From: Randall Buth (ButhFam@compuserve.com)
Date: Fri Sep 28 2001 - 08:55:01 EDT
shalom Greek list,
Offlist, I had promised Jack Kilmon some background on PETRA, and I'm
including the list because of probable mutual interest.
re: Greek word petra in Jewish culture and Hebrew.
a midrashic connection (see below) between rock and avraham is recorded
in several rabbinic Hebrew sources. This makes its way into the Aramaic
targumim, as well, being discussed at least at Num 23.9 in the palestinian
targum tradition (Fragment Targum, Neofiti, and Pseudo-Jonathan, all 3):
"[MT 'for from the head of the rocks (tsurim) I see him'] I see these
people
going on in the merit [zexut] of their righteous fathers who are like the
mountains, [Aramaic: turayya] Avraham, YitsHaq and Yaacov ..."
Likewise at Is 51.1 "look to the rock [tsur] from which you were hewn"
rabbinic commentators explained this as Avraham. (see Ibn Ezra, Rada"q.)
Where is this coming from?
Most impressive linguistically is the Hebrew midrashic tradition with its
use
of GREEK loanwords, not an infrequent occurrence in mishnaic Hebrew
and talmudic Aramaic.
Yalqut shimoni records the following Hebrew parables and midrash at
Num 23.9:
"to what does he [i.e. Balaam--RB] resemble?
[cf. Matthew's introductions to some parables]
to a man who came to cut down the tree.
Someone who is not an
expert cuts off the branches, each and every one, and gets tired.
and the clever man uncovers the roots and cuts. thus that same
wicked man [ie=bil`am--RB] said 'what? will I curse every
tribe? hey, I am going to their roots and cutting.' He got tired
and found them difficult. That is why (the scripture) is recorded:
"and from the head of rocks". These are the fathers. "and from
the hills I will gaze". These are the mothers. ... Another
interpretation. "and from the head of rocks I see him" I see
those who preceded the creation of the world. (consider--)
A parable of a king who was looking to build.
He would dig and go down
and was looking to lay a QEMELIOS ("foundation", Greek
loanword in Hebrew, written in Hebrew characters, of course) and
was only finding watery swanp. Likewise in many places, he could only
go on and dig in another place. (finally) He was finding down below
a PETRA ("bedrock" Greek loanword in Hebrew, feminine singular.)
He said, 'here I will build'.
So he laid the QEMELIOS and built.
So it is with the Holy One, blessed be He,
He was looking to create the world and was sitting and looking at
the generation of Enosh and the generation of the flood.
He said, 'How can I create the world, with these wicked people
arising and angering me?'
When he looked ahead and saw Avraham who was to arise
he said, 'hey, I've found a PETRA (feminine noun) to build on and
to found the world.' Thus he called Avraham "tsur" as it is said,
"Look to the rock [tsur] from which you were hewn"(Is 51.1)
and Israel he called rocks [tsurim](Num 23.9).
In Babata Greek documents of DSS you will find a Nabatean Arab city
mentioned several times, named Petra (PETRA and PETRAIOS "Petran").
You will also find the following Jewish names of interest:
Tosephta Demai 1.9 (tannaitic, pre-200): "and the market of Petros".
Bereshit Rabba 94 (also quoted in the later anthology Yalqut shimoni):
"Rabbi bar Qappara (a student of Yehuda ha-nasi, collector of the
mishna.
bar Qappara is called a tanna,) and Rabbi Yose ben Petros
(also mentioned in talmud yerushalmi) said to each other . . ."
[This Petros would be mid-2nd century, perhaps born in the generation after
the BarKosiba/BarKochba revolt--RB]
The above should open up a bit of the ancient Jewish midrashic world and
it relevance to NT studies. At a minimum it helps appreciate a potnetially
richer cultural background to the petros/petra saying in Matthew.
(By the way, it may be that in the Greek diaspora, where 'Petros' was a
word "stone" and not a name and Shimon was as common among Jews as
John in English, Shim`on Peter preferred 'Kefa' [Aramaic: stone].)
Why is this impressive linguistically? Because of all places for the
rabbinic
Hebrew to attest the loanword PETRA, it is in a very similar cultural
context to our story in Matthew 16. As is always the case, there are four
logical options.
1. Matthew/Jesus build on oral midrashic traditions. (a variant of #3)
2. Rabbinic midrashic sources borrow from Christian sources.
3. Both Matthew/Jesus and rabbinic midrashic schools use
cultural/linguistic material about petra/petros that was common to both.
4. Each independently created the petros/petra material.
While certainly is impossible, the name PETROS already attested for
Jews in early (tannaitic, 2nd century) rabbinic sources at a time of
church/synagoue hostilities suggests that number 2 is less probable and 1,
3 or 4 more probable.
(Though of more drastic measure, we don't find many crusader kids named
SalaH ad-din, nor 7-8th century Christians named AHmed.)
David Bivin has written on petra/petros in www.JerusalemPerspective.com.
And of course, the above has relevance for "king" parables, and general
wisdom about building houses and foundations.
ERRWSQE
Randall Buth
Jerusalem
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