independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditional
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The women at the tomb — the stone rolled away 16:1–4
v. 1 — the Sabbath over: spices bought for an anointing
1
And when the Sabbath was past,participial — genitive absolute — forward-leaning; the rest ends, the errand begins
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices,independent — the three women of 15:40, 47 — the witnesses of cross and burial now of the tomb
that they might come and anoint him.purpose — the purpose — ἀλείφω, the ordinary burial anointing left undone (15:46); they expect a corpse
vv. 2–4 — very early on the first day: the stone already rolled back
2
And very early on the first day of the week they come to the tomb,independent — historic present — the piled time-markers set the dawn of day one
when the sun had risen.participial — genitive absolute, following its verb — arrival at sunrise
3
And they were saying to one another:independent — iterative imperfect — the worry rehearsed en route; speech-frame
'Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?'content — the inner question — the obstacle named just before it is found removed
4
And looking up,participial — preposed circumstantial — leans on θεωροῦσιν
they seeindependent — historic present — attentive beholding, not a glance
that the stone has been rolled away —content — perfect ἀποκεκύλισται — rolled back and standing open; a divine passive
for it was very large.cause — narrator's γάρ aside — the size that made their question urgent
The young man's announcement and the commission 16:5–7
v. 5 — the white-robed young man
5
And entering the tomb,participial — preposed circumstantial — leans on εἶδον; they go in expecting the body
they saw a young man sitting on the right,independent — Mark's νεανίσκος for the angelic messenger — seated, the posture of authority
clothed in a white robe,participial — perfect participle — arrayed in the radiant white of heaven (cf. 9:3)
and they were utterly amazed.independent — ἐκθαμβέω — the intensive dread proper to a heavenly encounter
vv. 6–7 — μὴ ἐκθαμβεῖσθε: ἠγέρθη, and the commission to Galilee
6
But he says to them:independent — historic present — the speech-frame for the chapter's central announcement
'Do not be alarmed.content — μή + present imperative — cease the very dread of v. 5
You seek Jesus the Nazarene, the crucified one.content — fronted Ἰησοῦν; perfect ἐσταυρωμένον — the crucified as his abiding title: the risen one is the crucified one
He is risen;content — the proclamation — one word, a divine passive: God raised him
he is not here.content — the empty tomb stated — the negative that proves the announcement
See the placecontent — ἴδε with nominative — the evidence pointed at
where they laid him.relative — recalling the burial of 15:46–47 — the same women watched where
7
But go, tell his disciples and Peter thatcontent — asyndetic double imperative — the women made first messengers; Peter named apart, grace to the denier (14:66–72)
'He goes before you into Galilee;content — the message — προάγει, the shepherd leading again (14:28)
there you will see him,content — fronted ἐκεῖ — Galilee, not the tomb, is where the seeing happens
just as he told you.'comparative — Jesus' own prediction invoked — 14:28, word for word
Flight, silence, fear — the abrupt ending 16:8
v. 8 — ἐφοβοῦντο γάρ: where the earliest text of Mark stops
8
And going out,participial — preposed circumstantial — leans on ἔφυγον
they fled from the tomb,independent — the commission answered with flight, not yet with witness
for trembling and astonishment held them;cause — γάρ aside — the emotions as subject, gripping them like an outside power
and they said nothing to anyone,independent — emphatic double negative — 'to no one nothing'; silence where speech was commanded
for they were afraid.cause — the last words of the earliest Mark (ℵ B stop here) — a book ending on postpositive γάρ; design or loss, the great crux
The Longer Ending — appearances met with unbelief 16:9–14
vv. 9–11 — [Longer Ending] the appearance to Mary Magdalene, disbelieved
9
Now, having risen early on the first day of the week,participial — the Longer Ending begins (vv. 9–20: absent ℵ B; see reading note) — preposed participle; un-Markan πρώτῃ σαββάτου vs. τῇ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων (v. 2)
he appeared first to Mary Magdalene,independent — ἐφάνη — the ending's own appearance verb; Mary re-introduced as if new, the seam with vv. 1–8 showing
from whom he had cast out seven demons.relative — pluperfect — her deliverance recalled (cf. Luke 8:2)
10
She went and reported to those who had been with him,independent — ἐκείνη as bare pronoun and the periphrasis for 'the disciples' — both idioms peculiar to the ending
as they mourned and wept;participial — concurrent participles — the disciples' grief when the news arrives
11
and they, hearingparticipial — preposed concessive participle — leans on ἠπίστησαν; crasis κἀκεῖνοι, the ending's signature
that he is alive and was seen by her,content — the report in miniature — ζῇ, the resurrection stated simply; ἐθεάθη, another non-Markan verb
did not believe.independent — the first refusal — unbelief becomes the ending's refrain (vv. 11, 13, 14)
vv. 12–14 — [Longer Ending] the two on the road; the Eleven rebuked
12
And after these things he was made manifest in another form to two of them as they walked,independent — the Emmaus road compressed (Luke 24:13–35) — ἐν ἑτέρᾳ μορφῇ explains the non-recognition
going into the country;participial — concurrent participle — the rural destination
13
and they went away and reported to the rest;independent — the pattern of v. 10 repeats — a true report carried back
