UTN uW Translation Notes:

Mark 16 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

8. Jesus’ resurrection (16:1–8)

Special Concepts in this Chapter

The “young man”

Mark indicates that a “young man” clothed in white was sitting inside the tomb. He implies that this “young man” was an angel who appeared in human form. This is supported by how Matthew tells the story, since he indicates explicitly that an angel was at the tomb (see Matthew 28:2–7). Both Luke mentions two men at the tomb, whom he implies are angels (Luke 24:4–7), and John refers to two angels (John 20:12–13). It is best to translate each of these passages as it appears in the ULT without trying to make the passages all say exactly the same thing. If it would be helpful for your readers, you could include some information about these men, or angels, in a footnote.

The resurrection

Mark does not narrate the resurrection, but he does indicate that the stone was rolled away from the tomb and that an angel in the form of a young man told the women that Jesus had resurrected. It is not clear exactly when Jesus actually rose from the dead, although it is clear that this happened before the tomb was opened. When Jesus rose from the dead, he was a living human being again, and he could never die again. Make sure that it is clear that Jesus came back to life as a living human being.

Other Possible Translation Difficulties in this Chapter

Singular and plural forms of “you”

All the forms of “you” in this chapter appear in speeches that are given to groups of people. Because of this, all forms of “you” in this chapter are plural. (See: figs-yousingular)

The historic present

To call attention to a development in the story, Mark uses the present tense in past narration. In this chapter, the historic present occurs in verses 2, 4, and 6. If it would not be natural to do that in your language, you could use the past tense in your translation. (See: translate-tense)

The ending of Mark’s gospel

There are at least four different endings to Mark’s Gospel that are found among various ancient manuscripts. However, only two of those are found among the earliest and most reliable manuscripts. One of these endings is the text of 16:9–20, which is found in some early manuscripts and many later manuscripts. The other ending, the one found in the early manuscripts that scholars consider to be the most reliable, stops at 16:8 and does not include any further words. The ULT and UST include 16:9–20 in brackets, and there are no translation notes on these verses. If you do include these verses in your translation, it is recommended that you put them in a footnote or in brackets to indicate that some of the earliest manuscripts do not include them.