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Mark 16

KJV · Chapter 16/16

1And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

2And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

3And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

4And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.

5And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.

6And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

7But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.

8And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.

9Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

10And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.

11And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.

12After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.

13And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.

14Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

17And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

18They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

19So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

20And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

On the third day, women find the tomb empty and an angel announces Jesus' resurrection, instructing them to tell the disciples; Jesus appears to several followers and finally sends the disciples out to preach the gospel to every creature.

Explanation

The women who go to the tomb to complete the embalming process, interrupted by the start of the Sabbath, find the stone already rolled away and an angel announcing that Jesus 'is risen, he is not here' — the central message of all Christianity. The oldest manuscripts of Mark end abruptly at verse 8, with the women fleeing in fear, and the final verses about Jesus' appearances and the Great Commission are considered by many scholars a later addition, though widely accepted in biblical tradition throughout the centuries. The disciples' initial unbelief in the face of the resurrection account, rebuked by Jesus, shows that faith in the resurrection was not something easily accepted, even by the earliest and closest followers. The final commissioning to preach 'to every creature' closes the gospel with a universal mission, consistent with the direct and urgent tone that characterizes the entire book of Mark.

Fun facts

  • The two oldest and most reliable manuscripts of the New Testament (Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, both from the fourth century) end Mark at verse 8, without the final verses about the appearances — which is why modern Bibles often mark this passage as an alternate ending, possibly added later.
  • Mary Magdalene is highlighted as the first witness of the resurrection, and Mark notes that Jesus had cast seven demons out of her — a detail that underscores her profound transformation before she became one of Jesus' most faithful followers.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Mark 16:1Anointing a body with fragrant spices was part of the Jewish custom of preparing for burial, since there was no embalming as in Egypt and the smell of decay had to be masked. The women buy these spices as soon as the sabbath ends, showing they considered the burial work still unfinished.
  2. Mark 16:2Going to the tomb very early, at sunrise, shows the women's urgency to complete the anointing ritual they had not had time to finish before the sabbath began.
  3. Mark 16:3Their concern about the stone is quite practical: this kind of round stone, rolled across the entrance, usually took several people to move, and they were going alone with no help arranged.
  4. Mark 16:4The detail that the stone was “very great” underscores just how strange it was to find it already moved away, with no one around to have helped.
  5. Mark 16:5A young man dressed in white sitting in the tomb is the understated way the gospels often describe a heavenly messenger, without calling him an angel outright. The women's startled reaction is that of people running into something out of the ordinary, not just any young man.
  6. Mark 16:6The young man offers two things at once: a direct explanation of what happened and an invitation to see with their own eyes the empty place where the body had been laid.
  7. Mark 16:7Mentioning Peter separately, alongside the other disciples, sounds like special care — after denying Jesus three times, he is given assurance that he is still included in the promised reunion in Galilee.
  8. Mark 16:8In the oldest surviving manuscripts of Mark's gospel, the book ends exactly here, with the women afraid and silent, an abrupt ending that has puzzled readers for centuries. It is this short ending that later gave rise to attempts to complete the story with a more traditional close.
  9. Mark 16:9The oldest and most reliable manuscripts of Mark's gospel stop at verse 8; this final section, verses 9 through 20, appears only in later copies and has a different writing style from the rest of the book. That is why most biblical scholars, across varied traditions, regard this ending as a later addition and not part of the original text — yet it made its way into the printed Bible and is still debated today.
  10. Mark 16:10The account describes the disciples still overcome with grief and weeping, caught up in mourning, at the exact moment the news of the resurrection reaches them.
  11. Mark 16:11Their initial disbelief shows that the resurrection was not accepted right away or easily, even coming from someone who was part of the inner circle.
  12. Mark 16:12“In another form” suggests that Jesus appeared in a way that was not recognized right away, an episode another gospel tells in more detail on the road to Emmaus.
  13. Mark 16:13The disbelief repeats itself: even with two reports of His appearing already on record, the rest of the group still refuses to believe.
  14. Mark 16:14Only when He appears in person to the eleven does Jesus directly rebuke their unbelief, using the same phrase, “hardness of heart,” already used earlier in the gospel to describe the disciples' lack of understanding.
  15. Mark 16:15The command to preach throughout the whole world, to every creature, expands the mission far beyond the Jewish audience Jesus had reached until then.
  16. Mark 16:16The statement links faith and baptism as signs of accepting the message, drawing a direct contrast between two possible outcomes.
  17. Mark 16:17The list of signs promised to those who believe includes things like casting out demons and speaking in new tongues, abilities the book of Acts later describes the first Christians exercising.
  18. Mark 16:18The mention of picking up serpents and drinking poison without harm has been read very differently throughout history — most readers take it as a sign of divine protection in dangerous situations, not as a ritual test to be sought out on purpose.
  19. Mark 16:19The ascension is described briefly, using the same image of “sat on the right hand of God” that had already appeared in Jesus' answer to the high priest back in chapter 14.
  20. Mark 16:20The closing summary describes the church's missionary activity right after, and the “Amen” at the end is a common closing formula for texts used in worship at the time.

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