Does Mark 16:9-20 Belong In The Bible?

Biblegems #300

Question: A note in my Bible says that the earliest manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20. Does that mean that these verses in the Gospel of Mark were added later, and are therefore not part of God’s inspired, revealed Word?

The answer is “No.” Here’s why:

First, the note in your Bible is accurate in that the earliest manuscripts do not contain this portion of Mark. However, that only means the earliest manuscripts we have found so far. All that can be said for certain is that for some reason, unknown at this time, these earlier documents—of which there are only a few—lost their final paragraph.

Second, the “ancient witnesses” the note in your Bible refers to are comments written in the margins of ancient biblical manuscripts. These “witnesses” are often identified by a number since no author’s name for the comment is available. For example, one such “ancient witness” is identified by the number “20”. He wrote in the margin of his manuscript of Mark 16:8:

                    From this to the end is not found in some

                    copies; but in the ancient copies the whole

                    is found uncurtailed.

This ancient author is telling us that he personally knows of other copies of Mark that are “ancient” to him that have not lost the last paragraph of Mark 16!

We can be confident then that Mark’s Gospel did not end with verse 8. So the question is whether verses 9-20 are authentic to Mark or whether they were added later, as many claim.

While it is true that the shift from verse 8 to verse 9 is awkward and abrupt, this is also true for much of Mark’s Gospel. Rather than flowing from one event or scene to another, events in Mark’s Gospel are presented as happening “immediately.” Style is not a convincing argument against Mark’s authorship.

Finally, most of the content in verses 9-20 can be found in the other Gospels as well, especially Matthew, and none of the content is incompatible with biblical teaching. This is even true of verses 17-18, where Jesus says just before His Ascension:

                    And these signs will accompany those who

                    believe: In my name they will drive out demons;

                    they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up

                    snakes with their hands; and when they drink

                    deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will

                    place their hands on sick people, and they will

                    get well.

Some have misconstrued this to mean that all believers will demonstrate miraculous powers and will be invincible to snake bites. What Jesus actually says is that “signs will accompany those who

Believe,” and gives examples of what some of those “signs” could be.

In short, there is no reason not to trust the Gospel of Mark in its entirety. The closing paragraph is present in most manuscripts, sound in doctrine, and typical of Mark’s somewhat awkward style. And even though this final paragraph is not present in some ancient documents, the “witnesses” testify to earlier copies where it was present.

Ps. 119:43  Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.

When Was Jesus Crucified?

Biblegems #178

Question: When Was Jesus Crucified? The Gospel of Mark says it was the third hour, but John seems to suggest it was the sixth hour.

Mark 15:25 reads: It was the third hour when they crucified him.

John 19:14-16 reads: It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.

Most likely, John's Gospel best reflects the actual timing of the crucifixion. Here are the three possible answers to this apparent contradiction that have been suggested over the years. Sound principles of biblical interpretation help reveal which, if any, of these solutions is correct.

Possibility #1

Some speculate that Mark used Hebrew reckoning of time, while John used the Roman system. In that case, John’s “sixth hour” would be 6 AM, not twelve noon, and the three hours between 6 AM and Mark’s 9 AM would be taken up with the beating, whipping and preparations for the crucifixion. While this is not unreasonable in itself, there is absolutely no evidence in John’s Gospel to suggest he, as a Jew, was thinking in terms of Roman time.

Possibility #2

Others suggest that verse 25 was not in Mark’s original Gospel but was added later when the document was being copied for circulation throughout the early Christian church. Occurrences of this type of error in copying are known as a “gloss.” This happens when a scribe or copyist makes a side note on the margin of the document being copied, and a later copyist mistakes the side note as part of the original text. This is certainly possible, especially considering the fact that Mark is the earliest of the Gospels, and Matthew and Luke seem to draw on Mark’s time-line for the passion and crucifixion events, yet neither mention the “third hour” of Mark 15:25.

Possibility #3

This solution also looks to copyist error as the likely culprit. In this case, the Greek letter gamma was originally in its lower case form and doubled (gamma gamma), which indicates the number “6.” An early copyist mistakenly replaced the lower case with an upper case gamma, which indicates the number “3.” This would be a very easy mistake to make when copying by hand, and examples of this kind of error can be found in ancient manuscripts.

The last two solutions point to an “error of transmission”—an error that was not part of Mark’s original manuscript. This is human error in copying, not a mistake in the Word of God as Mark first wrote it down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Bible translators today have available to them a vast number of ancient manuscripts, where one can be compared against others with relative ease. This process is of immense help in recognizing copy errors that do occasionally arise. While errors in copying do take place from time to time, such “errors of transmission” never affect doctrine. God’s Word is trustworthy and true!

For more on the origins and authority of the Bible, please check out Bible Gems #172, 165, 149, 110, 105, 83, 64, 60, 59, 53, 31, 6.