WORD STUDY – PETER (ARAMAIC) – CEPHAS כפא

John 1:42 “And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be (Aramaic uses a pefect tense – are) called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.”

Peter’s given name was Simon or Shimon in Aramaic which was a common name of that day and meant one who listened very closely. Perhaps Peter was a Shimon because he was not mentally quick and it took him longer than most people to process information. Because of this he was nicknamed Cephas or a stone. There were many Simons in those days and when Jesus first met Peter he basically said: “So you are Simon, the one they call Cephas.” In other words Jesus was letting Peter know that He knew all about him, even down to the point that He knew what his closest friends and family called him. Yet, in the first century Aramaic Cephas is also a colloquial word and a nickname to describe someone who is a little slow to grasp things, sort of childlike and naive It doesn’t necessarily have to be an insult, it could be an affectionate expression for someone who is well meaning, loyal, dependable, but not quite on the intellectual level of others, not quite having all their oars in the water.
We learn in Matthew 16:18 that although Peter was known by a name which suggested that he was intellectually inferior to others, Jesus declared that it would be that very one that He would build His church upon. “You are Cephas (one who is a little slow and childlike but very loyal and dependable) it is upon these Cephas’s that I will build my church.”