They
went out, and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come on them. They said nothing to anyone; for they were afraid.
Mark 16:8
Mark 16 [5.] Entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were amazed. He said to them, “Don’t be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him! But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He goes before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you.’”
Mark 16 [8.] They went out, and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come on them. They said nothing to anyone; for they were afraid. 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. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. When they heard that he was alive, and had been seen by her, they disbelieved. After these things he was revealed in another form to two of them, as they walked, on their way into the country. They went away and told it to the rest. They didn’t believe them, either.
Mark 16 [14.] Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn’t believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Meaning:
The women had come to anoint a body and had instead heard a messenger say, “He has risen. He is not here” (Mark 16:6), with a command to tell the disciples and Peter (Mark 16:7). This verse records their first reaction. It is honest and very human: they ran, shaking, and for the moment they said nothing.
- “They went out, and fled from the tomb”
The word “fled” shows haste and alarm. The PIB footnote notes that some manuscripts (the TR) add “quickly”. They ran from a place where heaven had broken into a grave.
The other Gospels show where they were running. Matthew says, “They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word” (Matthew 28:5-8). Luke adds that “They remembered his words, returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest” (Luke 24:8-11). Their flight was not a refusal of the commission but the beginning of carrying it out.
- “for trembling and astonishment had come on them”
Mark describes two feelings. “Trembling” is the physical shaking of people who have met something far greater than themselves. “Astonishment” translates a word close to our “ecstasy”: being taken out of oneself by amazement. Scripture records the same response whenever God shows his power: at Sinai “all the people who were in the camp trembled” (Exodus 19:16), and when Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter, “They were amazed with great amazement” (Mark 5:42).
Death itself had been overturned, and the women were the first to know.
- “They said nothing to anyone; for they were afraid”
Throughout Mark’s Gospel Jesus often told people to keep quiet about him, and they spread the news anyway (Mark 1:45; Mark 7:36). After the Transfiguration he told the three disciples to “tell no one what things they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead” (Mark 9:9). Now that the time for silence was over and the women were told to speak, at first they could not.
Their silence was not permanent. Read together with the other Gospels, it most likely means they spoke to no one on the way, until they reached the disciples. Fear held them for a time, but the message got through.
- Where Mark’s Gospel ends
The oldest surviving manuscripts of Mark end at this verse. The PIB footnote at Mark 16:9 explains that the translators of the World English Bible regard Mark 16:9-20 as reliable, based on an overwhelming majority of textual evidence. Either way, Mark 16:8 is not the end of the story. The empty tomb, the angel’s message and the promise of meeting Jesus in Galilee had already been given, and verses 9-20 go on to record the appearances of the risen Lord.
The Significance of Mark 16:8
- Fear and faith can exist together
The women were afraid, yet they still carried the message. God does not require us to be fearless before we can serve him. He says, “Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you” (Isaiah 41:10).
- God works through weak messengers
The resurrection news was first entrusted to trembling witnesses. The Gospel spreads not because its messengers are strong but because God is. As Paul says, “we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves” (2 Corinthians 4:7).
- The right response to the resurrection
If the resurrection leaves us unmoved, we have not understood it. The women’s trembling is a reminder that Jesus’ victory over death is the most astonishing news there is.
Cross-References:
Matthew 28:5-8: "They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word." Fear was mixed with great joy.
Luke 24:8-11: "They remembered his words, returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest." The women did deliver the message.
Mark 4:41: "They were greatly afraid, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”" Awe at Jesus’ power.
Isaiah 41:10: "Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God." God’s answer to fear.
Conclusion: The women ran from the empty tomb, trembling and astonished, and at first said nothing to anyone because they were afraid. Their reaction is an honest picture of people who have met the power of God in the defeat of death. The other Gospels show that their fear was mixed with great joy and that they went on to tell the disciples. This verse, where the oldest manuscripts of Mark end, reminds us that the Good News does not depend on the courage of its messengers, but on the risen Lord who goes before them.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible