The Life and Witness of Peter

Larry R. Helyer

• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780830866557
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

Who was Peter and what was his true stature in the early church? For Protestants at least, Peter seems caught between two caricatures: the rustic fisherman of Galilee and the author of two lesser New Testament letters. And in both cases he is overshadowed by Paul.In The Life and Witness of Peter, Larry Helyer seeks to reinstate this neglected and underestimated apostle to his rightful stature as an early Christian leader and faithful witness to Christ.Reconstructing Peter's life, theology and legacy from evidence in 1 and 2 Peter, the Gospels, Acts, Paul's letters, and texts from the early church, Helyer renders a great service for students of the New Testament. We are introduced to Peter the eyewitness who stands behind much of Mark's Gospel, Peter the preacher who lends deep credibility to the account of Acts, and Peter the letter-writer whose words glow with spiritual intelligence. Along the way we are rewarded with a careful analysis of prominent theological themes in Peter's letters. And we learn much about the traditions, legends and legacy of Peter in the post-apostolic era

1

BACKGROUND OF
SIMON PETER

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THE GOSPELS SERVE AS our primary source for sketching Peter’s early years during which he becomes a disciple and then an apostle of Jesus the Messiah. This chapter considers some linguistic, historical-geographical and sociological clues imbedded in the Gospels that throw light on this remarkable man.

His Name

Peter was not the apostle’s given name; Jesus gave it to him. Peter is a Greek name (petros) meaning “rock” or “stone” (Mk 3:16). His Aramaic name was šim´ōn, meaning something like “hearing” or “obedient.”1 But he also went by the good Greek name Simōn (occurring seventy-five times in the NT), though occasionally his name is transliterated into Greek as Symeōn, a spelling reflecting his Aramaic name (Acts 15:14; 2 Pet 2:1 [majority of Gk MSS]). The fact that he had both an Aramaic and a Greek name is significant; he was bilingual and lived in an environment that was heavily influenced by Hellenism. The disparaging view of the Jerusalem religious leaders that Jesus’ disciples were “uneducated and ordinary men” (Acts 4:13) probably “means no more than that they were ignorant of the finer points of the rabbinical interpretation of the Jewish Torah.”2

Simon or Simeon was a popular name shared by many Jews of the Second Temple period; several luminaries in Jewish history also bore it. From the Hebrew Scriptures, one recalls Simeon, second son of the patriarch Jacob and progenitor of the tribe bearing his name. In the early second century (ca. 180 B.C.), Ben Sira, a Jerusalem teacher, rhapsodizes on the virtues and ministrations of a certain high priest named Simon.3 In the mid-second century B.C., a Simon Maccabeus achieved iconic status as a war hero during the national liberation movement against the Seleucids. The Jewish people bestowed on him the unprecedented honor of acclaiming him both ethnarch (ruler of a province or a people) and high priest (ca. 140 B.C.). He thus assumed national leadership in both the political and religious spheres. Not surprisingly, Jewish parents frequently chose to name their sons Simon. Ossuaries provide mute evidence that it was a well-worn name during Second Temple times.4 Accordingly, at least nine different people, including Simon Peter, bear the name in the NT.5

Jesus apparently gave Simon the nickname “Peter” in keeping with a character trait appropriate to or desired for him. One recalls in Hebrew tradition the importance of name changes, especially when God is the one who bestows the new name. At critical moments in their life, Abram (“exalted father”) becomes Abraham (“ancestor of a multitude,” Gen 17:5) and Jacob (“he who grasps the heel” becomes Israel (“God strives,” Gen 32:27-30; see also Is 62:2; 65:15).6 A “Man of Rock” is someone who is solid and on whom you may depend.7 Bedrock provides a solid foundation on which to build (Mt 7:24-25; Eph 2:20). Although Peter struggles at times, in the end, he lives up to the meaning of his new name bestowed by the Master.8 For English speakers, perhaps we can best appreciate Simon’s nickname by calling him “Rocky.”9

