{"id":101,"date":"2018-04-18T21:57:06","date_gmt":"2018-04-19T04:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drbarrick.org\/?p=101"},"modified":"2018-09-05T21:17:03","modified_gmt":"2018-09-06T04:17:03","slug":"the-synoptic-gospels-inerrancy-what-did-peter-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drbarrick.org\/?p=101","title":{"rendered":"The Synoptic Gospels&#8217; Inerrancy: What Did Peter Say?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3997 alignright\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Open-Bible-Graphic.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"308\" \/>The synoptic Gospels seem to put different words into Peter\u2019s mouth when he makes his statement regarding the identity of Jesus. Compare the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Matthew 16:16<\/strong>, \u201cYou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mark 8:29<\/strong>, \u201cYou are the Christ.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Luke 9:20<\/strong>, \u201cThe Christ of God.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>In our thinking the event was so significant that it is hard for us to understand how Peter\u2019s confession could be recorded with such differences in its wording.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s consider some of the factors that might lead to such differences. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><em>First,<\/em><\/span> <strong>Peter probably spoke in Aramaic, not Greek<\/strong>. Therefore, what we have represents a translation from Aramaic into Greek. For an example of what that might do to what someone actually said, see <strong>Mark 5:41<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Aramaic: <em>Talitha kumi<\/em> = <em>Little girl, get up!<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Greek (\u201cwhich translated means\u201d): <em>Little girl, I say to you, get up!<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note the additional \u201cI say to you,\u201d which was not included in the Aramaic. The addition represents an interpretive element deemed necessary for Greek readers either to properly understand the full intent of what was said in the Aramaic or to hear the statement in a form which would be natural to the Greek language.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><em>Second,<\/em><\/span> <strong>the Gospel writers sometimes paraphrased what people said, rather than providing an exact word-for-word transcript of what was said<\/strong>. Theologians are accustomed to make a distinction between <em>ipsissima verba <\/em> (the exact words) and <em>ipsissima vox <\/em>(the exact \u201cvoice\u201d or meaning).<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><em>Third,<\/em><\/span> <strong>each Gospel writer chose when to shorten content in order to focus on their own Gospel\u2019s emphasis or theme<\/strong>. Since Matthew emphasizes the qualifications of Jesus to be Israel\u2019s Messiah in accord with the prophecies of the Old Testament, it is not surprising that he might have chosen to include Peter\u2019s full confession. Peter links Jesus\u2019 Messiahship with His divine Sonship just as references to the Davidic Covenant imply in texts like <strong>2 Samuel 7:14<\/strong>, <strong>1 Chronicles 17:13<\/strong>, and <strong>Psalm 2:6\u20138,<\/strong> and <strong>Psalm 89:27\u201329<\/strong>. After all, Matthew\u2019s Gospel opens with the words, \u201cThe record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, . . .\u201d The human Davidic connection seems paramount to Matthew, as also the Messiah\u2019s deity\u2014<strong>Matthew 1:23<\/strong> consists of the only use of \u201cImmanuel\u201d (\u201cGod with us\u201d) in the Gospels. Luke\u2019s \u201cthe Christ of God\u201d (also in <strong>Luke 23:35<\/strong>) is unique to the New Testament. In both occurrences Luke records the words of others speaking about Jesus and who He is. Mark\u2019s Gospel has the shortest form of Peter\u2019s statement\u2014just stating what he says and means quite concisely.<\/p>\n<p>Note that none of the three writers make up what Peter says. All three statements say basically the same thing\u2014just reflecting fuller or lesser content based on the original declaration. <strong>Matthew most likely preserves exactly what Peter had declared. Luke and Mark both give the essence of what he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>Read also: <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"\/the-synoptic-gospels-inerrancy-geographical-realities\/\">&#8220;The Synoptic Gospels&#8217; Inerrancy: Geographical Realities&#8221;<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"\/the-synoptic-gospels-inerrancy-translation-differences\/\"><strong>&#8220;The Synoptic Gospels&#8217; Inerrancy: Translation Differences&#8221;<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<strong><a href=\"\/the-synoptic-gospels-inerrancy-authors-choices\/\">&#8220;The Synoptic Gospels&#8217; Inerrancy: Authors&#8217; Choices&#8221;<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"\/the-synoptic-gospels-inerrancy-misrepresentation-of-persons\/\"><strong>&#8220;The Synoptic Gospels&#8217; Inerrancy: Misrepresentation of Persons&#8221;<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"\/the-synoptic-gospels-inerrancy-how-many-people\/\"><strong>&#8220;The Synoptic Gospels&#8217; Inerrancy: How Many People?<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"\/the-synoptic-gospels-inerrancy-how-many-walking-sticks\/\"><strong>&#8220;The Synoptic Gospels&#8217; Inerrancy: How Many Walking Sticks?&#8221;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The synoptic Gospels seem to put different words into Peter\u2019s mouth when he makes his statement regarding the identity of Jesus. Compare the following: Matthew 16:16, \u201cYou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.\u201d Mark 8:29, \u201cYou are the Christ.\u201d Luke 9:20, \u201cThe Christ of God.\u201d In our thinking the event was so [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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