Matthew 16:13–20

Verse 13. Cæarea Philippi, was first called Paneades, and was afterwards embellished and greatly enlarged by Philip the tetrarch, son of Herod the great, and dedicated in honour of Augustus, hence its name. There was moreover another Cæsarea, called Straton, situated on the Mediterranean: and not in this, but in the former, did Christ interrogate his disciples. He first withdrew them from the Jews, that they might with more boldness and freedom deliver their sentiments. S. Chry. hom. lv.—The Cæsarea here mentioned continued to be called by heathen writers Panea, from the adjoining spring Paneum, or Panium, which is usually taken for the source of the Jordan.

Verse 14. Some say, and so forth Herod thought that Christ was the Baptist, on account of his prodigies. S. Matthew 14:2. Others that he was Elias: 1st. because they expected he was about to return to them, according to the prophecy of Malachias; behold I will send you Elias; 2d. on account of the greatness of his miracles; 3d. on account of his invincible zeal and courage in the cause of truth and justice. Others again said he was Jeremias, either on account of his great sanctity, for he was sanctified in his mother’s womb; or, on account of his great charity and love for his brethren, as it was written of Jeremias: he is a lover of his brethren. Or, again, one of the prophets, that is Isaias, or some other noted for eloquence; for it was the opinion of many of the Jews, as we read in Saint Luke, that one of the ancient prophets had arisen again. Dion. Carth.

Verse 15. Whom do you say that I am? You, who have been continually with me; you, who have seen me perform so many more miracles; you, who have yourselves worked miracles in my name? From this pointed interrogation, Jesus Christ intimates, that the opinion men had formed of him was very inadequate to the exalted dignity of his person, and that he expects they will have a juster conception of him. Chry. hom. lv.

Verse 16. Simon Peter answering. As Simon Peter had been constituted the first in the college of apostles, (Matthew 10:2) and therefore surpasseth the others in dignity as much as in zeal, without hesitation, and in the name of all, he answers: thou art the Christ, the Redeemer promised to the world, not a mere man, not a mere prophet like other prophets, but the true and natural Son of the living God. Thus SS. Chrys. Cyril, Ambrose, Austin, and Tirinus. When our Saviour inquired the opinion of the vulgar, all the apostles answered; but when he asks their opinion of him, Peter, as the mouth of the rest, and head of the whole college, steps forth, and prevents the others. Chrys. hom. lv.—Tu es Christus, filius Dei vivi; or, as it is in the Greek, ο χριστος, ο υιος; The Christ, the Son, the Christ formerly promised by the law and the prophets, expected and desired by all the saints, the anointed and consecrated to God: ο υιος, the Son, not by grace only, or an adoptive filiation like prophets, to whom Christ is here opposed, but by natural filiation, and in a manner that distinguishes him from all created beings.—Thou art [1] Christ, the Son of the living God, not by grace only, or by adoption, as saints are the sons of God, but by nature, and from all eternity, the true Son of the living God. Witham.

Verse 17. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona. Σιμον is undoubtedly Συμεων, as written 2 Peter 1:1. Βαριωνα is son of Jona, or John, an abridgment for Βαριωαννα. Bar, in Chaldaic, is son; hence Saint Peter is called, in John 21:16 and 17, Simon, son of John. It was customary with the Jews to add to a rather common name, for the sake of discrimination, a πατρωνυμικον, or patronymic, as appears from Matthew 10:3 and 23:35. Mark 2:14. John 6:42. P.

