Mark 16:8

Mark 16:8, in plain English

The women leave the tomb trembling and bewildered. They're so overwhelmed with fear that they don't say a word to anyone.

Why it's here

Many scholars believe this was where Mark originally ended his Gospel: with the women too stunned to speak. It leaves you asking, 'What would I do with this news?'

Who's speaking

Mark describes the women's response to the resurrection.

Where it sits in the story

They came expecting a body and found a miracle. It's too much to process. They run away, shaking, speechless. Sometimes the most life-changing moments leave you without words.

The scholarly reading

The women flee the tomb in tromos kai ekstasis (trembling and astonishment), telling no one because of phobos (fear/awe), which is the abrupt ending of Mark's original Gospel.

Language and setting

Most scholars consider this the original ending of Mark. The abrupt conclusion with ephobounto gar ('for they were afraid') is grammatically unusual and theologically provocative, leaving the reader to respond to the resurrection message.

Voice

The narrator describes the women's overwhelming response to the resurrection.

Significance

Mark ends his Gospel not with triumph but with trembling awe. The resurrection is too vast, too overwhelming for neat closure. The reader must decide how to respond.

6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they put Him.

7But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.’”

8So the women left the tomb and ran away, trembling and bewildered. And in their fear they did not say a word to anyone.

9Early on the first day of the week, after Jesus had risen, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had driven out seven demons.

10She went and told those who had been with Him, who were mourning and weeping.

Read all of Mark 16 — Three women arrive at dawn expecting a corpse. They find a young man in white and a message that rewrites everything: he is risen.