Regarding the (peter aka kepha) --petros petra controversy, what do you think Jesus actually said when He spoke the words below; keeping in mind that Jesus was speaking in the Aramaic tongue, not the Greek. (St. Paul uses the original Aramaic “Cephas”–rock, which has no gender; we should expect no less in the Greek language)
“…And so I say to you, you are Peter, (kepha) and upon this rock (kepha) I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”
- lithos lee’-thos apparently a primary word; a stone (literally or figuratively):–(mill-, stumbling-)a stone
- of small stones
- of building stones stone.
- Petros pet’-ros apparently a primary word; a (piece of) rock (larger than 3037);** as a name, Petrus, an apostle:–Peter, rock.** Noun Masculine Compare 2786.
**If the writers of the N.T. wanted to call Simon, renamed kepha (Aramaic), a small insignificant stone, they would have used the Greek word lithos—not petros. ** Why didn’t Jesus just use the Aramaic word “evna”, which means "a small stone, when He rename Simon? Apart from references to Simon aka Peter, the word “petros” never appears anywhere in the Bible. The New Testament refers to “a stone” in dozens of passages and many different contexts. Yet these passages never use the Greek “petros”. Instead, they use “lithos”, which is the common Greek word for “a stone”.
Why would Jesus go to the trouble of giving Simon a proper name which means piece of rock, an insignificant stone; what would be the point? It would almost be an insult to the man, Jesus said: “feed my lambs, tend my sheep, and feed my sheep!” If Jesus intended on renaming Simon --Rock, the context makes perfect sense. Jesus could build His Church on a large metaphorical Rock. Metaphorically speaking, an insignificant stone in lieu of Rock, just doesn’t make sense.
There is no certainty of completion, if Jesus’ Church is metaphorically built on a small insignificant stone! Furthermore, if Jesus is saying that His Church was to be built on Him, why the need for a name change to begin with?
But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ Luke 14
Jesus’ Apostolic Church was built on SOLID ROCK!!!
- petra pet’-ra ** feminine of the same as 4074**; a (mass of) rock (literally or figuratively):–rock.
The Greek writers wanted to continue to call Simon by his new proper name kepha, while retaining the masculine form, ergo petros in lieu of petra, a feminine form.
- Kephas kay-fas’ of Chaldee origin (compare 3710); the Rock; Cephas (i.e. Kepha), **a surname of Peter:–Cephas. **
The Aramaic word for “rock” is kepha (feminine) OR kephas (masculine)
Cephas (Κηφας)
Jesus conferred on Simon – the name kepha/kephas, and “Cephas” is a transliteration into the phonetically adaptable Greek.
John 1:42
He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John, you shall be called Cephas”, which is translated ‘Peter’.
1 Corinthians 1:12
But I say that each of you says “I am of Paul”, or “I am of Apollos”, or “I am of Cephas”, or “I am of Christ”.
1Co 3:22
Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 9:5
Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?
1Co 15:5
And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
Ga 2:9
Code:
And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
Galatians 1:18
Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him for fifteen days…
In these passages, ‘Cephas’ is given as the nickname of the apostle better known as Simon Peter. The Greek word is transliterated Κηφᾶς (Kēphâs). This totally invalidates the whole petra/petros controversy.
The apostle’s given nameis Simon, and he is given the Aramaic nickname, kêfâ, meaning ‘rock’. The final sigma (s) is added in Greek to make the name masculine rather than feminine. That the meaning of the name (Rock) was more important than the name itself is evidenced by the universal acceptance of the Greek translation, Πέτρος (Petros).
So to sum up, Jesus gave Simon the name “Kepha”. “Kepha” is rendered in Greek as “Cephas” and appears many times in this form, as I have illustrated throughout the New Testament. However, it is not a Greek word and therefore had no meaning to a Greek-speaking audience. Therefore, Simon also became known as “Petros”. “Petros” is the masculine form of the Greek feminine noun “petra”, meaning “rock”. The word Peter/Petros is used over 160 times in the N.T.
Do you really think the N.T. writers viewed Simon (renamed Peter/Petros) as an insignificant leader of the fledgling Apostolic Church?
