The same is true of the “longer ending of Mark.” Modern translations include both a shorter and a longer ending to the Gospel of Mark. The longer ending includes Jesus’ words as he addressed his disciples after he rose from the dead.
Wes Huff Speaks on Scriptural Variances
There are a number of Bible verses omitted from modern translations due to a variety of reasons. Whether there are variances in name spelling, dialect, or a scribal error, the ancient texts contain different pieces of information.
For example, many translations do not include Matthew 17:21 because it was not contained in the most ancient manuscripts. The story of Jesus healing the demon-possessed boy is found in Matthew 17:14-20, Mark 9:14-29, and Luke 9:37-43. Some believe a scribal error occurred—inadvertently leaving off the last sentence which would have been Matthew 17:21. And, modern translations footnote Mark 9:29 as a comparison.
Huff referenced Bart Ehrman, who argues there are “hundreds of thousands of differences” within ancient biblical manuscripts. But Huff thinks there are even more variants within the ancient texts than Ehrman estimates—and that the variants can often be a distraction from the text itself.
“Every person who’s done text criticism or manuscript studies or paratexual features like I study hears that and goes, ‘Okay, what are they?'” said Huff. However, rather than emphasizing shock over the quantity of variances, Huff argues that scholars should be looking at the content of the differences in text. Many variances are of little significance.
The ancient manuscripts encompass “close to 6,000 witnesses,” according to Huff.
“If we actually get down to the nitty-gritty…we see that upwards of 99% of those variances have no impact when we translate them to English,” Huff said.
