Is Mk 16:8 “[The women] said nothing to anyone” an excuse to explain why readers only now are hearing of the empty tomb discovery?

• Larry Hurtado: “It is a far more reasonable reading of 16:8 to see it as indicating that the women said nothing to anyone other than the ones to whom they were sent, thereby explaining why news of Jesus' resurrection did not become public unto it was proclaimed through the witness of the Twelve and of others who were chosen by the risen Jesus for this task.” [“Following Jesus in the Gospel of Mark—and Beyond” in Patterns of Discipleship, ed. Longnecker (Eerdmans, 1996), 24.]
• Michael Licona: “Given these common uses of the terms elsewhere, it is by no means a stretch to understand Mark as saying the following: And the women left fleeing from the tomb. For as a result of seeing the angel and hearing the news of the risen Lord, the motivation to be on their best behavior and amazement had gripped them, and they said nothing to anyone on their way to tell the disciples the news. For they had a reverential fear as a result of the revelation that kept them laser focused on their assigned task.” [The Resurrection of Jesus (IVP Academic, 2010), 347.]

Parallel studies of the phrase “said nothing to anyone” suggests Mk simply means “anyone else” (i.e. anyone other than who they were told to go to). Notice how Mk 16:8 “said nothing to anyone” matches Mk 1:44 “say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself [to the priest]… and offer… a testimony to them”; the latter is not a contradiction, and so neither is the former. So:

• Christopher Bryan: “In other words, [regarding the healed disobedient leper in Mk] the true opposite of the silence that Jesus has enjoined is not talking to the priests, as he was bidden, but general public announcement, such as he actually made. There is no reason to understand Mark’s similar expressions at 16:8 in a different way, and every reason, in view of his implicit presentation of the women as witnesses, to understand them in the same way. The women did not rush out and immediately start chattering to everyone, thereby disobeying the angel’s command that they go to the disciples with their news: rather, they fled the angel’s presence in silence, greeting no one by the way, for they were filled with awe by both message and messenger.” [The Resurrection of the Messiah (Oxford, 2011), 79.]
• E. S. Malbion: “…the closest Markan comparison with ούδενί ούδέν εΐπαν at 16:8 is μηδενί μαδέν έίης at 1:44, and the earlier passage may help clarify the later one. At 1:44 Jesus charges the healed leper to ‘say nothing to any one (μηδενί μαδέν έίης); but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people’ (RSV). Surely in showing himself to the priest the former leper would say something to the priest; the priest, however, would not be just any one, but the very one the leper was instructed to inform. At the close of Mark, the disciples and Peter are not just ‘any one,’ but the very ones the women are instructed to tell. Thus ούδενί ούδέν εΐπαν, likeμηδενί μαδέν έίης, may mean ‘said nothing to any one else’ or ‘to any one in general.’” [“Fallible Followers: Women and Men in the Gospel of Mark” Semeia 28 (1983), 45.]

Matthew understood Mark to mean that the women went straight to the disciples. Luke did also.

• Mt 28:8 — And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.
• Lk 24:9 — and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest This is relevant because they were in a far better position to interpret Mark than modern critics.

The idea here is that, for any competent author, it would be far too easy and obviously better to have instead said, “they said nothing to anyone else along the way” or some-such. in response, the reader here will need to judge for herself how strong this counter-argument is, and whether it’s stronger than the considerations below. It’s worth noting that Mark’s Gospel is very context heavy—having been performed orally several times in the relevant community. Audiences could discern implicit information—like the suggested meaning of the author here—in ways that would be contextually clear to its contemporary audience, even while seeming inept to disconnected modern readers.

• E.L. Bode: “Could the women have been expected in reality, or have been said with verisimilitude, to have told nothing to anyone for ever? Such an unlikely impression is perhaps a clue that Mark has in mind another meaning he wishes to express…” [The First Easter Morning (Bible Institute, 1970), 43.]