the reading that best explains the rise of the others. I will limit my examination to two aspects to the problem. First, I want to consider the external evidence—Greek manuscripts, ancient translations, and patristic writings. I will not only look at the hard data, but try to construct some reasons for why it looks the way it does. There are curiosities concerning Mark’s ending that simply cannot be ignored. Second, I will look at internal evidence—though much more briefly. In particular, the focus