Mark 16:17 - Who is Jesus commanding?

Question

In Mark 16:17 Jesus addresses the 11 disciples and gives a call to action:

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Mark 16:15‭-‬18 NIV

Is there a literary clue in the original Greek that would suggest whether Jesus was speaking directly to the 11 or generally to a believer of any time period?

Was this a commission to future believers or a direction given specifically to the 11 he appeared to?

Answer 1

This is fairly uncomplicated. So let us notice the precedents and antecedents:

• V14 - Jesus is explicitly speaking to the eleven disciples
• V15 - He [Jesus] said to them [the eleven disciples]
• The next word is Πορευθέντες (Poreuthentes) which is: Verb - Aorist Participle Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural, and so should be strictly translated, "having gone".
• The only imperative verb here is κηρύξατε (kēryxate) which is: Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural.

Thus, there is no command to "go" but only a command to "preach" or "proclaim", BUT, only after "having gone into all the world".

Therefore, Jesus is SPEAKING to the eleven disciples alone; but to whom is He giving instructions? I suggest that Jesus is instructing the same people as in Matt 28:19, 20. In Matthew, Jesus is also SPEAKING to the same eleven disciples but He is clearly instructing the Christian disciples of all ages, as evidenced by His promise to be with them (the Christian disciples of all ages) to "the end of the age".

Answer 2

Regarding the modern Gospel account of Mark 16:15-16, who did Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth command to: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation”?

In the ancient Greek Gospel of Mark found in the Codex Sinaiticus, Mark 16 ends at verse 8. * [Reference : http://www.codex-sinaiticus.net/] . - The missing verses of Mark 16:9-20 provide contextual clues that the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) inspired by the Gospel account of Matthew was inserted into later editions of Mark 16 manuscripts.

Text Not included in Codex Sinaiticus - [Mark 16:15-16] - “15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Who is “them” (αὐτοῖς) referring to in modern accounts of Mark 16:15?

• ἕνδεκα “the Eleven” (male disciples) who denied the first Preaching of the Resurrected Messiah by Yeshua’s female disciple Miriam (Mary) of Magdala (Magdalene) [Mark 16:9-14]

Answer 3

Given Mark 16:14 - 18, it is apparent that the Markan version of the great commission precedes the commission in Matt. 28:19-20 - given to about 500 disciples in all met Jesus on a mount in Galilee. Also, verse 14 indicates it was in a private setting Jesus spoke explicitly to them (αὐτοῖς), the elevens - the first recipients of the great commission.

However, the word choices of Jesus in verse 15 - κηρύξατε (preach, proclaim,  aorist-imperative) and πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει (to the all/whole creation refers to all people ) carries an assertiveness and the universal scope of the commission. The adjective, ἅπαντα (all, whole, every) - strong form - in “go into all the world”- stresses the preaching of the good news must go into every/entire part of the world by believers of any time period. The Matthan version (Matt. 28: 19-20) carries the same universal responsibility of all believers of all generations for carrying the gospel to the end of the world. And, there the promise of Jesus, "And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age!” (Mt. 28:20b).