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Acts 5:19-20 "But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,'Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life." Acts 5:19-20"

Day 349 – Mark 16

“But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,’Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.”
Acts 5:19-20

ACADEMIC DIFFERENCES

In any academic field, there will always be many different opinions expressed. This is true even in the study of the Scriptures. As we come to Mark 16, we are faced with a dilemma. Scholars engage in lively debate concerning how to read the last chapter of the Gospel of Mark.

TWO ENDINGS

The Gospel of Mark has two endings.

1. Short Ending

Some ancient manuscripts have Mark ending his gospel abruptly (Mark 16:8).

2. Long Ending

Other manuscripts, slightly less ancient manuscripts have the longer ending (Mark 16:9-20).

SOME USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT TEXT TYPES

Before we can fully appreciate the arguments put forward by scholars, we need to have a bit of knowledge of text-types of the New Testament. This area of study is called “New Testament Textual Criticism”. Scholars try and determine and group the different types of extant New Testament manuscripts.

1. Alexandrian text-type

a) It is sometimes called “neutral” or “Egyptian” text-type.

b) This group is one of the earliest surviving texts.

c) Two ancient manuscripts are:-

i) Alexandrian

ii) Vaticanus

d) These manuscripts date back to the 4th century.

2. Byzantine text-type

a) This is the more common text-type.

b) These manuscripts date from the 9th century.

3. Eclectic text-type

Some scholars use this selective approach for their work on NT textual critical work.