ON THE MEANING OF THE WORDS STONE (πέτρος) AND STONE (πέτρα) IN CHURCH SLAVONIC AND SYNODAL TRANSLATIONS OF THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW (MT. 16:18), TAKING INTO ACCOUNT GEOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE

Monk Bartholomew (Chernyshev)

Kostroma Theological Seminary, Kostroma, Russia

Email: 9581148@list.ru

ORCID: 0009–0008–4383–7288

Issue: № 3 (27), 2024

Pages: 18

Annotation

In the Church Slavonic and Russian Synodal translations of the Gospel (Matthew 16:18), the Greek words πετρος (Greek, masculine) and πετρα (Greek, feminine) are given one meaning — stone. More precisely, the first word in the translation retains the Greek word Peter, as the name of the apostle, and the word πετρα is translated by the word stone. In Luther's German translation, the word πετρα is translated by the word das Fels, which accurately conveys the meaning of the word πετρα — rock. In the English translation, the word “rock” corresponds to the word πετρα. The word rock is also used in the latest non-canonical Russian translations. The term “rock” is widely used in modern scientific and technical mining and geological language. The term refers to an array of rocks ranging in size from several meters to many thousands of meters across. A stone is only a small, separate, durable piece of rock. A rock consists of blocks separated by cracks, of the same type and firmly embedded in each other. A block broken out of a rock at a quarry becomes a stone. Therefore, a rock is a collection of potential stones that, having separated, can disperse for the construction of, for example, churches in different places. The word πετρα (rock) is used in (Matthew 16:18) to refer to a group of apostles who are like a Stone-Peter and are firmly connected by faith. The faith was confessed by the ap. Peter from all (Mf16:16) in response to a question (Mt.16:15) addressed to all. In the Old Russian language, the word stone had two meanings: first, the modern meaning is a small monolith (German der Stein, in English the stoun), and secondly, a mountain range (in it. das Fels, in English the roc). In the Church Slavonic and Synodal translations (Mf16:18), the Greek name Peter (πετρος) corresponds to the first of the two meanings. The word stone (πετρα) corresponds to the second ancient meaning, which is not known to a modern Russian reader. Therefore, the second word stone can be mistakenly perceived as a person of the ap. Petra. The addressed place of the Gospel is prophetic. The Savior informs the 12 apostles about the creation of the Church in the near future. The church was founded by God on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit descended equally on all the apostles and the disciples of Christ who were with them. The fact of such a realization of the prophecy makes it indisputable to understand the word πετρα as a designation for a group of faithful disciples, and not for one supreme apostle. Our understanding of the meaning of the word πετρα does not contradict the patristic interpretation of the addressed verse.

Keywords

rock, stone, πετρος, πετρα, foundation of the Church, apostles, Apostle Peter, Apostle Matthew, synodal translation of the Gospel, Church Slavonic translation of the Gospel, translation of the Gospel ep. Cassiana, translation of the Gospel of Desnitsky, translation of the Gospel of the Kulaks, papism

For citation

Monk Bartholomew (Chernyshev). On the meaning of the words stone (πέτρος) and stone (πέτρα) in Church Slavonic and Synodal translations of the Gospel of Matthew (Mt. 16:18), taking into account geological knowledge // Ipatievsky vestnik. 2024. № 3. Р. 18–35 (In Russian). https:// doi.org/10.24412/2309–5164–2024–3–18–35