MARK 16:19 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 16:19–20: Jesus was lifted up into heaven

This section describes how Jesus went back to heaven. This event is often called “the Ascension of Jesus.” The concluding statement informs readers that the disciples did as Jesus instructed them to do in 16:15–18.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus Is Taken up to Heaven (GNT)

The Ascension of Jesus (NRSV)

Jesus went up to heaven

There are parallel passages for this section in Luke 24:50–53 and Acts 1:9–11.

16:19a

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them,

¶ After the Lord Jesus had said these things to the disciples, (CEV)
¶ After the Lord Jesus had talked with his followers,

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them: The clause After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them introduces the final event in the Longer Ending of Mark’s Gospel. This event happened some time after Jesus said the things in 16:15–18 to his disciples. The CEV has another way to translate this:

After the Lord Jesus had said these things to the disciples (CEV)

After: The Greek word that the BSB translates as After is the same word that it translates as “After” in 16:12a. See how you translated it there.

the Lord Jesus: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Lord means “master,” or “one who has authority over others.” The Greek text often uses this same word to translate the personal name of God in Hebrew.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Master Jesus

Chief Jesus

Sovereign Jesus

In some languages it may be necessary to add a word to indicate whose Lord or Chief is referred to. If that is true in your language, you can add a word like “our.” Although not everyone serves Jesus as Lord, he is master over everyone, so you can use an inclusive form. For example:

our Chief Jesus

See Lord, Context 2, in the Glossary.

had spoken: In this context the words had spoken refer specifically to the things that Jesus said in 16:15–18.

to them: The pronoun them refers to Jesus’ disciples.

16:19b

He was taken up into heaven

he was raised up into heaven,
God lifted him up into heaven.

He was taken up into heaven: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as was taken up means here “lifted up and carried.” The verb is passive, and God is the implied subject. God lifted the Lord Jesus and carried him into heaven. Your translation should not imply that God forcefully took Jesus against his will.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

he was carried up to heaven (NCV)

he was lifted up into heaven

God received him into heaven.

God raised him up to heaven.

Acts 1:9 indicates that the disciples watched the Lord Jesus go into the sky until a cloud covered him. God took him all the way into heaven to sit at God’s right hand (16:19c).

In some languages it may be necessary to use both a term for sky and a term for heaven, because Jesus was carried through the sky and also into heaven. For example:

God lifted Jesus up into the sky and carried him to heaven.

See how you translated the word heaven in 10:21d and 12:25c. See also heaven, Meaning 2, in the Glossary.

See how the BSB translates the similar Greek clause in Luke 24:51. The Greek verbs are different in the two passages, but the meaning is the same.

16:19c

and sat down at the right hand of God.

and he sat down in the position of honor at God’s right side.
Then he sat down beside God to rule with him at his right side.

sat down at the right hand of God: The phrase at the right hand of God refers to the place of special honor next to God. In the culture at that time, the king or person having the greatest authority sat on a throne. The person with the next greatest authority and power after the king sat at the king’s right hand.

In many languages you may need to make the meaning of sat down at the right hand more explicit. For example:

sat in the place of special honor/authority at God’s right hand

See how you translated this idea in 12:36c and 14:62b.

at the right hand: The expression at the right hand means on the right side of someone, that is, to that person’s right.

TSN Tyndale Study Notes:

16:9-20 Nearly all scholars agree that Mark did not write the “shorter” and “longer” endings. There are clear differences in their style, vocabulary, and theology. Also, the best two available Greek manuscripts (Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus) lack these endings. However, there is reason to doubt that Mark intended to end his Gospel at 16:8: (1) Mark emphasizes the fulfillment of Jesus’ predictions throughout his Gospel, and if the Gospel ended with 16:8, there would be no reference to the resurrection appearance(s) of Jesus; (2) all the other Gospels contain accounts of Jesus’ appearances to the women and the disciples; (3) early readers of Mark evidently did not think the book could have ended with 16:8, because they wrote these endings; (4) there is no convincing explanation as to why Mark would have wanted to end his Gospel at 16:8 (all such explanations sound like modern existential literary interpretations that revel in paradox, very unlike the way a first-century Christian author would have thought); (5) it is strange for a Gospel to begin with a bold proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah (1:1) and end with the women’s fear; (6) it would be unique for an ancient Greek book to end with gar (“because”) as the last word—no other example of this has been found; and (7) 16:7 raises the expectation that the disciples will meet Jesus in Galilee—if 16:8 was the original ending of Mark, it is the only unfulfilled prediction in the Gospel. Many scholars conclude that the original ending was accidentally torn off and lost, or was never finished.

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear MARK 16:19

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 16:19–20: Jesus was lifted up into heaven

16:19a

16:19b

16:19c

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)