Peter (from Easton's
Bible Dictionary)
Originally called Simon (=Simeon,
i.e., "hearing"), a very common Jewish name in the New Testament. He was
the son of Jona:.Matthew
16:17. His mother is nowhere named in Scripture.
He had a younger brother
called Andrew, who first brought him to Jesus:.John
1:40-42. His native town was Bethsaida, on the western coast of the Sea
of Galilee, to which also Philip
belonged. Here he was brought
up by the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and was trained to the occupation
of a fisher. His father had probably died while he was still young, and
he and his
brother were brought up
under the care of Zebedee and his wife Salome:.Matthew
27:56; Mark 15:40; 16:1.
There the four youths, Simon,
Andrew, James, and John, spent their boyhood and early manhood in constant
fellowship. Simon and his brother doubtless enjoyed all the advantages
of a religious training, and were early instructed in an acquaintance with
the Scriptures and with the great prophecies regarding the coming of the
Messiah. They did not probably enjoy, however, any special training in
the study of the law under any of the rabbis. When Peter appeared before
the Sanhedrin, he looked like an "unlearned man":.Acts
4:13.
"Simon was a Galilean, and
he was that out and out...The Galileans had a marked character of their
own. They had a reputation for an independence and energy which often ran
out into turbulence. They were at the same time of a franker and more transparent
disposition than their brethren in the south. In all these respects, in
bluntness, impetuosity, headiness, and
simplicity, Simon was a
genuine Galilean. They spoke a peculiar dialect. They had a difficulty
with the guttural sounds and some others, and their pronunciation was reckoned
harsh in
Judea. The Galilean accent
stuck to Simon all through his career. It betrayed him as a follower of
Christ when he stood within the judgment hall (Mark 14:70). It betrayed
his own nationality and that of those conjoined with him on the day of
Pentecost:.Acts
2:7."
It would seem that Simon
was married before he became an apostle. His wife's mother is referred
to:.Matthew 8:14;
Mark 1:30; Luke 4:38. He was in all probability accompanied by his wife
on his missionary journeys:.1Corinthians
9:5; compare 1Peter 5:13.
He appears to have been settled
at Capernaum when Christ entered on his public ministry, and may have reached
beyond the age of thirty. His house was large enough to give a home
to his brother Andrew, his
wife's mother, and also to Christ, who seems to have lived with him (Mark
1:29,36; 2:1), as well as to his own family. It was apparently two stories
high:.Mark 2:4.
At Bethabara ("Bethany"),
beyond Jordan, John the Baptist had borne testimony concerning Jesus as
the "Lamb of God":.John
1:29-36. Andrew and John hearing it, followed Jesus, and abode with him
where he was. They were convinced, by his gracious
words and by the authority
with which he spoke, that he was the Messiah (Luke 4:22; Matthew 7:29);
and Andrew went forth and found Simon and brought him to Jesus:.John
1:41).
Jesus at once recognized
Simon, and declared that hereafter he would be called Cephas, an Aramaic
name corresponding to the Greek Petros, which means "a mass of rock detached
from the living rock." The
Aramaic name does not occur again, but the name Peter gradually displaces
the old name Simon, though our Lord himself always uses the name Simon
when
addressing him:.Matthew
17:25; Mark 14:37; Luke 22:31, comp. 21:15-17. We are not told what impression
the first interview with Jesus produced on the mind of Simon. When we next
meet him it is by the Sea of Galilee -Matthew 4:18-22.
There the four (Simon and
Andrew, James and
John) had had an unsuccessful
night's fishing. Jesus appeared suddenly, and entering into Simon's boat,
bade him launch forth and let down the nets. He did so, and enclosed a
great
multitude of fishes. This
was plainly a miracle wrought before Simon's eyes. The awe-stricken disciple
cast himself at the feet of Jesus, crying Luke 5:8 "Depart from me; for
I am a sinful man, O Lord".
Jesus addressed him with
the assuring words, "Fear not," and announced to him his life's work. Simon
responded at once to the call to become a disciple, and after this we find
him in constant attendance on our Lord.
He is next called into the
rank of the apostleship, and becomes a "fisher of men" (Matthew 4:19) in
the stormy seas of the world of human life (Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:13-19;
Luke 6:13-16), and takes a more and more prominent part in all the leading
events of our Lord's life. It is he who utters that notable profession
of faith at Capernaum (John 6:66-69), and again at Caesarea Philippi (Matthew
16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-20). This profession at Caesarea was
one of supreme importance, and our Lord in response used these memorable
words:."Thou
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church."
