Those Pesky Little Footnotes

Those pesky footnotes -- if you are reading a modern Bible today (NIV, NASB, RSV, ESV, NKJV, etc.) then you have most likely seen a footnote like this: 'these verses are not found in the oldest, best, most reliable Greek manuscripts.' One noteworthy example is Mark 16:9-20.

For ease of reference please find here the entire chapter of Mark 16:

Mar 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the [mother] of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. Mar 16:2 And very early in the morning the first [day] of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. Mar 16:3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? Mar 16:4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. Mar 16:5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. Mar 16:6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. Mar 16:7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. Mar 16:8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any [man]; for they were afraid. Mar 16:9 Now when [Jesus] was risen early the first [day] of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. Mar 16:10 [And] she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. Mar 16:11 And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. Mar 16:12 After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. Mar 16:13 And they went and told [it] unto the residue: neither believed they them. Mar 16:14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mar 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; Mar 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Mar 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. Mar 16:20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with [them], and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

Here are the facts surrounding Mark 16:9-20. You can find this out for yourself with a little bit of effort but I will save you the time for now, but as always the burden is upon you to dig it out for yourself.

'As previously stated most modern versions have a footnote to the effect that 'these verses are not in the oldest, best, most reliable Greek manuscripts.' In laymen's terms this means that Mark 16:9-20 are not in the two 4th century Greek manuscripts, Vaticanus B and Sinaiticus Aleph which were derived from Origen's (185-254) edited New Testament (a 12th century miniscule also omits the verses).

Of the apporximately 3,119 Greek manuscripts of the N.T. extant today, none is complete. The segment of text bearing Mark 16 has been lost from many, but over 1,800 contain the section and verses 9-20 are present in all by the 3 cited above. The footnote is thus unveiled and laid bare as dishonest and deliberately misleading in intimating that these verses are not the Word of God.

The external evidence is massive. Not only is the Greek manuscript attestation ratio over 600 to 1 in support of the verses (99.9%) -- around 8,000 Latin mss, about 1,000 Syriac versions as well as all of the over 2,000 known Greek Lectionaires contain the verses. They were cited by Church 'Fathers' who lived 150 years of more before B or Aleph were written. These 'Fathers' included: Papias (c. 100), Justin Martyr (c. 150), Iranaeus (c. 180), Tertullian (c. 195), and Hippolytus (c. 200). Further, the Vatican MSS has a blank space exactly the size required to include the 12 verses at the end of the 16th chapter. The scribe who prepared B obviously knew of the existence of the verses and their precise content. Tischendorf observed, Sianaiticus exhibits a different handwriting and ink on this page, and there is a change in spacing and size of the individual letters in an attempt to fill up the void left by the removal of the verses. These circumstances testify that the sheet is a forgery.'

Quoted from Dr. Floyd Jones book entitled "Which Version is The Bible?"

Now, go back and read Mark 16 again. Stop when you get to verse 8 and see what you think. Does that sound like a Holy Spirit inspired text? Hopefully a resounding NO is uttered!! It actually sounds like a text the Devil would love to see in my humble opinion! I entreat you dear reader to wrestle with this and seek God on this. You can be assured that God would never give us Scripture and then allow it to be lost. Nor would He allow additional text to be included in His Holy Writ if they are not part of the inspired text. This really is a matter of faith. If you believe God for your eternal salvation, do you also believe He has the power to 'preserve' His Word? Next time you see a footnote, realize it is not there to help build your faith, rather it actually undermines the very authority of God's Word by making one question if they really have the Word of God in their hands.

In Him,

Eye