The Original Ending of Mark: A New Case for the Authenticity of Mark 16:9-20Although traditionally accepted by the church down through the centuries, the longer ending of Mark's Gospel (16:9-20) has been relegated by modern scholarship to the status of a later appendage. The arguments for such a view are chiefly based upon the witness of the two earliest complete manuscripts of Mark, and upon matters of language and style. This work shows that these primary grounds of argumentation are inadequate. It is demonstrated that the church fathers knew the Markan ending from the very earliest days, well over two centuries before the earliest extant manuscripts. The quantity of unique terms in the ending is also seen to fall within the parameters exhibited by undisputed Markan passages. Strong indications of Markan authorship are found in the presence of specific linguistic constructions, a range of literary devices, and the continuation of various themes prominent within the body of the Gospel. Furthermore, the writings of Luke show that the Gospel of Mark known to this author contained the ending. Rather than being a later addition, the evidence is interpreted in terms of a textual omission occurring at a later stage in transmission, probably in Egypt during the second century. |
Contents
| 21 | |
Patristic Citations | 61 |
Vocabulary and Style | 117 |
Other features | 165 |
literary evidence | 209 |
Thematic evidence | 241 |
The Question of dependence | 273 |
Miscellaneous issues | 318 |
The Cause of the Problem | 336 |
Summary and Conclusion | 356 |
| 373 | |
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Common terms and phrases
according to Mark Acts aland Alexandria allusions apostles armenian authenticity Basilides biblical canonical century chapter Christian church church fathers citation clause Codex collocation Commentary conclusion contains context copies demons Diatessaron disciples earlier early elements Elliott ending of Mark Eusebius event evidence exodus fact Galilee Gnostic Gospel according Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark Greek Ibid included inclusio instances Irenaeus Jerusalem Jesus Kelhoffer language Last Twelve Verses latter linguistic literary longer ending Lord Lukan Luke manuscripts Mark 16 Mark’s Mark's Gospel Markan ending Mary Magdalene Matt Matthew Miracle and Mission missing John narrative noun occurs original parallel passage pericope Peter phrase preach preposition present reference regarding resurrection appearance risen second Gospel shorter ending Sinaiticus Snapp Synoptic Synoptic Gospels Syriac Testament textual tomb unique Vaticanus verb verbal witness women words writings δὲ εἰς καὶ τὴν τὸν