"From that time forth" Jesus
began to speak of his sufferings. For this Peter rebuked him. But our Lord
in return rebuked Peter, speaking to him in sterner words than he ever
used to any other of his disciples:.Matthew
16:21-23; Mark 8:31-33. At the close of his brief sojourn at Caesarea our
Lord took Peter and James and John with him into "an high mountain apart,"
and was transfigured before them. Peter on that occasion, under the impression
the scene produced on his mind, exclaimed, Matthew
17:1-9 "Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles".
On his return to Capernaum
the collectors of the temple tax (a didrachma, half a sacred shekel), which
every Israelite of twenty years old and upwards had to pay (Exodus 30:15),
came to Peter and reminded him that Jesus had not paid it:.Matthew
17:24-27. Our Lord instructed Peter to go and catch a fish in the lake
and take from its mouth the exact amount needed for the tax, viz., a stater,
or two half-shekels. "That take," said our Lord, "and give unto them for
me and thee."
As the end was drawing
nigh, our Lord sent Peter and John (Luke 22:7-13) into the city to prepare
a place where he should keep the feast with his disciples. There he was
forewarned
of the fearful sin into
which he afterwards fell:.Luke
22:31-34. He accompanied our Lord from the guest-chamber to the garden
of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-46), which he and the other two
who had been witnesses of
the transfiguration were permitted to enter with our Lord, while the rest
were left without. Here he passed through a strange experience. Under a
sudden impulse
he cut off the ear of Malchus
(verses 47-51), one of the band that had come forth to take Jesus. Then
follow the scenes of the judgment-hall (verses 54-61) and his bitter grief
(verse 2).
He is found in John's company
early on the morning of the resurrection. He boldly entered into the empty
grave (John 20:1-10), and saw the "linen clothes laid by themselves" (Luke
24:9-12). To him, the first
of the apostles, our risen Lord revealed himself, thus conferring on him
a signal honour, and showing how fully he was restored to his favour:.Luke
24:34; 1Corinthians 15:5. We next read of our Lord's singular interview
with Peter on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where he thrice asked him
John 21:1-19 "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?".
After this scene at
the lake we hear nothing of Peter till he again appears with the others
at the ascension:.Acts
1:15-26. It was he who proposed that the vacancy caused by the apostasy
of Judas should be filled up. He is prominent on the day of Pentecost:.Acts
2:14-40.
The events of that day "completed
the change in Peter himself which the painful discipline of his fall and
all the lengthened process of previous training had been slowly making.
He is now no more the unreliable, changeful, self-confident man, ever swaying
between rash courage and weak timidity, but the stead-fast, trusted guide
and director of the fellowship of believers, the intrepid preacher of Christ
in Jerusalem and abroad. And now that he is become Cephas indeed, we hear
almost nothing of the name Simon (only in Acts 10:5, 32; 15:14), and he
is known to us finally as Peter."
After the miracle at the
temple gate (Acts 3) persecution arose against the Christians, and Peter
was cast into prison. He boldly defended himself and his companions at
the bar of the
council:.Acts
4:19, 20. A fresh outburst of violence against the Christians (Acts 5:17-21)
led to the whole body of the apostles being cast into prison; but during
the night they were wonderfully delivered, and were found in the morning
teaching in the temple. A second time Peter defended them before the council
(Acts 5:29-32), who, "when they had called the apostles
and beaten them, let them
go."
The time had come for Peter
to leave Jerusalem. After labouring for some time in Samaria, he returned
to Jerusalem, and reported to the church there the results of his work:.Acts
8:14-25. Here he remained for a period, during which he met Paul for the
first time since his conversion:.Acts
9:26-30; Galatians 1:18. Leaving Jerusalem again, he went forth on a missionary
journey to Lydda and Joppa:.Acts
9:32-43. He is next called on to open the door of the Christian church
to the Gentiles by the admission of Cornelius of Caesarea (Acts 10th chapter).
After remaining for some
time at Caesarea, he returned to Jerusalem (Acts 11:1-18), where he defended
his conduct with reference to the Gentiles. Next we hear of his being cast
into
prison by Herod Agrippa
(12:1-19); but in the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison gates,
and he went forth and found refuge in the house of Mary.
He took part in the deliberations
of the council in Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-31; Galatians 2:1-10) regarding
the relation of the Gentiles to the church. This subject had awakened new
interest
at Antioch, and for its
settlement was referred to the council of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.
Here Paul and Peter met again.
We have no further mention
of Peter in the Acts of the Apostles. He seems to have gone down to Antioch
after the council at Jerusalem, and there to have been guilty of dissembling,
for which he was severely reprimanded by Paul (Galatians 2:11-16), who
"rebuked him to his face."
After this he appears to
have carried the gospel to the east, and to have laboured for a while at
Babylon, on the Euphrates:.1Peter
5:13. There is no satisfactory evidence that he was ever at Rome. Where
or when he died is not certainly known. Probably he died between A.D. 64
and 67. Back