Mark 16 Study Notes
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16:5 The stone was not moved to let Jesus out but to let witnesses enter. That the women entered the tomb confirms it was a large family tomb. The young man dressed in a white robe (Mt 28:3; Ac 1:10; 10:30) was an angel (Mt 28:5; Lk 24:4). Luke mentions two angels (Lk 24:3-4); Mark focuses on the spokesman.
16:6 The words of reassurance (don’t be alarmed) are a standard feature in angelic manifestations (Dn 10:12,19; Mt 28:5; Lk 1:13,30; 2:10; Ac 27:24). On three previous occasions in Mark, he was designated Jesus of Nazareth (1:23; 10:47; 14:67). Here the word serves to connect the historical Jesus who was crucified to the one who has risen . . . See the place where they put him recalls 15:47 (cp. Jn 20:6-7) and indicates the shelf inside the tomb on which Jesus’s body was placed.
16:7 Go, tell are the two things that all followers of Jesus are to do. Peter is given special mention only in Mark as an encouragement following his denials of Jesus (14:66-72). The message for the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee recalls Jesus’s prophecy in 14:28.
16:8 Trembling and astonishment overwhelmed the women, whether from fear or excitement (cp. Mt 28:8). Most likely it was both. The phrase they said nothing to anyone, stated only by Mark, is a strong double negative. It does not imply that they forever kept silent but that they initially refused to speak about their bewildering experience (Mt 28:8; Lk 24:9-10).
16:9-20 These verses do not appear in some of the earliest manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel.