was defined as such by the Council of Trent. Early citations of it by the Fathers indicate that it was composed by the second century, although vocabulary and style indicate that it was written by someone other than Mark. It is a general resume of the material concerning the appearances of the risen Jesus, reflecting, in particular, traditions found in Luke 24 and John 20."
===Arguments in support of Mark 16:9–20===
See external links.
A summary of the manuscripts and versions that contain Mark 16:9–20 can be found in the apparatuses of the Nestle-Aland 27th edition and the fourth edition of United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament.
===Summary of manuscript evidence===
thumb|right|250px|Mark ends at 16:8 in 4th century Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209
(Information taken from apparatus of Nestle-Aland 27th edition).
Omit Mark 16:9–20: Codex Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, 20, 304, Syriac Sinaiticus, a Sahidic manuscript, Armenian manuscripts; Eusebius, manuscripts according to Eusebius, manuscripts according to Jerome.
Add but marked with asterisks, obeli or other critical note in manuscripts: f1, 22, 138, 205, 1110, 1210, 1221, 1582.
Add 16:9–20 in its form seen in the Textus Receptus: A, C, D, W, Codex Koridethi, f13, 33, 565, 700, 892, 2427, 2674, the majority text; the Vulgate and part of the Old Latin, Syriac Curetonian, Peshitta, Bohairic; the Latin text of Irenaeus, manuscripts according to Eusebius, manuscripts according to Jerome (add with obeli f1 al).
Add shorter ending only: Codex Bobbiensis (Latin)
Add shorter and longer ending: L (019), Ψ (044), 0112, 099, 274 (margin) 579 lectionary 1602, Syriac Harclean margin, Sahidic manuscripts, Bohairic manuscripts, Ethiopic manuscripts.
Add 16:9–20 with "Freer Logion": Codex Washingtonianus (fourth/fifth century); manuscripts according to Jerome.
==See also==
* John 21
* Pericope Adulteræ
* Comma Johanneum
* Matthew 16:2b-3
==Notes==
==References==
* Beavis, M. A., Mark's Audience, Sheffield, Sheffield Academic Press, 1989. ISBN 1–85075–215-X.
* Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament. Doubleday, 1997. ISBN 0–385–24767–2
* Brown, Raymond E. et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, 1990 ISBN 0–13–614934–0
* Elliott, J. K., The Language and Style of the Gospel of Mark. An Edition of C. H. Turner's "Notes on Markan Usage" together with Other Comparable Studies, Leiden, Brill, 1993. ISBN 90–04–09767–8.
* Gundry, R. H., Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross, Chapters 9–16, Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1992. ISBN 0–8028–2911–2.
* Kilgallen, John J. A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark. Paulist Press, 1989. ISBN 0–8091–3059–9
* Mark 16 NIV Accessed May 8, 2007
* Miller, Robert J. Editor, The Complete Gospels. Polebridge Press, 1994. ISBN 0–06–065587–9
* Dake, Finis Jennings, Dake's Annotated Reference Bible Dake Publishing, 1996. ISBN 9781558290716
==External links==
* Mark 16 in Manuscript Comparator — allows two or more New Testament manuscript editions' readings of the passage to be compared in side-by-side and unified views (similar to diff output)
* The various endings of Mark Detailed text-critical description of the evidence, the manuscripts, and the variants of the Greek text (PDF, 17 pages)
* Extracts from authors arguing for the authenticity of Mark 16:9–20
* Aichele, G., "Fantasy and Myth in the Death of Jesus" A literary-critical affirmation of Mark's Gospel ending at 16:8.
* Catholic Encyclopedia: Gospel of Saint Mark: Section IV. STATE OF TEXT AND INTEGRITY
* Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel According to S. Mark Vindicated Against Recent Critical Objectors and Established A Book written by Burgon, John William
* The Authenticity of Mark 16:9–20 A detailed defense of Mark 16:9–20, featuring replicas of portions of Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus and a list of early patristic evidence.
<Center>Chapters of the Bible	<Center>Chapters of the Bible	<Center>Chapters of the Bible
<Center>Preceded by:
<Center>Mark 15	Gospel of Mark 	<Center>Followed by:
<Center>Luke 1
Category:Biblical criticism
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