Mark 16

When the Sabbath day was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought sweet-smelling spices so they could go and put them on Jesus' body.

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.

NoteThe Sabbath ran from Friday evening to Saturday evening, and neither shopping nor the handling of a corpse was done during it, so the women had to wait until it ended. Anointing a body with sweet-smelling spices and oils was a normal act of respect for the dead and a way of covering the smell of decay; it was not embalming and did nothing to preserve the body. "Mary the mother of James" is one of several women named Mary, distinguished here by her son, the ordinary way of telling apart people with very common names.

2Very early on the first day of the week, just as the sun was coming up, they came to the tomb.

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

NoteDays of the Jewish week had no names except the seventh, the Sabbath, so "the first day of the week" simply means the day after it, our Sunday. Since a day was reckoned from sunset, this is the morning of the third day counting from the Friday of the burial, by an inclusive count that treats Friday as day one.

3They said to each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb for us?"

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

NoteA tomb of this kind was a chamber cut into rock with a low doorway, closed by a heavy stone set into a groove or wedged into the opening. Moving one took several strong people, which is why three women on their own wonder aloud who will do it.

4But when they looked, they saw that the stone had already been rolled away. It was very large.

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

NoteThe King James puts the clause about size after the news that the stone had been moved, which can read as though the stone rolled away because it was large. The sense is the reverse: the stone was enormous, and that is why the women had worried and why finding it moved was startling.

5They went into the tomb and saw a young man sitting on the right side, wearing a long white robe. They were alarmed.

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.

Note"Affrighted" is the 1611 word for badly frightened, stronger than the modern "alarmed." Mark does not use the word angel here; he says simply "a young man" in a long white robe, white clothing being the standard mark of a messenger from God in writing of this period.

6He said to them, "Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was put to death on a cross. He has risen. He is not here. Look at the place where they laid him.

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.

Note"Jesus of Nazareth" identifies him by his home village in Galilee, the usual way of distinguishing one man from another where the name Jesus was extremely common. The Greek behind "he is risen" is a passive form, literally "he was raised," though English translations have long rendered it as an active "he is risen."

7But go and tell his disciples, and Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you."

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.

Note"Go your way" is simply old English for "go"; it carries no sense of going off separately. Naming Peter apart from "his disciples" is pointed: a few days earlier Peter had denied three times that he knew Jesus (Mark 14:66-72).

8They hurried out and ran from the tomb, shaking and stunned. They did not say anything to anyone, because they were afraid.

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.

NoteIn the King James "amazed" is much stronger than it is now; the Greek word means driven out of one's senses. The oldest surviving Greek manuscripts of Mark stop at this verse, ending with frightened women saying nothing, and the last sentence in Greek breaks off on the word "for," an abrupt close that has been debated for centuries.

9Now after Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, the woman he had driven seven demons out of.

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.

ManuscriptsThe oldest surviving manuscripts of Mark end at verse 8. These last twelve verses appear in later copies, and most modern Bibles print them with a note saying so.

NoteVerses 9 to 20 are missing from the earliest and most reliable manuscripts of Mark, and other ancient copies carry a different, shorter ending instead. Most modern Bibles print them but mark them off for this reason. The King James, working from later manuscripts, includes them without comment. Where the King James says "devils," the Greek word is "demons." The text says only that seven demons were driven out of Mary Magdalene; it does not say what her affliction was, and the widespread notion that she had been a prostitute appears nowhere in any of the Gospels.

10She went and told the people who had been with him, who were mourning and crying.

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

11But when they heard that he was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.

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

12After that, Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking out into the countryside.

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

Note"In another form" means his appearance was different, so that the two did not recognize him. Luke 24 tells the same walk into the country at greater length.

13They went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them either.

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

Note"The residue" here means the rest of the group, an older sense of the word. It does not mean leftovers or remains.

14Later Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples while they were eating a meal. He scolded them for not believing and for being stubborn, because they had not believed the people who saw him after he had risen.

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.

Note"The eleven" is the group of twelve close followers minus Judas. "Sat at meat" means were at a meal; diners at a formal meal reclined on their sides rather than sitting on chairs. "Upbraided" means rebuked sharply. "Hardness of heart" in this idiom is stubborn refusal to be persuaded, not cruelty.

15He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone.

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

Note"Gospel" translates a Greek word meaning an announcement of good news, the kind of report a herald brings back from a battle or about a new ruler. "Every creature" renders a phrase meaning the whole created order; in context it means every human being everywhere.

16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

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

NoteBaptism was immersion in water, a public washing that marked a person's entry into the group. "Damned" in 1611 English meant condemned, the verdict of a court passing sentence; the narrower modern sense of eternal punishment had not yet taken over the word, and the Greek verb here is the ordinary one for being condemned.

17These signs will go along with those who believe: using my name, they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages;

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

Note"In my name" means on his authority, acting as his agent, the way an official acts in the name of a king. "Devils" again translates the Greek word for demons. "Tongues" means languages; the phrase is about speaking in languages not previously theirs.

18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on sick people, and those people will get well."

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.

Note"Take up" is the plain verb for picking something up, and the sentence does not say whether the snakes are handled deliberately or encountered by accident. "Any deadly thing" means deadly poison.

19So after the Lord had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

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

Note"Received up" is a passive: he was taken up, not that he took himself. The seat at a ruler's right hand was the place of highest honor and delegated power, so "sat on the right hand of God" is a statement about rank and authority rather than a description of physical position.

20And they went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and backed up the message by the signs that went along with it. Amen.

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

NoteThe King James "with signs following" means by means of the signs that accompanied the message, not signs that came afterward as a separate event. "Amen" is a Hebrew word meaning roughly "truly" or "let it be so," used to close a statement; it was often added by copyists at the end of a book.