Peter The Rock - Biblical Interpretation Issues

Biblical Interpretation Issues

Since the Protestant Reformation, many non-Catholics, in disagreement with the historic Catholic Church view, have explained this passage with a combination of "bad Greek" and bad exegesis leading to a conclusion that supposedly invalidates the papacy. Yet, both of these traditional explanations of this passage have been termed incorrect by many recent Bible scholars.

While the reasons for disagreement on the nature of the primacy are complex—hinging upon matters of doctrine, history, and politics, the debate is often reduced to a discussion of the meaning and translation of the "on this rock" passage:

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.

— Matthew 16:18, KJV

In the Greek text, the new name given is "Πέτρος" (Petros), and in the second half of the same verse the word translated as "rock" is "πέτρα" (petra). One common Protestant argument historically has been that the translation from the New Testament in Hebrew into Greek is tenuous at best as there is no real evidence or indication that the New Testament (in Greek) was ever translated from Hebrew or Aramaic texts, for that argument see Aramaic primacy. According to the Protestant transliteration argument, the language that Jesus spoke, the same word, "כפא" (cepha), was used for both Peter's name and for the rock on which Jesus said he would build his church.

A literal translation, in the style of the King James Version, of the words presumably used by Jesus would be "Thou art Rock, and upon this rock will I build my church". To preserve a supposed pun, the Greek text chose to translate Peter's name as "Πέτρος" rather than as "Κηφᾶς" (Cephas). Indeed, using the supposed transliteration of "כפא", which is found several times in the New Testament, would lose the play of words. Other problems exist with the Protestant theory. Greek was the language of government, markets, and every day life in Judea. Aramaic would have been spoken to people far beyond the reach of the Roman cities, and Hebrew had been largely lost except within educated religious ranks. In order to reach a larger audience, it would be far more practical and sensible if Jesus spoke to Jews and non-Jews alike in Greek ( Revelation 1:8, Revelation 11, Revelation 21:6, Revelation 22:13, Matt 8:5-13, Luke 7:2-10 ).