not even them did they believe.independent — ascensive οὐδέ — the second refusal, building toward the rebuke
14
Afterward he was made manifest to the Eleven themselves as they reclined at table,independent — the third appearance — the apostolic remnant caught at a meal
and he rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart,independent — ὠνείδισεν — the risen Lord's censure; σκληροκαρδία, the obduracy Mark's Gospel itself indicts (6:52; 8:17)
because they had not believed those who had seen him risen.cause — causal ὅτι — perfect ἐγηγερμένον, his abiding risen state; the eyewitnesses spurned
The Longer Ending — commission, signs, ascension, mission 16:15–20
vv. 15–18 — [Longer Ending] κηρύξατε: the commission and the five signs
15
And he said to them:independent — speech-frame — the rebuked become the commissioned
'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.content — the universal commission — imperatival πορευθέντες + κηρύξατε; εὐαγγέλιον, Mark's keyword (1:1), now for πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει (cf. Matt 28:19)
16
The one who believes and is baptized will be saved,content — the positive half of the antithesis — faith sealed by baptism, unto salvation
but the one who disbelieves will be condemned.content — the negative half — condemnation tied to unbelief alone, not to lack of baptism
17
And these signs will accompany those who believe:content — fronted σημεῖα — the header for the catena of five confirming signs
in my name they will cast out demons;content — first sign — exorcism in the name, the disciples' old commission (3:15; 6:13) continued
they will speak in new tongues;content — second sign — καιναῖς, Spirit-given speech (cf. Acts 2:4)
18
they will pick up serpents;content — third sign — cf. Paul on Malta (Acts 28:3–6); the notorious charter of later serpent-handling
and if they drink any deadly thing,conditional — protasis inside the promise — κἄν, forward-leaning on the οὐ μή apodosis
it will by no means harm them;content — fourth sign — οὐ μή, the strongest possible denial of harm
they will lay hands on the sick,content — fifth sign — the healing gesture of Jesus himself (6:5; 8:23)
and they will recover.content — the idiom καλῶς ἔχω — the result of the laying on, closing the list
vv. 19–20 — [Longer Ending] taken up, enthroned; the word confirmed everywhere
19
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heavenindependent — μὲν οὖν closes the narrative; 'the Lord Jesus,' a title nowhere else in Mark — ἀνελήμφθη, the ascension verb (Acts 1:2, 11)
and sat down at the right hand of God.independent — the session — Ps 110:1, the enthronement Jesus claimed at his trial (14:62)
20
And they went out and preached everywhere,independent — the μέν answered by δέ — the commission of v. 15 carried out
the Lord working with themparticipial — genitive absolute — the enthroned Lord co-laboring from heaven
and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.participial — coordinate genitive absolute — the signs of vv. 17–18 delivered; the Longer Ending closes on mission accomplished
Analysis. Mark 16 is two texts, and the layout shows the seam. Verses 1–8 — the empty tomb — read like the rest of Mark: coordinate purple main clauses flush left, καί after καί (bought, come, were saying, see, saw, were amazed, fled, said nothing), the preposed circumstantial participles and the genitive absolute leaning forward anchor-less on the verb below (διαγενομένου τοῦ σαββάτου, ἀναβλέψασαι, εἰσελθοῦσαι, ἐξελθοῦσαι), the historic presents (ἔρχονται, θεωροῦσιν, λέγει) flagged as they land, and all speech hanging blue beneath its verb of saying — the women's τίς ἀποκυλίσει; worry under ἔλεγον, and the young man's announcement under λέγει, one clause per line: μὴ ἐκθαμβεῖσθε, the identification of the crucified Nazarene, the bare divine passive ἠγέρθη, οὐκ ἔστιν ὧδε, ἴδε ὁ τόπος, then the ὑπάγετε-εἴπατε commission with the Galilee promise one level deeper. The section ends where the earliest recoverable text of Mark ends: v. 8 — flight, the two explanatory γάρ clauses (εἶχεν γὰρ αὐτὰς τρόμος καὶ ἔκστασις), the double negative οὐδενὶ οὐδέν, and the last two words, ἐφοβοῦντο γάρ. A book closing on a postpositive γάρ is the probable original ending — Sinaiticus and Vaticanus stop here — whether Mark meant the fear and silence to hand the ending to the reader, or a fuller close was lost; the layout gives the abruptness full weight by letting the flush-left column simply stop. Everything after is the LONGER ENDING (vv. 9–20), which this resource prints in full, as the chapter data does, while naming its status honestly: absent from ℵ and B and from witnesses known to Eusebius and Jerome ('the accurate copies' lacked it), rivaled in part of the tradition by a separate Shorter Ending, un-Markan in vocabulary (ἐφάνη, ἐθεάθη, ἐφανερώθη as appearance verbs; ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς nowhere else in Mark), and attached with a visible seam — Mary Magdalene re-introduced in v. 9 as though vv. 1–8 had not just named her. Read as the second-century digest it almost certainly is, its shape is its own: three appearances each met by unbelief (ἠπίστησαν, οὐδὲ ἐπίστευσαν, then the rebuke of ἀπιστία and σκληροκαρδία), the universal commission κηρύξατε with its believes-and-is-baptized / disbelieves antithesis, the five confirming signs stacked as a catena under σημεῖα — including the chapter's one conditional, κἂν θανάσιμόν τι πίωσιν, leaning forward on its emphatic οὐ μή apodosis — and a close that answers the commission point for point: the Lord Jesus taken up and enthroned ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ θεοῦ (Ps 110:1), the disciples preaching πανταχοῦ, and the genitive absolute τοῦ κυρίου συνεργοῦντος confirming the word through the very signs promised.