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In John 1:42 Jesus called Peter as Cephas.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

But throughout the Gospels, Peter was called as Peter and his books also called in his name I Peter and II Peter.

But why did Paul call Peter, Cephas (Galatians 2:7-14, I Cor. 1:11-13, I Cor. 3:21, I Cor. 9:5 and I Cor. 15:5)? In some occasions he also calls him as Peter. When I asked my mom, she said Paul was rebuking Peter in the name Cephas. Is this true? Or is calling Peter as Cephas normal?

At times, Paul and Peter had disagreements as in Galatians 2:11-16:

11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

How was their relationship as fellow apostles?

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3 Answers

Peter means "stone" in Greek, while Cephas is "stone" in Aramaic.

That verse is confusing in the NIV; the KJV is clearer:

John 1:42 (KJV) 42And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

Christ was speaking in Aramaic, and would have called Simon "Cephas." John wrote his gospel in Greek, so he included the note for his readers that "Cephas" meant "a stone."

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Cephas doesn't mean "a stone" it means "rock". Taken in context, Jesus was changing Simon's name, as was done to Abraham and Sarah when their role in Salvation History changed. To avoid the obvious because it might sound 'Catholic' is intellectual and spiritual dishonesty. God bless. :) – Cameron Feb 17 at 13:38
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@Cameron I don't think there is any functional difference here between "rock" and "stone. This answer stands as an explanation for why there are two names being used that mean the same thing. What the closest English equivalent is is neither here nor there for this question. I suspect the less common rendering used here is simply because of the translation used (older KJV). – Caleb Feb 17 at 19:55

"Cephas" is Simon Peter. He is only called "Peter" in relation to his position as the leader of the little flock of Israel (Matthew 16:18). If Paul speaks about him in relation to his leadership capacity, he calls him "Peter." Otherwise, he calls him "Cephas."

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Hi Eric, welcome to Christianity.SE. That's an interesting point; do you have any references to show where Paul used both terms? We tend to like references in our answers here, to ensure that the readers can check the points being made. – Mason Wheeler Nov 5 '12 at 21:56
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I agree with @Mason Wheeler. It seems that Paul only used Peter twice and both times are in the same story about the man in Galatians. It's very hard to draw any conclusions from that instance but if I had to guess, I'd probably come to the opposite conclusion. – Jon Ericson Nov 5 '12 at 22:40

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if you take in consideration the beginning of Matt. 16, Jesus is explaining the authority of his teaching. And immediately following comes His declaration to Peter, including "keys to the kingdom of heaven ". Tom from Plainfield

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Welcome to the site! I'd invite you to read the FAQ, as well as: meta.christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/692/… – David Stratton Mar 29 at 17:38

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