Mark 16:9-20
The context
Mark's Gospel ends abruptly in the earliest surviving manuscripts, with the women fleeing the tomb and saying nothing to anyone because they were afraid. This longer ending appears in later manuscripts and in the traditional text, and a shorter alternative also exists in some witnesses. The verses narrate appearances, a commissioning, and signs.
What it establishes
The passage is textually contested, and the contest is documented in manuscripts, versions, and citations. It also shows that early transmitters wanted the Gospel to end with appearance and commissioning rather than with silence and fear.
What it does not establish
It cannot bear doctrinal weight as original Mark. The verses are absent from the oldest witnesses, and details within them vary between manuscripts; arguments that depend on them must be made from elsewhere.
Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.
Cited in these answers
Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.