Now to business. In some of the Dead Sea Scrolls, we can see some interesting uses of the the Aramaic word כיפא
kēfa’. In the
Job Targum found in Cave 11 in Qumran (11QtgJob aka 11Q10, cols. 32.1; 33.9, cf. Job 39:1, 28), for example,
kēfa’ is used to translate the Hebrew word
Finally, let’s look at the Septuagint. In Job 30:6, for instance, חֹרֵ֖י וְכֵפִֽים
ḥōrê…ḵēfîm (“holes…of the rocks”) is translated as τρῶγλαι πετρῶν
trōglai petrōn; in Jeremiah 4:29, וּבַכֵּפִ֖ים עָל֑וּ
ûḇakēfîm ‘ālû “they climb among rocks” is rendered as ἐπὶ τὰς πέτρας ἀνέβησαν
tas petras anebesan. Also Sirach 40:15: “The branch of violence shall not be unpunished, for the root of the godless is on the tooth of a rock/crag.” (Hebrew: אֶל שֵׁ֑ן
סֶ֣לַע ‘el šēn sel[sup]a[/sup]‘; Greek: ἐπ᾽ ἀκροτόμου
πέτρας ep’ akrotomou petras “sharp-point of a rock”)
First - my apologies for such crude edits to your post - but I just wanted to (first) address the scriptures refrenced above in Job and Jeremiah…
In Job and Jeremiah - the word “kepha” is NOT USED. The word that is used is “KEPHIM” (as is noted in your text). This is a HEBREW word (note the -im ending, which is a plural ending in Hebrew). The word kephim is ONLY and ALWAYS used in the plural. There is no “singular” form of “kephim” (ie, “keph”) that means “a single stone or rock”. Kephim is always used to refer to mountains, crags, “climb-able rocks”. No doubt, it shared some common “root” with the Aramaic kepha, but they are very different words. Kephim is a Hebrew masculine plural noun, kepha is a feminine singular noun.
(I gave references in my previous post, but you can see very good info on this very matter at
freetowne.com/pppk)
So, whoever wrote the info regarding Jeremiah and Job has his information wrong on at least that one point.
As to the Targummims: The word kepha may have indeed been used to translate sela, which is translated petra - BUT - in Aramaic, the word “kepha” was used very much the same as we use the word “rock” in English:
- the boy threw the rock into the creek
- we went rock climbing
- the beach was strewn with tiny rocks
- he built his house on a rock
Here, we see “rock” being used to signify “stone”, “crag”, “pebble”, and “bedrock”
In English, we understand the use of “rock” from it’s CONTEXT.
Consider this: In English, we translate “Penon de Gibraltar” as “Rock of Gibraltar”. However, “penon” really means “crag”. (“Roca” is the Spanish word for “rock”). However, in English, “Crag of Gibraltar” doesn’t sound too good, evidently. So, we use “rock”.
We understand “Rock of Gibraltar” only because we have a pre-knowledge of what the Rock of Gibraltar is. However, if we did NOT, then we might think of it as a rock of the same size as, say, the Plymouth Rock (which is a couple of feet wide).
What I’m saying is that in English, we use “rock” to translate LOTS of things, and as English-speakers, we understand (largely from context) what is meant – but that does NOT mean that “rock” is an accurate translation for (say) “penon” (in Spanish) or “escarpe” (in French). NOTE: in French, the word for “rock climbing” is “escalade”… But, we translate both “escarpe” and “escalde” with tremendous inaccuracy in English, using “rock” in both instances.
That is exactly what the Targummim do. They are Aramaic translations of Hebrew or Greek texts, written for an Aramaic audience, and they use the word “kepha” in a very “colloquial” sense - and should NOT be confused with a faithful and accurate translation.
If you want to know what “kepha” really means, you need to study original Aramaic-language documents, not “targummim” (translations). After all, you can’t expect to know the meaning of English words by looking at Chinese translations, can you?
In original Aramaic-language documents, kepha means:
rock, stone, ball…; “which rock (when bored) will give forth water and which…”;
pearls, jewels; fire-balls; hail-stones; “…thou must remove these stones…”;
kissed the rocks (Rashi: corals) of the shore of Ptolemais (as sacred ground);
weighed the stones;
precious stones, jewelry; amber; “has he jewelry suspended on it” (his opinion) ie, must his opinion be accepted?;
gave jewelry in trust; give me my jewelry back;
shore, border; like its shore; the Euphrates grows from (the waters coming down) its shores (not from rain); was hiding himself at the sea-shore; …the shores of… touched each other (the waters rising to the level of the shores;
Rashi: the arches of the ruined bridges, v. infra); arch, vault; bundle, sheaf
(Jastrows Dictionary of Targumim, Talmud and Midrashic Literature)
) point out that 1Corinthians 10:4 (10:4 good buddy~!) has Petra, and believes it to mean Jesus Christ. (How annoying and arrogant.)
Hello? Does any one get it? Is the message getting through? IT really doesn’t MATTER whether Petros means small rock or not, it doesn’t matter if Keeting’s scholar is right or wrong about Attic Greek. None of these anti-arguments in the slightest affects what was said in Matthew 16:18.
