440 Clarence Russell Williams, 



reminds us more of the epistles than of the Gospels. As Dr. Hort well 

 says, "The vagueness and generality of the last sentence finds no 

 parallel in the Gospel narrative." He would find suggestions for 

 its construction in Luke 24:9—12; Mt. 28:19; Luke 24:47 and 

 John 20 : 21 . There is also a slight resemblance to Clement of Rome. 



Because the Shorter Conclusion is more theological, ecclesiastical, 

 and modern than the Longer, we are inclined to date it later, though 

 recognizing that this may possibly be due to another environment 

 or another author, rather than a later age. Since as yet we have no 

 data to determine how long C existed in an independent composition 

 before being added to A, it does not necessarily follow that B was added 

 to Mark at a later date than C. Indeed, since B was evidently com- 

 posed for the purpose of rounding off an unfinished Gospel, \ve must 

 infer that at the time when it was written C had not become known, at 

 least to any extent, in Egypt, since it is self-evident that the meager 

 B could never have gained large acceptance in regions where C, mani- 

 festly and immeasurably its superior, was already known. We date 

 it therefore in the second century. 



That the origin of the Shorter Conclusion belongs to Egypt our 

 whole investigation seems to imply beyond a reasonable doubt, for 

 the following reasons : 



1. Because the four uncials containing the double conclusion, 

 L, T^ 1'^^, and ^1', are from Egypt, and of these L and ^1" belong to 

 that type of text, the so-called "Alexandrian" text, which is known 

 to represent the third known stage of the Greek text in Egypt. We 

 have not found a single MS containing B, either in the Greek or the 

 versions, whose origin is certainly, or even most probably, to be traced 

 to any other country. 



2. Because the MSS showing the Shorter Conclusion are more or 

 less closely related, as we have seen, to the text of XB, the so-called 

 "Neutral" text, which represents the second known type of the Alex- 

 andrian text. All the versions in which the Shorter Conclusion is 

 found have affiliations with this type of text, and most of them seem 

 to have been based upon it. 



It seems evident, therefore, that after the earHest t3^pe of the text 

 of Mark, that ending with v. 8, Egypt possessed a second form which 

 concluded the Gospel with B. This, however, was very frequently, 

 if not usually, appended with a break or notes or a subscription, 

 testifying to the earlier, abbreviated form of the Gospel. 



A third form known in Egypt is shown by the uncials with the 

 double conclusion. It is self-evident that in these MSS C is appended 

 to B, and, since in all known MSS showing the double conclusion B 