Verse 18. Καγω. And I say to thee, and tell thee why I before declared, (John 1:42) that thou shouldst be called Peter, for thou art constituted the rock upon which, as a foundation, I will build my Church, and that so firmly, as not to suffer the gates (that is the powers) of hell to prevail against its foundation; because if they overturn its foundation, (that is thee and thy successors) they will overturn also the Church that rests upon it. Christ therefore here promises to Peter, that he and his successors should be to the end, as long as the Church should last, its supreme pastors and princes. Tirinus.—In the Syriac tongue, which is that which Jesus Christ spoke, there is no difference of genders, as there is in Latin, between petra, a rock, and Petrus, Peter; hence, in the original language, the allusion was both more natural and more simple. V.—Thou art Peter; [2] and upon this (that is upon thee, according to the literal and general exposition of the ancient Fathers) I will build my church. It is true Saint Augustine, in one or two places, thus expounds these words, and upon this rock, (that is upon myself:) or upon this rock, which Peter hath confessed: yet he owns that he had also given the other interpretation, by which Peter himself was the rock. Some Fathers have also expounded it, upon the faith, which Peter confessed; but then they take not faith, as separated from the person of Peter, but on Peter, as holding the true faith. No one questions but that Christ himself is the great foundation-stone, the chief corner-stone, as Saint Paul tells the Ephesians; (Calmet. 2, verse 20) but it is also certain, that all the apostles may be called foundation-stones of the Church, as represented Revelation 21:14. In the mean time, Saint Peter (called therefore Cephas, a rock) was the first and chief foundation-stone among the apostles, on whom Christ promised to build his Church. Witham.—Thou art Peter, and so forth As Saint Peter, by divine revelation, here made a solemn profession of his faith of the divinity of Christ, so in recompense of this faith and profession, our Lord here declares to him the dignity to which he is pleased to raise him: that is that he, to whom he had already given the name of Peter, signifying a rock, (John 1:42) should be a rock indeed, of invincible strength, for the support of the building of the church; in which building he should be next to Christ himself, the chief foundation-stone, in quality of chief pastor, ruler, and governor; and should have accordingly all fulness of ecclesiastical power, signified by the keys of the kingdom of heaven.—Upon this rock, and so forth The words of Christ to Peter, spoken in the vulgar language of the Jews, which our Lord made use of, were the same as if he had said in English, Thou art a rock, and upon this rock I will build my church. So that, by the plain course of the words, Peter is here declared to be the rock, upon which the church was to be built; Christ himself being both the principal foundation and founder of the same. Where also note, that Christ by building his house, that is, his Church, upon a rock, has thereby secured it against all storms and floods, like the wise builder. Matthew 7:24, 25.—The gates of hell, and so forth That is, the powers of darkness, and whatever Satan can do, either by himself or his agents. For as the Church is here likened to a house, or fortress, built on a rock; so the adverse powers are likened to a contrary house or fortress, the gates of which, that is the whole strength, and all the efforts it can make, will never be able to prevail over the city or Church of Christ. By this promise we are fully assured, that neither idolatry, heresy, nor any pernicious error whatsoever shall at any time prevail over the Church of Christ. Challoner.—The gates, in the Oriental style, signify the powers; thus, to this day, we designate the Ottoman or Turkish empire by the Ottoman port. The princes were wont to hold their courts at the gates of the city. V.

Peter’s name, Petros in Greek, is the word for a specific rock or stone.

Greek, petra, a rock mass or bedrock.

or, Hell

Verse 19. And I will give to thee the keys, and so forth This is another metaphor, expressing the supreme power and prerogative of the prince of the apostles. The keys of a city, or of its gates, are presented or given to the person that hath the chief power. We also own a power of the keys, given to the other apostles, but with a subordination to Saint Peter and to his successor, as head of the Catholic Church.—And whatsoever thou shalt bind, and so forth All the apostles, and their successors, partake also of this power of binding and loosing, but with a due subordination to one head invested with the supreme power. Witham.—Loose on earth. The loosing the bands of temporal punishments due to sins, is called an indulgence: the power of which is here granted. Challoner.—Although Peter and his successors are mortal, they are nevertheless endowed with heavenly power, says S. Chry. nor is the sentence of life and death passed by Peter to be attempted to be reversed, but what he declares is to be considered a divine answer from heaven, and what he decrees, a decree of God himself. He that heareth you, heareth me, and so forth The power of binding is exercised, 1st. by refusing to absolve; 2d. by enjoining penance for sins forgiven; 3d. by excommunication, suspension or interdict; 4th. by making rules and laws for the government of the Church; 5th. by determining what is of faith by the judgments and definitions of the Church. Tirinus.—The terms binding and loosing, are equivalent to opening and shutting, because formerly the Jews opened the fastenings of their doors by untying it, and they shut or secured their doors by tying or binding it. V.—Dr. Whitby, a learned Protestant divine, thus expounds this and the preceding verse: “As a suitable return to thy confession, I say also to thee, that thou art by name Peter, that is a rock; and upon thee, who art this rock, I will build my Church, and I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the power of making laws to govern my Church.” Tom. i, p. 143. Dr. Hammond, another Protestant divine, explains it in the same manner. And p. 92, he says: “What is here meant by the keys, is best understand by Isaias 22:22, where they signify ruling the whole family or house of the king: and this being by Christ accommodated to the Church, denotes the power of governing it.”

Verse 20. Tell no one that he was Jesus, the Christ. In some MSS. both Greek and Latin, the name Jesus is not here found, and many interpreters think it superfluous in this place. The Greek expressly says the Christ adjoining the article, which the Latin tongue does not express. V.—“In a preceding part of Scripture, Jesus sending his apostles, commanded them to publish his coming; but here he seems to give a contrary mandate, tell no one, and so forth but in my opinion it is one thing to preach the Christ, and another to preach Christ Jesus; for Christ is a name of dignity, but Jesus is the particular name of the Redeemer.” Saint Jerome—He did not forbid them to teach that there was a Messias a Redeemer, but to declare then that he was the person; 2d. the disciples (Matthew 10,) are not sent to preach the gospel, strictly speaking, but only to prepare the minds and hearts of the people for the coming of the Messias, as is evident from Matthew 10:23. See Mark 14:61 and 62. John 5:18 and 8:58 and 10:30 and 11:27. But why did he lay this injunction? To avoid the envy of the Scribes, and not to appear to raise his own glory. He wished the people to be induced to own him for their Messias, not from the testimony of his retainers, but from his miracles and doctrines; and lastly, because as his time was not yet come, the apostles were not yet fit to deliver, nor the people to receive, this grand tenet. Mat. Polus.—It might moreover have proved a hinderance to his death.