Peter an Apostle not a Replacement
Many Roman Catholics believe that Peter is the rock in which Jesus the Messiah alluded to in Matthew chapter 16:18. Based on looking into this issue from a different perspective, using the Aramaic Peshitta new testament opposed to the Greek, the capacity for this assertion to be true (that Peter is the rock of scriptural assuredly) has been made a non issue. In the Syrian Aramaic language this passage does not differentiate the name Peter (which is originally Kephas) with the second word used for rock in the same sentence. This occurs because in Aramaic the word Keepa or Kephas which means rock, has multiple meanings but only one word used. Because of this, it is near imposable to state that Peter means anything more then rock (more akin to a stone), and based on further biblical and contextual evidence Keepa as his personal name, is shown to be equal to nothing more then the word lithos in Greek, or Petra which is equivalent to stone in English. (Though Petra and Petros are contentious words said not to be used in the first century of Yahshua).
Excerpt from the paper:
“Peshitta’s explanation of rock
This final scripture is the one of Mat 16. See that all 4 times Keepa is used to mean different sizes of rock.
Since the Peshitta is the source text for the Sinaticus and the other ‘Old Syriac’ text, the above shows that the word rock can be taken in a multitude of ways. To be sure of the meaning of Petros/Chephas/Keepa/Peter in the coming scripture is difficult without a clear understanding of the rest of the Old testament. [We see that the same word is used for rock in all 4 scriptures, these all come from the book of Matthew].
True meaning of upon this rock I will build my church
Mat 16:13-18 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? (14) And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. (15) He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? (16) And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (17) And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. (18) 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.
We must realize that the revelation of Jesus being the Son of the most high Yahweh was not a new revelation, for in chapter 14 of the same epistle of Matthew just after Jesus walked on the sea, the Apostles admitted that “Of a truth thou art the Son of God.” (Mat 14:33) With this acknowledged, when Peter said the same thing out loud he wasn’t revealing some new revelation. What peter did was combine Yahshua’s Sonship with the fact that he was the promised Messiah “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (kjv).
The Hebraism
In order to understand the full meaning of this passage we must look at what the name Simon means. In the Hebrew Simon means “hearing”.
H8095
שׁמעון
shim‛ôn
shim-one’
From H8085; hearing; Shimon
The fact that Peter was a sir name and was not his proper name as we even see by his second Epistle beginning with Simon Peter…, the use of the full name Simon Barjon, or hearing son of Jona is used with a specific intent. Let’s look at this scripture with its intended language:
Blessed art thou, hearing son of jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
So the fact that his name means hearing is evidence that God the Father spoke to him and revealed such truth to his understanding. Jesus the Messiah then continues His Hebraism:
(18) And I say also unto thee, that thou art rock, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
This is a play on names, and each name has a purpose in regards to the revelation or knowledge of the Messiah being the Son of God. Let’s look at the parts:
1. Simon means hearing
2. Peter means stone, or rock or boulder and he was the one who heard the Father reveal the Messiahs full identity. Like Peters name, this revelation being the Rock but of a different kind then what Peter stands for was the foundation of all faith and even the church itself.
Further explanation: “Blessed art thou, hearing … for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee …
And I say also unto thee, That thou are stone (cephas), and upon this rock (cephas) I will build my church.
The Hebraism or play on words is that Simon is the same word as hearing and yet was a name explanatory of his reception of said revelation, and Cephas or stone was the same word as rock yet was a name explanatory of his reception of the revelation of Jesus as the Messiah who was the foundational rock of the new testament. If Cephas/peter was to be translated rock and Jesus said upon this rock I will build my church, then the entire pun would have no secondary meaning, thus destroying its structure and intent. This would also be confusing to the hearers for the church was built only upon Jesus the Messiahs death and the Fathers power, for he was rooted in God the Father, and is known in the old testament to all the Apostles as the Rock and foundation of all things (especially the church).
The fact that Jesus the Messiah said “and I say” shows that both the revelation from the Father and the declaration of Peter receiving the rock were a related theme that could not be misconstrued. Quite simply God the Father said to Peter: Jesus is the Messiah the Son of the Living God, and Jesus who is also God said “Upon this rock [alluding to the fathers words], stone or Peter I will build my church”. It was a double affirmative that Jesus was who He said He was, it was also a declaration of his Yahshua’s Godhood.”
Read the full Document Here:
