Ce´phas, a surname which Christ bestowed upon Simon (Joh 1:42), and which corresponds with Peter, both words meaning a ’rock,’ which is the signification of the original [PETER].
A rock, a Syriac or later Hebrew name given to Peter by Christ, Joh 1:42 . The Greek Petros and the Latin Petrus have the same meaning. See PETER.\par
Ce’phas. See Peter.
(Gal 2:11) was sometimes distinguished from Peter by early Christian writers, and said to be one of the seventy disciples by Clement of Alexandria (Hypoypposes, ) as recorded by Eusebius (H. E. 1, 12). In the list of the seventy ascribed to Dorotheus, lie is specified as bishop of Cannia. In the menology of Basil he is commemorated on Dec. 9, but nothing is said of him in the Synaxarion there given. The Armenian calendar commemorates Apollos and Cephas as disciples of Paul, Sept. 25. Dr. Lightfoot ( Galatians, p. 128.) refers to the constitutions of the Egyptian Church as representing him as one of the twelve distinct from Peter.
Cephas (sç’fas), rock. A Syriac surname given to Simon, which in the Greek is rendered Petros, and in the Latin Petrus, both signifying "a rock." Joh 1:42. See Peter.
CEPHAS.—See Peter.
See CUNÆUS, PETRUS (also known as Peter van der Kuhn):
By: Joseph Jacobs, Frederick T. Haneman
Dutch Christian and rabbinical scholar; born at Flushing 1586; died at Leyden Dec. 2, 1638. From 1617 until his death he was professor of jurisprudence and politics at the University of Leyden. Cunæus holds a position of some importance in the development of Biblical archeology as the author of "De Republica Hebræorum," which appeared in three volumes, in 1617, at Leyden. It was republished in 1632 by Elzevir; and was translated into French in 1703. It was also reproduced in the "Critici Sacri" and in Ugolini's "Thesaurus."
In this book Cunæus deals with the constitution of the old Hebrew kingdom, which he regards as a purely theocratic one. The Lord was the sole ruler, and made the laws, appointed judges, decided questions of war and peace, and was high priest, liberator, and leader of the people. Cunæus had often compared the conditions of Jewish with those of Roman and Greek life, and concluded that Jewish laws were superior to those of the classical world. He instanced the jubilee year of the Hebrews, which, according to his view, would have been the only remedy for the evils of the "latifundia" in Rome. He made use of the teachings of the Rabbis, especially of Maimonides. Cunæus and Grotius were the first Christian scholars who accepted, in their Biblical interpretations, the explanations of the Rabbis.
Bibliography:
Diestel, Gesch. des Alten Testaments in der Christlichen Kirche, pp. 376, 467, 468, 516, Jena, 1869;
GeÏllustreede Encyclopaedie, s.v., Rotterdam, 1884.
CEPHAS.—See Peter.
See Peter.
- see Peter the apostle
Joh 1:42 (a) This name means a "rock" or a "stone." The bit of stone that is chipped off from the great rock is of the same texture and chemical composition as the one from which it comes. Peter belonged to CHRIST and therefore was recognized by GOD as a part of CHRIST. The name "Peter" has the same meaning.