8 - The end of Mark

Summary

All commentators on Mark have recognized the peculiar problem of the ending. It is generally recognized that what may within limits be called authentic Mark comes to an end at 16:8 with the words ‘for they were afraid’ (ϕōβōῡντō γάρ), and that the so-called longer and shorter endings are compilations based largely on other Gospel accounts. Scholars have therefore attempted to determine whether Mark really did end in such an abrupt fashion, or whether the original ending has been lost. Of course an abrupt ending could be the sign not of Mark's intention but of his death for some reason or other before his work was complete or, as Streeter suggested, of the destruction of the last pages of the original copy. In any event, since it seems certain that ϕōβōῡντō γάρ were, from a very early period indeed, the last genuine words of Mark available, it would be of considerable interest if the character of the narrative in Matthew (or Luke) changed at this point. Luke, in fact, provides very little help, though it does give us one curiosity which may be of interest. For Matthew is much closer to Mark than Luke at this point, and Luke seems to be following a non-Markan emphasis of Resurrection appearances in Jerusalem rather than in Galilee; Luke (24:6) gives us the words of the angels (plural) as ‘Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee’.