Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Ecstasy


The last verse of Mark's Gospel (16:8) has commonly been translated to say that the three women who saw the angel at the tomb on Easter morning ran away bewildered and said nothing to anyone because they were afraid.  The New Collegeville Bible Commentary proposes a completely different translation based strictly on the original Greek: "Going out, they fled  the tomb for trembling and ecstasy possessed them, and  they said nothing to anyone because they were filled with awe."
"Ecstasy" and "awe" capture beautifully what these women must have experienced and gives Mark's Gospel a more fitting conclusion.

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