Mt 16:18-9 THE ‘PETROS’ AND ‘PETRA’ DISTINCTIONS By Prof. Ramon Gitamondoc

St. Peter the Apostle enthroned between St. Paul and the Faithful by Jacopo di Cione

mdizon-coolOctober 8, 2012 10:36 AM

1. interesting exchange..sana may video upload sa youtube..=)

   inquiry lang po..regrding Matt. 16:18

   1. Do you recognize and believe that there is a relevance in the usage of Petra-Petros in the verse?

   2. Is tha church really built upon Peter??

   “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

   lets disect…

   “..I say also unto thee..” - 
   I : 1st person
   thee : 2nd person

   “..That thou art Peter” -
   Peter – 2nd person (thee in the 1st clause)

   “..and upon this rock I will build my church”-
   This Rock – 3rd person

   Rock = Peter? ganun ba?

   BRO. RAMON GITAMONDOC:

    

   inquiry lang po.. regarding Matt. 16:18

   1. Do you recognize and believe that there is a relevance in the usage of Petra-Petros in the verse?  

    MY REPLY:  The full import of the words which Jesus addressed to Peter can best be appreciated in the Aramaic which is the language which Jesus spoke.  That Jesus spoke Aramaic in this particular dialogue with Peter can be demonstrated based on internal evidence in Scriptures.  The fact that Jesus said to him “Simon Bar-Jona” proves that Jesus was speaking Aramaic.  In Aramaic, “Bar” means son and “Jona” means John thus “Simon Bar-Jona” is equivalent to “Simon son of John.”  There are other New Testament passages which records Jesus speaking in Aramaic (see Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).  In Aramaic the disputed passage is rendered:  “Thou art Peter [ = Kepha] and upon this rock [ = Kepha] I will build my Church” (Matthew 16:18).  When this passage is translated to Greek the word Petros was used for Kepha to reflect the masculine gender of Peter thus it becomes “Thou art Peter [ = Petros] and upon this rock [ = Kepha] I will build my Church.”  In Aramaic “Kepha” means a large immovable rock.  This is the name which Jesus gave to Peter (John 1:42).  The question may also be asked:  Do you recognize and believe that there is a relevance in the usage of KEPHA in the verse? 

   2. Is the Church really built upon Peter??   

   MY REPLY:  Since it has been demonstrated that Peter is the rock in Matthew 16:18 and Jesus said “and upon this rock I will build my Church” then to ask this question couple with a double quotation mark is tantamount to doubting the words of our Savior.  If Jesus says that it is upon Peter that He is going to build His Church then so be it.  If we truly believe that Jesus “have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68) then we have to accept the plain and straightforward meaning of what Jesus has just declared.

   “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

   Let’s dissect …  “.. I say also unto thee ..” -  I: 1st person   thee: 2nd person

   MY COMMENTS:  It is very clear, that in this instance, Jesus is the one speaking and He was addressing these words to Peter alone [thee = you is in the singular].  In fact, if we go back a bit to verse 17, after Peter received a divine revelation from God the discourse of Jesus turns toward the person of Peter:  “And Jesus answering said to him [Peter]: Blessed are you [Peter], Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood has not revealed it to you [Peter], but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you [Peter]: That you [Peter] are Peter; and upon this rock [Peter] I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give to you [Peter] the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever you [Peter] shall bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever you [Peter] shall loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven” (Matthew 16:17-19)

   “..That thou art Peter” – Peter – 2nd person (thee in the 1st clause)

   MY COMMENTS:  Jesus could not be more emphatic here.  Had Jesus simply said “I say unto thee: upon this rock I will build my Church” this will still be a strong case for the Catholic argument regarding Peter’s primacy.  Yet Jesus did not mince on his words and said:  “I say unto thee, THOU ART PETER [= ROCK], and upon this ROCK I will build my Church.”  To the unbiased reader, the play of words here is pretty obvious.  It was to be upon Peter the Rock on which Jesus is going to build His Church. 

   “..and upon this rock I will build my church”- This Rock – 3rd person;  Rock = Peter? ganun ba?

   MY COMMENT:  What runs in the mind of this inquirer is that, why is it that in this part of his declaration Jesus did not say “and upon you the rock I will build my Church”?  Why did Jesus use a demonstrative pronoun “and upon THIS ROCK I will build my Church”?  Firstly, the Greek construction of “on this rock” can be also translated as “on this same rock” or “on this very rock.”  Secondly, the demonstrative pronoun “this” generally refers to its closest antecedent [which is the referant that it is pointing back to] which in the sentence is “Peter.”  Thirdly, there are perfectly good reasons why Jesus did not say “upon you the rock.”  Let’s try to do just that and see what happens:  “I say unto you, that you are Rock and upon you the rock I will build my Church.”  If you notice that it sounds to be unnecessarily redundant. Jesus has already clearly indicated that he was addressing Peter [at least twice “I say unto YOU, that YOU are Peter…] so there is no necessity of using YOU the third time around.  The metaphor used by Jesus in “and upon this ROCK” will give a much deeper meaning to His statement.  After all that’s what metaphors are for.   

–
Posted By Blogger to The Splendor of the Church at 10/09/2012 11:03:00 PM