Cephas

• To: b-greek@virginia.edu
• Subject: Cephas
• From: Greg Doudna <gdoudna@ednet1.osl.or.gov>
• Date: Sun, 4 Dec 1994 01:02:35 -0800
• Reply-To: gdoudna@ednet1.osl.or.gov

Larry Hurtado wrote:
>Am I correct that there is no attestation of either name prior
>to Christian usage?  i.e. we do have full studies on names used
>in 1st cent. Palestine and neither name occurs, I believe.  Both
>appear to emerge as nova in early Christianity.

This is commonly stated but Fitzmyer says differently.  Fitzmyer
cites a Jewish name "kp'" (that's k, p, aleph) in the Elephantine
papyri just before 400 BCE.  I don't have the reference but its
in Fitzmyer's collection of studies in Aramaic, in an article
entitled something like "Kepha, Peter."  Based on this, Fitzmyer
says the name is attested.

Allegro tried to make Kepha a variant of the name Caiaphas,
which he thought was a title derivative from a word for 
"examiner", and Allegro thought he read the name of a Qumran
official spelled in Hebrew letters "q'ps" (with an ayin) in
4Q338, which he thought was a medical treatment report.  Naveh,
the Israeli epigrapher, says 4Q338 is a practice writing
exercise of someone writing out names with no meaning.  Naveh
challenged many of Allegro's readings, but I don't remember
what Naveh said about Allegro's Caiaphas.  

Now doesn't that make things clearer?  :-)


Greg Doudna
Marylhurst College
West Linn, Oregon

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