Now why in the world would I do that when we can go check?
http://www.behindthename.com/name/kephas
KEPHAS
GENDER: Masculine
USAGE: Biblical Greek
OTHER SCRIPTS: Κηφας (Ancient Greek)
Meaning & History>br> Greek form of CEPHAS
It would seem that Kephas had it’s origins in Aramaic but was used in Biblical Greek as well. I know the Catholics would love to limit the meaning to rock because they desperately need something to hold on to given the plethora of scripture that disputes the claim that the church was founded on Peter as it’s head, it’s a rather weak stand they take.
One verse in scripture, misinterpreted by the RCC, on which their entire structure rests is a foundation built on sand.
Stand on the Kephas is Aramaic sand dune if you wish but it makes you appear desperate in my opinion.
http://www.aboutcatholics.com/beliefs/the-origin-of-the-papacy/
Cephas meaning and name origin Cephas \ce-phas\ as a boy's name is of Hebrew origin, and the meaning of Cephas is "rock"., Biblical: what Jesus called his apostle Simon. Peter is the Latin translation by which he is more frequently known. Read more at http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Cephas#db7lKoj7sgcDzemP.99
But then, knowing the meanings would destroy the house of cards built around the misinterpretation of the verse. Structures are not build on pebbles or small stones but on bedrock. The bedrock is not the one who Jesus said *Get behind me, Satan.* nor is bedrock the one who denied Jesus three times out of fear.
But they can't say they don't know. If they persist in believing then it's because they don't want to believe the truth, they want to believe what they want to believe, truth be damned.
Petra – Peter rock
Matthew 16:18 - http://bible.cc/matthew/16-18.htm
Jesus said that Peter was *petros*(masculine) and that on this *petra*(feminine) He would build His church.
Greek: 4074 Pétros (a masculine noun) – properly, a stone (pebble), such as a small rock found along a pathway. 4074 /Pétros (”small stone”) then stands in contrast to 4073 /pétra (”cliff, boulder,” Abbott-Smith).
“4074 (Pétros) is an isolated rock and 4073 (pétra) is a cliff” (TDNT, 3, 100). “4074 (Pétros) always means a stone . . . such as a man may throw, . . . versus 4073 (pétra), a projecting rock, cliff” (S. Zodhiates, Dict).
4073 pétra (a feminine noun) – “a mass of connected rock,” which is distinct from 4074 (Pétros) which is “a detached stone or boulder” (A-S). 4073 (pétra) is a “solid or native rock, rising up through the earth” (Souter) – a huge mass of rock (a boulder), such as a projecting cliff.
4073 (petra) is “a projecting rock, cliff (feminine noun) . . . 4074 (petros, the masculine form) however is a stone . . . such as a man might throw” (S. Zodhiates, Dict).
It’s also a strange way to word the sentence that He would call Peter a rock and say that on this I will build my church instead of *on you* as would be grammatically correct in talking to a person.
There is no support from the original Greek for the idea that Jesus meant Peter to be that which He was going to build His church on. The nouns are not the same as one is feminine and the other masculine and denote different objects.