While We're At It . . .

I thought, while we were talking about the Aramaic underlying Matthew 16:18 ("You are Peter . . . ") that I’d show you this verse  in the standard Armaic translation of the New Testament.

Many Catholics have heard that "kepha" is used in both places in this verse ("You are Peter \[kepha] and on this rock [kepha] I will build my Church . . . "), but few have seen it with their own eyes.

So I scanned it and here ’tis:

The standard Aramaic translation of the New Testament is known as the Pshitta or Peshitta (pronounce it the former way, not the latter). It is not generally regarded as an Aramaic original to the New Testament, but it is based on very early Aramaic versions that were utilized to produce a standard edition and, indeed, it uses kepha in both slots in this verse.

Because of the unfamiliarity of the scrip for most folks (NOTE: It’s read right-to-left instead of left-to-right), I’ve circled the word kepha both times it appears in the text so folks can tell that it does appear twice.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

2 thoughts on “While We're At It . . .”

  1. Jimmy,

    What do you think about Jesus switching from addressing Peter directly “YOU are Kepha” to speaking indirectly “Upon THIS Kepha”. I know some Protestants argue that he intentionally switched to signify he wasn’t referring to Peter himself. I’ve read Steve Ray’s argument in “Upon This Rock” that he thinks the Lord was referring to “this”, that is, the Petrine office itself, rather than Peter as a person.

    Is it also possible, since he’s with all the Apostles, that he declares to Peter directly “You are Kepha”, and then stares at the other Apostles, and thus says to them collectively, “Upon THIS rock, I will build my Church”.

    Do you have a particular explanation you prefer?

  2. You know, I’d really like a shirt with this line in Aramaic. It’s such a beautiful script, and kepha is a very pretty word!

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