Did Jesus Re-name Simon the “Rock” – Confusion with Petra, Cephas, Rock and Peter

Michie

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I thought I might post some threads on the common misconceptions concerning Catholicism to help people understand what Catholics believe and practice.
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A loving wife of an unbelieving Protestant husband asked me to explain to her husband that Jesus renamed Simon as Peter and how that relates to Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew. So in simple terms I gave it a simple (though a bit long) explanation. I hope it helps you as well.

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Let’s give this a whirl for your husband’s sake. We know Aramaic was the daily language of the Jews in Judea after their return from their exile to Babylon in 586 BC. Jesus, though he obviously knew Hebrew and probably Greek, primarily spoke Aramaic.

“Greek took over as the language of government, literature, and commerce, but Aramaic remained the language of the common people in Palestine until the Arab Muslim conquest.”

“As Aramaic was spoken commonly in Palestine during the New Testament times, Jesus and his disciples spoke Aramaic (Matt 26:73). Fragments of Aramaic appear, for example, in Matt 16:17; Mark 5:41, 7:34, 14:36, 15:34; John 1:42; and Acts 1:19. The Gospel stories were probably first transmitted orally in Aramaic, although only the Gospel of Matthew is reported to have been written originally in Hebrew or Aramaic.” (CBD, “Aramaic”)

When under extreme pain on the crucifixion Jesus said, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” These are Aramaic words.

“According to Matthew 27:45–50…” says the Evangelical Bible Knowledge Commentary, “…near the end of this period of time, Jesus could bear the separation no longer and cried out in a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? These Aramaic words mean, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (a quotation of Ps. 22:1).”

Here we have clear biblical evidence that when Jesus spoke, even under the emotional terror of the crucifixion, he spoke in Aramaic. This is just common knowledge and undisputed by anyone who knows New Testament history.

Did Jesus Re-name Simon the “Rock” – Confusion with Petra, Cephas, Rock and Peter | Defenders of the Catholic Faith | Hosted by Stephen K. Ray
 
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Michie

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Seven Reasons Why Peter is the Rock

Jesus promised to give to Peter alone the keys of the kingdom, symbolizing the authority of Christ


Few texts have been the occasion for the spilling of more ink than [URL='https://www.catholic.com/bible-navigator/primacy-of-peter/matthew1618-19']Matthew 16:17-19
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And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

For Catholics, this text is clear. All twelve apostles were present, yet Jesus promised to give to Peteralone the keys of the kingdom, symbolizing the authority of Christ—the authority of heaven—over the kingdom of heaven on Earth, which is the Church. Yet millions of Protestants believe that there is a distinction in meaning in the Greek text between the two “rocks” that would eliminate Peter from consideration for being the rock.

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Seven Reasons Why Peter is the Rock
 
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Elisha McFarland

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Athanasius377

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For Catholics, this text is clear. All twelve apostles were present, yet Jesus promised to give to Peteralone the keys of the kingdom, symbolizing the authority of Christ—the authority of heaven—over the kingdom of heaven on Earth, which is the Church. Yet millions of Protestants believe that there is a distinction in meaning in the Greek text between the two “rocks” that would eliminate Peter from consideration for being the rock.

Of course Peter is the Rock in Matt 16:18. The differences in the Greek are due to the gender of the noun being used. I am not sure why folks have an issue with the plain reading of the text. In fact according to this commentary the Aramaic the usage is identical:

The suggestion is intriguing but based more on speculation than evidence and furthermore must face the very different metaphors of being hewn from rock and being built upon rock. The word play is clear in the Greek (Πέτρος [Petros], “Peter [lit. ‘stone’]”—πέτρα [petra], “rock”) despite the shift required by the feminine form of the noun for “rock.” It is even more obvious in the Aramaic, where the name כֵּיפָא, Kêp̱āʾ, is exactly the same for the word “rock.”

Hagner, D. A. (1995). Matthew 14–28 (Vol. 33B, p. 470). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

My issue isn't that Peter isn't somehow the rock rather the assertion that only Peter was given the Keys. SO what are the Keys? This is a reference to Isaiah 22:22 and is defined again for us in the passage with the authority to bind and loose. Then cf with the Pharisee's misuse of the keys Matt 23:13. So was Peter the only one with this authority? At this point yes. But, this authority is later given to all the disciples in Matt 18:17-18. Notice in both cases the context has to do with the church and the context is clear that the idiom has to do with church discipline. Yet one can still make the case that Peter has received the keys as a result of his position within the 12 probably more out of honor than authority.
 
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Radagast

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We know Aramaic was the daily language of the Jews in Judea after their return from their exile to Babylon in 586 BC. Jesus, though he obviously knew Hebrew and probably Greek, primarily spoke Aramaic.

“Greek took over as the language of government, literature, and commerce, but Aramaic remained the language of the common people in Palestine until the Arab Muslim conquest.”

It's more complex than that. Towns near the coast were often Greek speaking. Even the synagogues had their inscriptions in Greek. Towns inland were mostly Aramaic speaking (with exceptions for towns settled mostly by foreigners).

It is likely that Jesus spoke both Greek and Aramaic, depending on where he was. He probably spoke Greek to Pilate, for example.
 
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