Does\u00a0Mark 16:9-20\u00a0really belong in our Bibles?<\/p>\n\t
“Is Mark 16:9-20 Spurious or Genuine?<\/a>” by Howard See is an excellent review of the question.\u00a0 For details on the question, see\u00a0The Authenticity of Mark 16:9-20\u00a0<\/a>by Jim Snapp.<\/p>\n “Some Bible scholars doubt the authenticity of 16:9-20, insisting that Mark did not write this portion. These verses are not found in two early manuscripts, the Vatican Codex and the Sinaitic Codex. However, they are found in the overwhelming majority of early manuscripts. Those who reject verses 9-20 have attempted to support their opinion by a process called hapax legomena, the citing of some terms found here and not elsewhere in the Gospel. It is one of the least scientific or scholarly methods used to critize authorship. The futility of such a process may be seen easily by applying it to an equal part of the writings of most any erudite scholar. Some of the same ones who reject these verses also say that Paul did not write Ephesians because they have found 36 words in that epistle, not found elsewhere in Paul’s writings.<\/p>\n“The authenticity of these verses (16:9-20) should not be doubted: (1) They are found in nearly all Greek manuscripts and have been accepted in the church from the Second Century A.D. (2) Nothing in these verses contradicts anything in the rest of the Scriptures.” While\u00a0The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia<\/em> takes the view that the ending of Mark is doubtful, it is interesting to note that they have this to say, “They are certainly very early, perhaps as early as 100 AD, and have the support of ACDXrdz, all late uncials, all cursives, most VSS and Fathers, and were known to the scribes of (aleph) and B, who, however, do not accept them.”<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Does\u00a0Mark 16:9-20\u00a0really belong in our Bibles? Answer: “Is Mark 16:9-20 Spurious or Genuine?” by Howard See is an excellent review of the question.\u00a0 For details on the question, see\u00a0The Authenticity of Mark 16:9-20\u00a0by Jim Snapp. “Some Bible scholars doubt the authenticity of 16:9-20, insisting that Mark did not write this portion. These verses are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[121,122],"class_list":["post-621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-mark","tag-textual-criticism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56401,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-genuineness-of-mark-169-20\/","url_meta":{"origin":621,"position":0},"title":"The Genuineness of Mark 16:9-20","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dudley Ross Spears The last verses from Mark's gospel, (Mark 16:9-20) have been called \"The Longer Ending of Mark.\" The first time I came across this criticism it was in response to quoting verses 15 and 16. Mark 16:16 affirms, \"He that believes and is baptized shall be saved,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33351,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-mark-169-20-inspired\/","url_meta":{"origin":621,"position":1},"title":"Is Mark 16:9-20 Inspired?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kyle Pope via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 9, No. 8, August 2009 Many students of the New Testament have found themselves puzzled by notes encountered at the close of the Gospel of Mark, claiming, \"The most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20\"[1]. Should we question\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":623,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-mark-169-20-spurious-or-genuine\/","url_meta":{"origin":621,"position":2},"title":"Is Mark 16:9-20 Spurious or Genuine?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 11, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Howard See Truth Magazine XIX: 29, pp. 454-455,\u00a0May 29, 1975 In a recent, late-night television interview of a snake-handling preacher from East Tennessee, the text of Mark 16:9-20 was attacked as being spurious. This was an effort to try to offset the teaching in Mark 16:18, \"'They shall take\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":627,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-authenticity-of-mark-169-20\/","url_meta":{"origin":621,"position":3},"title":"The Authenticity of Mark 16:9-20","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 11, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jim Snapps II \"Does\u00a0Mark 16:9-20\u00a0belong in the Bible?\" The church has answered \"Yes\" for centuries. Many in the church still do. But in the 1800s, scholars questioned the originality of these 12 verses. Many scholars today take it for granted that the Gospel of Mark originally did not contain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2003\/10\/64ManuscriptsChart.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2003\/10\/64ManuscriptsChart.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2003\/10\/64ManuscriptsChart.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2003\/10\/64ManuscriptsChart.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":92809,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-elephant-in-mark-16\/","url_meta":{"origin":621,"position":4},"title":"The Elephant in Mark 16","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier Is It Even Supposed to Be There? Some of the newer translations, such as the ESV I commonly use, have made it abundantly clear there is a huge question about whether or not Mark 16:9-20 are originally part of Mark. Smack in the middle of the page,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67311,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-mark-12-3-says-it-quotes-isaiah-when-it-is-not-just-from-isaiah\/","url_meta":{"origin":621,"position":5},"title":"Why does Mark 1:2-3 says it quotes Isaiah when it is not just from Isaiah?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, First, I need to say that I tried to find this answer. I'm unaware if you have answered this. I'm just struggling with the 'new' answers page as the old search mechanic allowed me to find the answers I'm looking for quicker, but I'll probably still get\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n[The Complete Biblical Library Study Bible, Mark<\/em>, Ralph W. Harris Executive editor, 1986.]<\/blockquote>\n