Apocryphal collection · Sayings and fragments · 2 min read
The Freer Logion
The disciples' excuse and the end of Satan's time
The full text of this study is in Portuguese; the summary, key points and official view are in English.
In the Codex Washingtonianus, a 4th- or 5th-century Greek manuscript of the gospels kept at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, there is a unique addition at the end of the Gospel of Mark, after 16:14. The disciples excuse their unbelief by saying that “this age of lawlessness and unbelief is under Satan”, and Christ replies that “the term of years of Satan’s power has been fulfilled, but other terrible things draw near”. Jerome knew part of this text.
Key points
- Manuscript: Codex W (Washingtonianus), 4th–5th centuries.
- Bought in Egypt in 1906 by Charles Lang Freer.
- The addition appears only in this Greek manuscript.
- Jerome quotes part of the disciples’ sentence (Against the Pelagians 2.15).
- It shows how the ending of Mark varied in ancient manuscripts.
What scholars say
Scholars consider the Freer Logion an expansion of the longer ending of Mark (16:9–20), probably dating from the 2nd or 3rd century. It is an important example of textual variants in the gospels.
Keep investigating
- Papyrus Egerton 2 (the "Unknown Gospel") One of the oldest Christian papyri in the world
- Secret Gospel of Mark The Mar Saba letter, the young man raised from the dead and a mystery that vanished
Other languages: Português · Español
Soneliora brings together soundscapes to breathe and sleep and the Atlas of the Firmament, a museum of studies on ancient cosmologies. soneliora.com