Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 9. This appearance of our Saviour is more fully related by Saint John. Our Lord arose early from the monument in which he had been placed late in the evening, thus fulfilling the words of the psalmist: In the evening weeping shall have place, and in the morning gladness. Psalms 29. Ven. Bede.—Rising early. It appears from this that our Saviour arose early, about sunrise, as was the sentiment of Saint Augustine; though Saint Gregory seems to think that he arose at midnight, in the same manner as Samson, who was a figure of Christ, arose in the middle of the night and carried away the gates of Gaza. If we follow this opinion, we must understand the word early as referring to the verb appeared, not to the participle rising, and then the sentence will be: he rising, (having arisen) appeared early the first day of the week. The first interpretation, however, of Saint Augustine seems more agreeable to the text: he rising early the first day of the week, appeared, and so forth
NU includes the text of verses 9-20, but mentions in a footnote that a few manuscripts omitted it. The translators of the World English Bible regard Mark 16:9-20 as reliable based on an overwhelming majority of textual evidence, including not only the authoritative Greek Majority Text New Testament, but also the TR and many of the manuscripts cited in the NU text.