Mark 16

¹ When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint him.

² Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.

³ They were saying among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?”

⁴ for it was very big. Looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back.

⁵ Entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed.

⁶ He said to them, “Don’t be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him!

⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He goes before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you.’”

⁸ They went out, and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come on them. They said nothing to anyone; for they were afraid.

⁹ Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.

¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept.

¹¹ When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they disbelieved.

¹² After these things he was revealed in another form to two of them as they walked, on their way into the country.

¹³ They went away and told it to the rest. They didn’t believe them, either.

¹⁴ Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table; and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn’t believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to the whole creation.

¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned.

¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages;

¹⁸ they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

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

²⁰ They went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.

Around Mark 16

Book context

MarkEditorial draft

Mark opens with “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1) and moves quickly from scene to scene, starting with Jesus announcing that God’s Kingdom is at hand (1:14 to 15). It explains Jewish terms such as “Corban” for its readers (7:11), which suggests an audience not all familiar with Jewish practice. A central saying is that the Son of Man came “to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:45). The text does not name its author; early tradition links it to John Mark and the preaching of Peter, and Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) places it in Rome around AD 63. Many scholars today regard Mark as the earliest Gospel.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · common interpretation · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

Mark 16 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

The Sabbath is over. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome buy spices and go to the tomb at sunrise on the first day of the week. On the way they ask each other, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” It is very big. When they look up, the stone is already rolled back.

Inside they see a young man in a white robe, and they are amazed. He tells them not to be. They are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. “He has risen!” He is not here. They should tell his disciples and Peter that he goes ahead of them into Galilee, where they will see him.

The women run from the tomb, trembling and astonished. They say nothing to anyone, for they are afraid.

Many early manuscripts end here. Later copies add more verses: Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, to two travelers and to the eleven, whom he rebukes for unbelief. He sends them to preach to all creation, speaks of signs that will follow believers, and is taken up into heaven.

Background

The ending of Mark is a well-known textual question. The oldest and best known manuscripts stop at verse 8, and verses 9 to 20 appear in later ones. Most Bibles mark this with a note. Churches differ on how to treat the longer ending, but many read it as early and still valued. Verses 17 and 18 about serpents and poison are read in different ways, and some groups have taken them as instructions. Others read them as describing what happened in the early church. See Acts 28:3 to 6 for comparison.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 27 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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