The Gospel of Mark ends at 16:8 in some manuscripts, including Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus of the fourth century. While these two documents are highly esteemed as the earliest surviving copies of the complete New Testament, this in itself does not guarantee their accuracy. They are commonly touted as the "best" simply because of their advanced age, yet their survival is fundamentally due to chance of locality. The dry, arid climate of Egypt is conducive to preserving papyrus materials, but if they had been located elsewhere (e.g. Rome or Syria), it is doubtful that their alleged "superiority" would have been recognized, and it is unlikely they would have endured.
Vaticanus is full of careless transcription, including omissions and repetitions, and in the Gospels alone words or entire clauses are left out no less than 1,491 times. Sinaiticus is also replete with transcriptional error, including numerous careless omissions and variant readings (see J. Burgon, The Last Twelve Verses 73-76). W. N. Pickering observes: "But the evidence indicates that the earliest [manuscripts] are the worst. It is clear that the Church in general did not propagate the sort of text found in the earliest [manuscripts], which demonstrates that they were not held in high esteem in their day" (Identity of the NT Text 122). Vaticanus and Sinaiticus often diverge from one another, with one or the other agreeing with the fifth-century Codex Alexandrinus, and this early witness (along with multitudes of others) contains the last twelve verses of Mark 16.
What about the claim that some manuscripts (e.g. codices 20, 137, 138, 215, 264, 300, 1221, 2346) are marked to indicate the questionable nature of these verses? Evidently there was enough textual evidence available to the respective scribes to justify the inclusion of the passage rather than excising it. In ancient manuscripts asterisks (*) signify added words and obeli (÷) omitted words, while the use of τλ (telos) merely designates a lectionary break and not a spurious passage at all. Upon further investigation, we learn that in 20, 215 and 300 (where the mark comes after v. 15 rather than v. 8), and in 138 and 137 (where asterisks do not appear), the marginal notations all claim the genuineness of the passage, with the observation that omission occurs only in "some" (tisi) manuscripts. Further, in 264, 1221, and 2346 the symbols simply mark the end and the beginning of lectionary readings. All of these witnesses actually provide added support for the validity of the text.
–Kevin L. Moore
Related Posts: Ending of Mark Part 1, Ending of Mark Part 3, Ending of Mark Part 4, Text of NT Part 1, Text of NT Part 2
Related articles: J. E. Snapp, Jr., Sorting Out Common Mistakes
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Basically four endings of Mark’s Gospel appear in the extant manuscripts, two of which can readily be dismissed because of the acute weakness of the documentary evidence. Among the final twenty verses an expanded insertion between v. 14 and v. 15 is preserved only in the late-fourth or early-fifth century Codex Washingtonianus (W or 032). A number of late manuscripts include a shorter ending following 16:8, though all but one (itk) continue with vv. 9-20.
The major debate concerns the other two endings. The vast majority of witnesses contain the full twenty verses (i.e. the traditional ending). In fact, 99% of the existing manuscripts have the longer ending of Mark. But the Gospel ends at 16:8 in some copies, including the two oldest: the fourth-century Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, although in Vaticanus an empty space follows 16:8, leaving room for the verses in question.
While the difficulty is not easily resolved, the majority opinion in scholarly circles is that the original ending is at 16:8, although most agree that v. 8 provides an abrupt, clumsy conclusion with no record of a personal appearance of the risen Christ. From a pragmatic standpoint, we know that the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus, the issuing of the great commission and the ascension were all well known accounts at the time Mark’s Gospel was penned (1 Corinthians 15:5-7; 1 Peter 3:18-22; 5:13; etc.). Why would these critical details be omitted and why would the Gospel end so abruptly? Three possibilities have been proposed: (1) the abrupt ending was intentional; (2) the Gospel was never finished; or (3) the original ending was lost.
Did Mark intentionally conclude the Gospel at 16:8 for reasons known only to him? Rather than leaving his readers in suspense, Mark was careful to affirm the fulfilment of divine promises. For example, Mark narrates the Lord’s prophetic warning of Judas’ betrayal (14:18-21, 42), followed by its fulfilment (14:43-45). Mark recounts the Lord’s expressed foreknowledge of the disciples forsaking him (14:27), followed by its fulfilment (14:50). Mark reports the Lord’s prediction of Peter’s denial and the crowing rooster (14:30), followed by its fulfilment (14:66-72). Mark records the Lord’s repeated forewarnings of his suffering, death, and resurrection (8:31; 9:31; 10:32-34), followed by the fulfilment of these prophecies (14:43–16:6).
Twice Mark documents the explicit promise that Jesus would appear to his disciples after his resurrection (14:28; 16:7). It seems incredible, therefore, to think that Mark’s narrative would uncharacteristically leave these promises unfulfilled! A point worthy of consideration is the improbability that ephobounto gar ("for they feared") would have been purposefully chosen as the final wording of a book, especially of this particular book. One might argue that a sentence or even a paragraph could legitimately conclude with gar ("for") (cf. BAGD 151), but "it is difficult to believe that the note of fear would have been regarded as an appropriate conclusion to an account of the . . . Good News" (B. M. Metzger and B. D. Ehrman, Text of the NT 325-26).
Is it likely that the Gospel was never completed? Donald Guthrie considers this "a suggestion which is not impossible, but which in the nature of the case cannot be confirmed" (NT Introduction 78). There is simply no proof that the ending was absent from the Gospel of Mark when it was first disseminated.
Was the original ending lost? Mark’s Gospel ends at 16:8 at the bottom of the last surviving leaf of the 11th-century Codex 2386, and the next leaf is missing with clear indication that additional material followed (see B. M. Metzger, Textual Commentary [2nd ed.] 102 n. 1). This demonstrates the plausibility of an earlier codex version of Mark that was similarly damaged, resulting in subsequent copies ending at v. 8, with later attempts to complete the Gospel with shorter and intermediate conclusions. Surely, then, it is conceivable that the original ending remained in non-defective manuscripts rather than having been totally lost and was faithfully preserved in the majority (99%) of copies that are currently available. This also offers a reasonable explanation for the empty space that follows v. 8 in Codex Vaticanus (the only blank column in the entire volume), if the copyist had only a defective manuscript with which to work but was aware of the longer ending.
–Kevin L. Moore
Related Posts: Ending of Mark Part 2, Ending of Mark Part 3, Ending of Mark Part 4, Text of NT Part 1, Text of NT Part 2, Uniqueness of Mark's Gospel
The Gospel of Mark ends at 16:8 in some manuscripts, including Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus of the fourth century. While these two documents are highly esteemed as the earliest surviving copies of the complete New Testament, this in itself does not guarantee their accuracy. They are commonly touted as the "best" simply because of their advanced age, yet their survival is fundamentally due to chance of locality. The dry, arid climate of Egypt is conducive to preserving papyrus materials, but if they had been located elsewhere (e.g. Rome or Syria), it is doubtful that their alleged "superiority" would have been recognized, and it is unlikely they would have endured. 
