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Even many Protestants admit Peter was the Rock:

The following quotations, all of which are from Protestant Bible scholars, are
taken from the book Jesus, Peter & the Keys: a Scriptural Handbook on the Papacy
(Scott Butler et al., (Santa Barbara, CA: Queenship Publishing), 1996).

William Hendriksen
Member of the Reformed Christian Church, Professor of New Testament Literature
at Calvin Seminary

The meaning is, “You are Peter, that is Rock, and upon this rock, that is, on
you, Peter I will build my church.” Our Lord, speaking Aramaic, probably said,
“And I say to you, you are Kepha, and on this kepha I will build my church.”
Jesus, then, is promising Peter that he is going to build his church on him! I
accept this view. (New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According
to Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1973), 647.)

Gerhard Maier
Leading conservative evangelical Lutheran theologian

Nowadays a broad consensus has emerged which – in accordance with the words of
the text – applies the promise to Peter as a person. On this point liberal (H.
J. Holtzmann, E. Schweiger) and conservative (Cullmann, Flew) theologians agree,
as well as representatives of Roman Catholic exegesis. (“The Church in the
Gospel of Matthew: Hermeneutical Analysis of the Current Debate,” Biblical
Interpretation and Church Text and Context, (Flemington Markets, NSW:
Paternoster Press, 1984), 58.)

Donald A. Carson III
Baptist and Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Seminary

Although it is true that petros and petra can mean “stone” and “rock”
respectively in earlier Greek, the distinction is largely confined to poetry.
Moreover the underlying Aramaic is in this case unquestionable; and most
probably kepha was used in both clauses (“you are kepha” and “on this kepha”),
since the word was used both for a name and for a “rock.” The P e s h i t t a
(written in Syriac, a language cognate with Aramaic) makes no distinction
between the words in the two clauses. The Greek makes the distinction between
petros and petra simply because it is trying to preserve the pun, and in Greek
the feminine petra could not very well serve as a masculine name. (The
Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Volume 8 (Matthew, Mark, Luke), (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan, 1984), 368.)

The word Peter petros, meaning “rock” (Gk 4377), is masculine, and in Jesus’
follow-up statement he uses the feminine word petra (Gk 4376). On the basis of
this change, many have attempted to avoid identifying Peter as the rock on which
Jesus builds his church. Yet if it were not for Protestant reactions against
extremes of Roman Catholic interpretations, it is doubtful whether many would
have taken “rock” to be anything or anyone other than Peter. (Zondervan NIV
Bible Commentary – New Testament, vol. 2, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994),
78.)

John Peter Lange
German Protestant scholar

The Saviour, no doubt, used in both clauses the Aramaic word kepha (hence the
Greek Kephas applied to Simon, John i.42; comp. 1 Cor. i.12; iii.22; ix.5; Gal.
ii.9), which means rock and is used both as a proper and a common noun. . . .
The proper translation then would be: “Thou art Rock, and upon this rock,” etc.
(Lange’s Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: The Gospel According to Matthew,
vol. 8, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1976), 293.)

John A. Broadus
Baptist author

Many insist on the distinction between the two Greek words, thou art Petros and
on this petra, holding that if the rock had meant Peter, either petros or petra
would have been used both times, and that petros signifies a separate stone or
fragment broken off, while petra is the massive rock. But this distinction is
almost entirely confined to poetry, the common prose word instead of petros
being lithos; nor is the distinction uniformly observed.

But the main answer here is that our Lord undoubtedly spoke Aramaic, which has
no known means of making such a distinction [between feminine petra and
masculine petros in Greek]. The Pe****ta (Western Aramaic) renders, “Thou are
kipho, and on this kipho.” The Eastern Aramaic, spoken in Palestine in the time
of Christ, must necessarily have said in like manner, “Thou are kepha, and on
this kepha.” . . . Beza called attention to the fact that it is so likewise in
French: “Thou art Pierre, and on this pierre”; and Nicholson suggests that we
could say, “Thou art Piers (old English for Peter), and on this pier.”
(Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1886),
355-356.)

J. Knox Chamblin
Presbyterian and New Testament Professor, Reformed Theological Seminary

By the words “this rock” Jesus means not himself, nor his teaching, nor God the
Father, nor Peter’s confession, but Peter himself. The phrase is immediately
preceded by a direct and emphatic reference to Peter. As Jesus identifies
himself as the Builder, the rock on which he builds is most naturally understood
as someone (or something) other than Jesus himself. The demonstrative this,
whether denoting what is physically close to Jesus or what is literally close in
Matthew, more naturally refers to Peter (v. 18) than to the more remote
confession (v. 16). The link between the clauses of verse 18 is made yet
stronger by the play on words, “You are Peter (Gk. Petros), and on this rock
(Gk. petra) I will build my church.” As an apostle, Peter utters the confession
of verse 16; as a confessor he receives the designation this rock from Jesus.
(“Matthew,” Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker,
1989), 742.)

Craig L. Blomberg
Baptist and Professor of New Testament, Denver Seminary

Acknowledging Jesus as The Christ illustrates the appropriateness of Simon’s
nickname “Peter” (Petros = rock). This is not the first time Simon has been
called Peter (cf. John 1:42), but it is certainly the most famous. Jesus’
declaration, “You are Peter,” parallels Peter’s confession, “You are the
Christ,” as if to say, “Since you can tell me who I am, I will tell you who you
are.” The expression “this rock” almost certainly refers to Peter, following
immediately after his name, just as the words following “the Christ” in v. 16
applied to Jesus. The play on words in the Greek between Peter’s name (Petros)
and the word “rock” (petra) makes sense only if Peter is the rock and if Jesus
is about to explain the significance of this identification. (The New American
Commentary: Matthew, vol. 22, (Nashville: Broadman, 1992), 251-252.)

David Hill
Presbyterian minister and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biblical Studies,
University of Sheffield, England

On this rock I will build my church: the word-play goes back to Aramaic
tradition. It is on Peter himself, the confessor of his Messiahship, that Jesus
will build the Church. The disciple becomes, as it were, the foundation stone of
the community. Attempts to interpret the “rock” as something other than Peter in
person (e.g., his faith, the truth revealed to him) are due to Protestant bias,
and introduce to the statement a degree of subtlety which is highly unlikely.
(“The Gospel of Matthew,” The New Century Bible Commentary, (London: Marshall,
Morgan & Scott, 1972), 261.)

Suzanne de Dietrich
Presbyterian theologian

The play on words in verse 18 indicates the Aramaic origin of the passage. The
new name contains a promise. “Simon,” the fluctuating, impulsive disciple, will,
by the grace of God, be the “rock” on which God will build the new community.
(The Layman’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, vol. 16, (Atlanta: John Knox Press,
1961), 93.)

Donald A. Hagner
Fuller Theological Seminary

The natural reading of the passage, despite the necessary shift from Petros to
petra required by the word play in the Greek (but not the Aramaic, where the
same word kepha occurs in both places), is that it is Peter who is the rock upon
which the church is to be built. . . . The frequent attempts that have been
made, largely in the past, to deny this in favor of the view that the confession
itself is the rock . . . seem to be largely motivated by Protestant prejudice
against a passage that is used by the Roman Catholics to justify the papacy.
(“Matthew 14-28,” Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 33b, (Dallas: Word Books,
1995), 470.)

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