The Aramaic equivalent of petros is kēphās, and the English cognate, “Cephas,” occurs nine times in the NT as Peter’s name (Jn 1:42; 1 Cor 1:12; 3:22; 9:5; 15:5; Gal 1:18; 2:9, 11, 14). The frequency with which his name appears in the NT (e.g., Peter, Simon, Simon Peter, Cephas) testifies to his significance in early Christianity. In the Synoptics his name occurs 75 times and in John, 35 times. Taking into account the entire NT, we find 181 occurrences, even more than that of Paul/Saul (177).10

Galilean Fisherman

Here is what may be pieced together concerning Peter’s background. Simon was a Galilean fisherman, and his home town was Bethsaida (Jn 1:44).

Location of Bethsaida. A problem of identification arises, however, and two candidates vie for recognition. The first location, today known as Et-Tell, was a city of some consequence in the Iron Age and was probably the capital of the small Aramean state called Geshur in the OT (Josh 12:5; 13:11; 2 Sam 3:3, et al.). During the Hellenistic-Roman era, it was a Greek city serving as an administrative center for the district of Gaulanitis. In approximately A.D. 30, Herod Philip renamed it Julias in honor of Augustus’s wife Julia/Livia, who died in A.D. 29.11 Today, Et-Tell lies about 1.5 kilometers to the north of the shoreline, on the eastern bank of the Jordan River before it empties into the northeastern quadrant of the Sea of Galilee (called Kinneret in the OT [Num 34:11] and Sea of Galilee, Sea of Tiberius [Jn 6:1] and lake of Gennesaret [Lk 5:1] in the NT).12

The other candidate is a site called el-‘Araj, a small village lying along the present-day shoreline and east of where the Jordan River empties into the Galilee. In NT times, however, the site lay on the west side of the Jordan because the river has changed its course over the centuries.

Can we decide between the two options? According to John’s Gospel, Philip, in addition to Peter and Andrew, also came from “Bethsaida in Galilee” (Jn 12:21, italics added). Taking John strictly, in accord with precise geopolitical terminology, favors el-‘Araj, because it, not Et-Tell, was located in Galilee, under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas. But the course of the Jordan may have shifted since the first century so that in Peter’s day, Et-Tell was in fact located in the district of Galilee. Or, it may be that John is content to locate Bethsaida regionally. Another objection to identifying Et-Tell as NT Bethsaida arises from Mark 8:22-23, in which Jesus leads a blind man who lived at Bethsaida outside the “village” (kōmē). One would have expected Mark to use the word city (polis) in keeping with Bethsaida’s dignity as a district capital. But perhaps this expects more precision in the use of these two terms than is warranted. James Strange suggests that el-‘Araj and a nearby site el-Misadiyeh are the remains of the fishing village of Bethsaida and Et Tell is the acropolis of Herod Philip’s Hellenistic city of Julias.13 This follows a suggestion offered by G. Schumacher in the 1880s.14

As early as 1838, Edward Robinson identified Et-Tell as NT Bethsaida. Modern excavations under the direction of Rami Arav support Robinson’s view: “Probes and remote sensing (ground penetration radar) near the present-day shoreline at el-‘Araj, the other contender as Bethsaida, have shown it to have been an exclusively Byzantine period settlement.” Furthermore, an earthquake in A.D. 363 resulted in a massive flow of dirt and debris from some 9 kilometers north of Et Tell and a subsequent dislocation of the northern shore line some 2 kilometers to the south. Thus, in Jesus’ day, Et-Tell was much closer to the Sea of Galilee than it is today.15 Steven Notley, however, calls attention to “the inexplicable absence of first-century remains” at Et-Tell, and concludes that “for the time being, the location of ancient Bethsaida remains in question.”16

