Lukas 9:18-21

Peter’s Confession

9:18 Once ¹  when Jesus ²  was praying ³  by himself, and his disciples were nearby, he asked them, ⁴  “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ⁵  9:19 They ⁶  answered, ⁷  “John the Baptist; others say Elijah; ⁸  and still others that one of the prophets of long ago has risen.” ⁹  9:20 Then ¹⁰  he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter ¹¹  answered, ¹²  “The Christ ¹³  of God.” 9:21 But he forcefully commanded ¹⁴  them not to tell this to anyone, ¹⁵ 

Matius 16:13-20

Peter’s Confession

16:13 When ¹⁶  Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, ¹⁷  he asked his disciples, ¹⁸  “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 16:14 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, ¹⁹  and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 16:15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16:16 Simon Peter answered, ²⁰  “You are the Christ, ²¹  the Son of the living God.” 16:17 And Jesus answered him, ²²  “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood ²³  did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades ²⁴  will not overpower it. 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” 16:20 Then he instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. ²⁵ 

Markus 8:27-30

Peter’s Confession

8:27 Then Jesus and his disciples went to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. ²⁶  On the way he asked his disciples, ²⁷  “Who do people say that I am?” 8:28 They said, ²⁸  “John the Baptist, others say Elijah, ²⁹  and still others, one of the prophets.” 8:29 He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, ³⁰  “You are the Christ.” ³¹  8:30 Then ³²  he warned them not to tell anyone about him. ³³ 

[9:18]  ¹ tn Grk “And it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:18]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:18]  ³ sn Prayer is a favorite theme of Luke and he is the only one of the gospel authors to mention it in the following texts (with the exception of 22:41): Luke 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:28-29; 11:1; 22:41; 23:34, 46.

[9:18]  ⁴ tn Grk “the disciples were with him, and he asked them, saying.”

[9:18]  ⁵ sn “Who do the crowds say that I am?” The question of who Jesus is occurs frequently in this section of Luke: 7:49; 8:25; 9:9. The answer resolves a major theme of Luke’s Gospel.

[9:19]  ⁶ tn Grk “And they.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:19]  ⁷ tn Grk “And answering, they said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “They answered.”

[9:19]  ⁸ sn The appearance of Elijah would mean that the end time had come. According to 2 Kgs 2:11, Elijah was still alive. In Mal 4:5 it is said that Elijah would be the precursor of Messiah.

[9:19]  ⁹ sn The phrase has risen could be understood to mean “has been resurrected,” but this is only a possible option, not a necessary one, since the phrase could merely mean that a figure had appeared on the scene who mirrored an earlier historical figure. Note that the three categories in the reply match the ones in Luke 9:7-8.

[9:20]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:20]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:20]  ¹² tn Grk “Peter answering, said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “Peter answered.”

[9:20]  ¹³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[9:20]  sn See the note on Christ in 2:11.

[9:21]  ¹⁴ tn The combination of the participle and verb ἐπιτιμήσας and παρήγγειλεν (epitimhsa" and parhngeilen, “commanding, he ordered”) is a hendiadys that makes the instruction emphatic.

[9:21]  ¹⁵ sn No explanation for the command not to tell this to anyone is given, but the central section of Luke, chapters 9-19, appears to reveal a reason. The disciples needed to understand who the Messiah really was and exactly what he would do before they were ready to proclaim Jesus as such. But they and the people had an expectation that needed some instruction to be correct.

[16:13]  ¹⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[16:13]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map1 C1; Map2 F4.

[16:13]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he asked his disciples, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has been left untranslated.

[16:14]  ¹⁹ sn The appearance of Elijah would mean that the end time had come. According to 2 Kgs 2:11, Elijah was still alive. In Mal 4:5 it is said that Elijah would be the precursor of Messiah.

[16:16]  ²⁰ tn Grk “And answering, Simon Peter said.”

[16:16]  ²¹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[16:16]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.

[16:17]  ²² tn Grk “answering, Jesus said to him.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of this phrase has been modified for clarity.

[16:17]  ²³ tn The expression “flesh and blood” could refer to “any human being” (so TEV, NLT; cf. NIV “man”), but it could also refer to Peter himself (i.e., his own intuition; cf. CEV “You didn’t discover this on your own”). Because of the ambiguity of the referent, the phrase “flesh and blood” has been retained in the translation.

[16:18]  ²⁴ tn Or “and the power of death” (taking the reference to the gates of Hades as a metonymy).

[16:18]  sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside (Matt 11:23; Luke 16:23; Rev 20:13-14). Some translations render this by its modern equivalent, “hell”; others see it as a reference to the power of death.

[16:20]  ²⁵ tc Most mss (א² C W Ï lat bo) have “Jesus, the Christ” (᾿Ιησοῦς ὁ Χριστός, Ihsou" Jo Cristo") here, while D has “Christ Jesus” (ὁ Χριστὸς ᾿Ιησοῦς). On the one hand, this is a much harder reading than the mere Χριστός, because the name Jesus was already well known for the disciples’ master – both to them and to others. Whether he was the Messiah is the real focus of the passage. But this is surely too hard a reading: There are no other texts in which the Lord tells his disciples not to disclose his personal name. Further, it is plainly a motivated reading in that scribes had the proclivity to add ᾿Ιησοῦς to Χριστός or to κύριος (kurio", “Lord”), regardless of whether such was appropriate to the context. In this instance it clearly is not, and it only reveals that scribes sometimes, if not often, did not think about the larger interpretive consequences of their alterations to the text. Further, the shorter reading is well supported by א* B L Δ Θ Ë^1,13 565 700 1424 al it sa.

[16:20]  tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[16:20]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.

[8:27]  ²⁶ map Fpr location see Map1 C1; Map2 F4.

[8:27]  ²⁷ tn Grk “he asked his disciples, saying to them.” The phrase λέγων αὐτοῖς (legwn autois) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[8:28]  ²⁸ tn Grk “And they said to him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[8:28]  ²⁹ sn The appearance of Elijah would mean that the end time had come. According to 2 Kgs 2:11, Elijah was still alive. In Mal 4:5 it is said that Elijah would be the precursor of Messiah.

[8:29]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Answering, Peter said to him.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “Peter answered him.”

[8:29]  ³¹ tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[8:29]  sn The term χριστός (cristos) was originally an adjective (“anointed”), developing in LXX into a substantive (“an anointed one”), then developing still further into a technical generic term (“the anointed one”). In the intertestamental period it developed further into a technical term referring to the hoped-for anointed one, that is, a specific individual. In the NT the development starts there (technical-specific), is so used in the gospels, and then develops in Paul to mean virtually Jesus’ last name.

[8:30]  ³² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to indicate the conclusion of the episode.

[8:30]  ³³ sn Mark 8:27-10:52. The entire section 8:27-10:52 is built around three passion predictions of Jesus (8:31; 9:31; 10:33). These predictions form the structure of the section, the content for the section (Jesus’ suffering, death, and the meaning of genuine discipleship) and the mood of the section (i.e., a somber mood). What is interesting is that after each passion prediction, Mark records both the misunderstanding of the disciples and then Jesus’ teaching on the nature of his death and what genuine discipleship is all about: (1) denying oneself (8:34-38); (2) humility and serving (9:33-37); (3) suffering, humble service, and not lording it over people (10:35-45). For further discussion of the structure of the passage, see W. L. Lane, Mark (NICNT), 292-94.