Language Studies

Aramaic Thoughts

Idioms in the Bible - Part 9

Mark 16:17 says, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast our demons; they will speak in new tongues.” Lamsa identifies the concluding clause as an idiom meaning, “You will learn foreign languages wherever you go.” In our day, Lamsa’s claim sounds questionable, due to the widespread influence of the charismatic and Pentecostal movements. There is also further question about the concluding verses of Mark’s gospel.

First, most modern versions have a footnote on Mark 16:9-20 like this one from the ESV; “Some manuscripts end the book with 16:8; others include verses 9-20 immediately after verse 8. A few manuscripts insert additional material after verse 14; one Latin manuscript adds after verse 8 the following: But they reported briefly to Peter and those with him all that they had been told. And after this, Jesus himself sent out by means of them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Other manuscripts include this same wording after verse 8, then continue with verses 9-20.” What is the reader to make of this information? Do these verses belong in the gospel of Mark, or do they not?

These are not questions that admit of easy answers. In brief, there are three primary views. The first, and perhaps oldest, view is that the 12 verses (Mark 16:9-20) were part of the gospel originally written by Mark, and hence are to be retained. This is the view reflected in the KJV (Incidentally, the Syriac Peshitta includes these verses). This is due in large part to the fact that the manuscripts and texts available to the translators of the KJV all had that material included in the Gospel of Mark. The second view is that Mark ended at 16:8, and that the last twelve verses were added by someone who felt that the ending was too abrupt, and who thus compiled an ending from the concluding material of the other gospels and from the beginning of Acts. This is perhaps the most recent view to appear. The third view is that the last twelve verses are not original, but were later added because the original ending of Mark was somehow lost. This is the view that was adopted in the original edition of the RSV, where Mark 16:9-20 was placed in a footnote. It is perhaps the most commonly held view today.

The debate on the issue was begun in the latter part of the 19th century, due to the fact that a number of manuscripts of the New Testament had been found that did not include the material, or had other material in its place. The New Testament textual scholars Westcott and Hort adopted the view that these verses were spurious in their influential edition of the Greek New Testament. This decision affected both the English Revised Version of 1881 and the American Standard Version of 1901. Westcott and Hort’s view was vigorously attacked by the conservative scholar John Burgon in The Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel According to Saint Mark Vindicated Against Recent Critical Objectors and Established.

(We will continue this discussion in next week’s column.)

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