What's In Your Bible?
…for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. – Psalms 138:2
Mark 16:9-20
Yes, it belongs!
99.8% (1,653) of Greek manuscripts include vv. 9–20.
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
Frequently Asked Questions
For this specific topic
Because they didn’t study all of the evidence or truly care enough about God’s Word.
General
Yes. Yes it does.
Additional Documentation
Yes, it belongs!
99.8% (1,653) of Greek manuscripts include vv. 9–20.
They include majuscule and minuscule manuscripts such as Codex Alexandrinus (5th c.), C, D (damaged, the text up to 16:15a survives), G, K, M, S, W, Y, Δ, Ρ, Σ, 33, 35, 157, 700, etc.
Over 1,000 Greek lectionaries—manuscripts in which the text is arranged in segments assigned to days of the ecclesiastical calendar—also include Mark 16:9–20.
Evidence from the church fathers in favor of Mark 16:9–20 is even earlier than the oldest manuscript evidence.
Irenaeus wrote book three of Against Heresies when Eleutherius was bishop of Rome (174–189)—at least a century before Vaticanus was produced. Irenaeus wrote, “Also, towards the conclusion of his Gospel, Mark says, ‘So then, after the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God” (3.10.5). Irenaeus’s copy of Mark obviously included Mark 16:9–20, since he is quoting here from Mark 16:19.
Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tatian—all attest that 16:9–20 was part of Mark’s Gospel.
The Diatessaron’s inclusion of these verses is further shown by Codex Fuldensis (546) in Latin and by the use of Mark 16:15 in the commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron by Ephrem Syrus (c. 360).
Another text, known as the Epistula Apostolorum (before 150), provides a fourth witness.
Having been published in 1895, it was unknown to Hort.
In the 3rd and 4th centuries:: Hippolytus (235) Vincentius of Thibaris (256) De Rebaptismate (258) Pagan Hierocles (305) used 16:18 in a jibe issued at believers
Syriac writer Aphrahat (337) Acts of Pilate Latin commentator Fortunatianus (350) Epiphanius (375 Ambrose (385) Apostolic Constitutions (380) Palladius (late 300s) Augustine (430) Greek copies mentioned by Augustine Old Latin chapter summaries (3rd–5th c.) Freer Logion, an interpolation placed between 16:14 and 16:15 (found only in Codex Washingtonianus, but also mentioned by Jerome).
Metzger assigned the Freer Logion to the second or third century. 5th century: Macarius Magnes (410) Pelagius, Philostorgius (425)