Sons of Thunder? Really.
Please study Matthew 10 (where I think you got this sons of thunder). Maybe ask LLoJ to review the old scripture and translate and give his opinion. I do not know what LLoJ will say but I suspect he will agree that this line is referring to these men as being the son of someone so as to distinguish them from others with the same first name.
No. Mt. 10 lists the twelve, and identifies James and John as sons of Zebedee. There was also James the son of Alphaeus. They were distinguished formally in that way. Scripture also records that Jesus gave several of the disciples nicknames--James and John he calld 'sons of thunder,' (Mk. 3) Simon He called 'Peter' (John. 1) and so forth. In each recorded case, Jesus assigned these nicknames early on. The nicknames appear to have reflected personality or temperament traits. Simon was not the only one to whom Jesus gave a nickname. Nor did Jesus in Mt. 16 give him any new name or nickname. He used the one He had given him previously--and it is an interesting contrast between Peter and Christ. Note this discussion comparing the two words:
"2. The Greek text of Matthew 16:18 uses two separate (different) Greek words in the passage.
Petros, the name given to the Apostle.
Petra, the word used for rock.
Rome says that "Peter" (PETROS) is merely the masculine form of the feminine noun PETRA, and therefore means the same thing. But...
3. Classic Greek authors (before the New Testament was written) treat the words PETROS and PETRA as two different words.
According to Liddell and Scott:
Petros, ...(distinct from petra)...
Hom. IL. 16.734; 7:270; 20.288
E. Heracl.1002, "panta kinesai petron" ..."Leave no stone unturned"
cf. Pl. Lg. 843a
X. HG 3.5.20 "Petrous epekulindoun" "They rolled down stones."
S. Ph 296 to produce fire "en petroisi petron ektribon"
from: A Greek - English Lexicon, complied by Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, pg. 1397- 8, Pub. by Oxford, at the Clarendon Press.)
NOTE: Petros, a stone, a smaller movable stone (Heracletes uses it in the phrase "leave no stone unturned.") So, a "PETROS" is a stone which can by turned over, hence, a movable stone.
Petra, a large massive rock, a large boulder, a foundation stone.
The word "Petros" is only used in the Greek New Testament as a proper name for Simon bar Jona.
Petros is not merely a masculine form of the word petra, but is a different word with a different meaning, though both words are derived from a common root.
4. The wording of Matt. 16:18 uses two different Greek words. If Jesus was referring the second word to Simon Peter he could have said "epi tauto to petro" (using the masculine gender in the dative case) the same word as "Petros." But what he said was "Epi taute te petra" using Petra, a different Greek word."
Dave