Text:
Amēn ‘Amen’ is included by Textus Receptus, Souter (and Revised Standard Version), but omitted by the great majority of modern editions of the Greek text.
Exegesis:
ekeinoi (cf. v. 11) ‘they,’ i.e. the disciples.
exelthontes ‘going out,’ ‘leaving’: presumably, from Jerusalem.
pantachou (cf. Mk. 1.28) ‘everywhere.’
tou kuriou sunergountos kai … bebaiountos ‘as the Lord worked with (them) and confirmed’: ‘the Lord’ here refers to the ascended and reigning Lord Jesus.
sunergeō (not in Mark) ‘work with,’ ‘cooperate.’
bebaioō (not in Mark) ‘make firm,’ ‘establish,’ ‘confirm.’
ton logon (cf. Mk. 2.2) ‘the (Christian) message,’ ‘the Word.’
dia tōn epakolouthountōn sēmeiōn ‘by means of the accompanying signs’: for sēmeia ‘signs’ cf. v. 17. It is to be presumed that the signs referred to here are those described in vv. 17-18.
epakoloutheō (not in Mark) ‘follow after’: it is probable that the force of the verb here is ‘authenticate,’ a meaning which has been found in the papyri. The signs not only accompanied the preaching of the message, but authenticated it. Cf. Moffatt, ‘by the miracles that endorsed it.’
Translation:
They can usually be translated by a pronoun if in the preceding verse the noun ‘disciples’ has been employed.
For preached see 1.4 and for signs see 8.11.
While is used in a somewhat unusual manner in this verse, for the meaning is not that they preached merely while the Lord was working. Rather, while implies ‘and at the same time,’ a rendering which must be employed in a number of languages.
Worked with them is in some languages equivalent to ‘helped them.’
Confirmed the message may be ‘made the message strong,’ or, as is more often the case, ‘showed that what they said was true.’ In Tzeltal this expression is idiomatically rendered as ‘the signs done by them became a mate for the words.’
There are difficulties in a literal translation of attended, for often people cannot speak of ‘signs attending’ anything. On the other hand, one may be able to say ‘by means of the signs which were shown at that time’ or ‘by the signs which God caused to be done then.’
Amen may be either transliterated (a very common practice) or translated into a form of expression which is closely parallel and customarily used in such contexts, e.g. ‘that is just the way it is’ (Huichol), ‘that’s it’ (Shilluk), ‘may it be thus’ (Tzeltal), or ‘and so it was.’
Another Old Ending: The shorter ending
The passage that follows is found after Mark 16.8 (and before the Longer Ending, except in the Old Latin manuscript k) in the following manuscripts: the Greek Uncial manuscripts (8th century), Ψ (8th or 9th century), 099 (7th century) and 0112 (7th century); the Greek Minuscule manuscripts 274 (marginal reading; 10th century) and 579 (13th century); the Old Latin manuscript k (4th or 5th century); in the margin of the Harclean Syriac version (7th century); and in several codices of the Sahidic, Bohairic and Ethiopic versions.
Unlike the Longer Ending, this one was written expressly to provide a suitable ending to the Gospel. It is dated in the 2nd century.
But they reported briefly to Peter and those with him all that they had been told.
Exegesis:
panta de ta parēggelmena ‘and all (things) that they had been ordered.’
paraggellō (cf. Mk. 6.8) ‘command,’ ‘order.’
tois peri ton Petron ‘to Peter and his companions’: for similar phrases cf. Mk. 4.10, Acts 13.13.
suntomōs (not in Mark) ‘briefly,’ ‘concisely’; Arndt & Gingrich prefer here the meaning ‘promptly,’ ‘readily.’
exēggeilan (not in Mark) ‘they reported,’ ‘they proclaimed.’
Translation:
They must refer to the women of 16.1, referred to by pronouns in verse 8.
Briefly may be translated as ‘with few words,’ but the likely meaning of ‘promptly’ would suggest a better rendering such as ‘right away,’ ‘soon,’ or ‘immediately.’
Had been told may be changed to an active form, e.g. ‘the young man had told them.’
And after this, Jesus himself sent out by means of them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.
Exegesis:
meta de tauta (not in Mark; cf. Longer Ending v. 12) ‘and after this.’
apo anatolēs kai achri duseōs ‘from the East as far as the West,’ i.e. ‘throughout the whole world’ (cf. the similar ‘the four winds’ in Mk. 13.27). See ‘from the east and west’ in Mt. 8.11//Lk. 13.29.
anatolē (not in Mark; cf. anatellō Mk. 4.6) ‘the rising (of the sun),’ ‘the East.’
achri (not in Mark) ‘as far as.’
dusmē (not in Mark) ‘the going down (of the sun),’ ‘the West.’
exapesteilen (not in Mark) ‘he sent out,’ ‘he sent forth.’
to hieron kai aphtharton kērugma ‘the sacred and incorruptible message.’
hieros (not in Mark; for the substantive to hieron ‘the Temple,’ cf. Mk. 11.11) ‘sacred,’ ‘holy.’
aphthartos (not in Mark) ‘incorruptible,’ i.e. ‘imperishable,’ ‘immortal.’
kērugma (not in Mark; cf. kērussō Mk. 1.4) ‘message,’ ‘proclamation.’
tēs aiōniou sōtērias ‘of the eternal salvation.’
aiōnios (cf. Mk. 3.29) ‘eternal.’
sōtēria (not in Mark) ‘salvation,’ ‘redemption.’
Translation:
By means of them must refer to the disciples, not to the women who are the subject of the preceding verse, and might be assumed to be the persons referred to here.
From east to west cannot be translated literally in most languages, for it would mean ‘starting from the east and going to the west.’ A more accurate rendering in most languages is ‘everywhere (or ‘all places’) both east and west.’
Sent out … the … proclamation is impossible in some languages, since only persons may be sent out ‘to proclaim words.’ An added problem occurs in this verse, namely, in the adjectives sacred and imperishable which are attributive to proclamation. The only manner in which this may be translated in some languages is ‘utter words which are holy and which never will fail.’
Of eternal salvation must be in an objective relationship to ‘proclamation’ or ‘word,’ e.g. ‘word about being saved.’ Salvation (see 10.26 for save) must quite often be rendered as a verb, e.g. ‘be saved,’ ‘be rescued,’ or ‘be restored to health,’ but the addition of the adjective eternal tends to create certain problems, since the meaning of eternal must be expressed by some adverbial expression, often a phrase, e.g. ‘being saved for ever’ or ‘being saved for time that will not end.’
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .