How can there be two different endings to the same chapter? Which one is original? Who changed it? It’s nothing quite that nefarious…here’s what happened.
The first time I noticed that different versions of the Bible had different text, I was concerned. This chapter is good example: I read my Bible online at www.biblegateway.com. When I pull up Mark 16 they have two different endings, one is a sentence long, after verse 8. The second one is found in the NIV bibles,..it adds verses 9 to 20.
Way back in 382 AD, St. Jerome was commissioned by the catholic church to collect the texts that were being used by the church and complete a Bible. Before this, the church was using texts that had been translated into “old latin”, and those had presumably been copied from originals, or somewhere near there.
Jerome’s work was known as the Vulgate. It was written in Latin and was the key text for the church until it was translated into English in 1611, and became known as the King James Bible.
Over the years, however more discoveries of ancient texts were made. None more significant than the Qumran scrolls (Dead Sea Scrolls) discovered in 1947. Some of those texts appeared to have been written as far back as 200 B.C.! So these were a little earlier than the texts Jerome used to form the Vulgate. And since there were small differences, the researchers and publishers decided that the earlier the text, the more accurate it would be. (copied and translated less). for instance, Jerome was translating from old latin to current latin. These texts are written in Hebrew. They had never been translated, so that gives them priority for authenticity. Since we have so many years of tradition with the same text, the changes were added as footnotes or in italics where prudent. None of the additions made any difference to the overall story line…that is to say the Bible message remains unchanged regardless of which translation you read. Nothing of consequence has ever changed.
Anyway, I thought you might be curious. It was fun looking up the details.
One thing jumps out at me today from the reading. The angel said “go tell my disciples..and Peter”. I wonder if Peter was excluded from the description as disciple because he had denied Jesus? Or, was it because Peter wasn’t hanging around with them, and didn’t consider himself a disciple? Did the angel say that because Peter needed to know that he was personally invited? The others had fled, but they didn’t swear an oath that they didn’t know him. John was with Peter at the trial of Jesus…he hadn’t sworn not to know him. Only Peter did that.
I think Jesus prompted the angel to say “and Peter” for Peter’s benefit, not to call attention to his error. Christ is loving and forgiving, he wouldn’t be rubbing it in. On the other hand, he may have mentioned it because Peter has not yet had the chance to restore his relationship with Jesus. If there is something between Christ and ourselves, He will certainly point it out, but it wasn’t done to be cruel. I know. I have stood before the Lord with my head down, mumbling something that sounds like “I’m sorry I blew it and let you down” several times. Jesus has never failed to comfort me.
Have you been where Peter was? Maybe you’re there right now. Run to Jesus, jump out of the boat and swim to Jesus. He is waiting to forgive you. In fact, if you run toward the Father, He will run to you.
Celebrating,
PR