At any rate, in the first century, the Jordan River was the border between the district of Galilee and the district of Gaulanitis (modern Golan). Bethsaida-Julias thus lay near a political border—just inside the jurisdiction of Herod Philip (Gaulanitis) and just to the east of the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas (Galilee). Almost certainly it possessed a customs office. Goods passing from one toparchy to another were subject to duty. “Toparachy” is a Greek term used to designate an administrative or tax district, perhaps equivalent to a county or state. This necessitated the presence of toll, tax and duty collectors along with military personnel to enforce the levies. Since Bethsaida-Julias was the capital of Gaulanitis, various administrative officials resided there, and, since Herod Philip’s tetrarchy was inhabited by a large Gentile population, it reflected both Jewish and non-Jewish influence.17 This means that free association with Gentiles is a not inconsequential aspect of Peter’s background, especially when one remembers that he played the leading role in opening the door for Gentile admittance to the nascent church (Acts 10:1–11:18; 15:7-14).

The fishing industry in Galilee. The economy of Bethsaida, like that of other towns and villages along the lake, depended heavily on the fishing industry, as demonstrated by an abundance of fishing hooks, lead weights, anchors, sail and net needles and other gear associated with fishing uncovered in area A of Et-Tell, appropriately called the “House of the Fisherman.” In fact, fishing was an important aspect of the socioeconomic fabric of first-century Palestine. Josephus, in his nearly rhapsodic description of the region of Galilee and the Sea of Gennesaret, mentions “a great number of ships” employed by the Jewish rebels in their vain attempt to defeat the Romans (J.W. 3.10.1 §465; cf. 3.10.9 §531). In 1986, the remarkable discovery of an ancient boat dated to the first century A.D. brought Josephus’s reference to life. The so-called “Jesus Boat” may have been one of those involved in the great battle on the lake between the Jewish insurgents and the Romans in the summer of A.D. 67.

Today, we can see the kind of sailing craft used for both fishing and transportation in the time of Jesus. The “Jesus boat,” 25.5 feet long, 7.5 feet wide and 4.1 feet high, carried a crew of five but could hold up to fifteen passengers. Interestingly, the boat had a rear seat, nicely illustrating the vivid Markan account of a storm on the lake: “Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion” (Mk 4:38 TNIV).18 In such a vessel, several of the apostles, before their call to preach the gospel, spent long hours on the lake eking out a living. Recall Simon’s response to Jesus’ command to let down his nets: “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything” (Lk 5:4-5 TNIV). In a similar boat, Jesus and his disciples frequently crisscrossed the lake during his Galilean ministry (Mk 4:35; 5:21; 6:32, 53; 8:10, 13).

The name Bethsaida means “House of the Fisherman,” and the town of Magdala Nunnaya (Magdala in the NT), on the northwestern shore of the lake, means “Fish Tower,” probably referring to a wooden structure in which fish were air-dried. Magdala was also called Taricheae, a Greek word meaning something like “Place of Salted Fish,” evidence of a fish-processing facility just a few miles from Capernaum, which also appears to have been a center for salting fish. Processed fish from the Galilee was carted to Jerusalem and sold in its markets, as witnessed by the Fish Gate in postexilic Jerusalem (Neh 3:3).19 Mendel Nun has discovered fifteen or sixteen ancient harbors located alon...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• 1 Background of Simon Peter
• 2 Peter in the Gospels, Part One: Call to Confession
• 3 Peter in the Gospels, Part Two: Transfiguration to Resurrection
• 4 Peter and the Early Church: The Book of Acts
• 5 Peter in Paul’s Letters
• 6 1 Peter: Encyclical to Exiles
• 7 Peter’s Christology
• 8 Christ and the Spirits, Christ and the Holy Spirit
• 9 Suffering for Jesus
• 10 The People of God
• 11 2 Peter: Introductory Questions
• 12 Theological Themes in 2 Peter
• 13 The Character and Destiny of the False Teachers
• 14 Eschatology of 2 Peter
• 15 The Rest of the Story: Tradition
• 16 The Rest of the Story: Legends About Peter
• 17 The Rest of the Story: Peter’s Legacy
• Name Index
• Subject Index
• Scripture Index
• Notes
• Praise for The Life and Witness of Peter
• About the Author
• More Titles from InterVarsity Press
• Copyright Page