The “Strange” Ending of the Gospel of Mark and Why It Makes All the Difference

[phkrause]

James Tabor presents a fresh look at the original text of the earliest Gospel

This article about the Gospel of Mark was originally published on Dr. James Tabor’s popular TaborBlog, a site that discusses and reports on “‘All things biblical’ from the Hebrew Bible to Early Christianity in the Roman World and Beyond.” Bible History Daily first republished the article with consent of the author in April 2013. Visit TaborBlog today, or scroll down to read a brief bio of James Tabor below.

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/the-strange-ending-of-the-gospel-of-mark-and-why-it-makes-all-the-difference/?

[Kevin H]

Interesting. Another issue in this mystery has been brought up by George Rice, that the ancient scrolls  frequently, especially at the end, is prone to wearing out and other damage. Thus we have many ancient writings where the end is missing, and thus he sees this as the fate of the ending of Mark, with maybe one of the different suggested possible endings may be a reflection of memories of the lost ending.  . Our books of Ezra and Nemaha shows extensive damage and mixing of fragments.