Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 16:18

"they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." — Mark 16:18 (ASV)

The promise of signs is not limited to the apostles, for they will accompany any who believe. The apostles’ power to exorcise demons is to be shared by other believers. Speaking in tongues is not mentioned elsewhere in the Gospels and seems to reflect a post-Pentecost situation. Lk 10:19 speaks of trampling on snakes but not of picking them up with one’s hands (v.18; cf. Acts 28:3–6). The drinking of poison without harm is unknown in the NT. Anointing the sick with oil is mentioned in 6:13, but no laying on of hands by the apostles occurs in the Gospels (cf. Acts 28:8).