Mark 3:16
. And to Simon he gave the name Peter. Though all Christians must be living stones (354), of the spiritual temple, yet Christ gave this name peculiarly to Simon, according to the measure of grace which he intended to bestow upon him. This is not inconsistent with the shameful weakness which he manifested in denying his Lord: for this title showed his invincible power and steadiness, which continued till his death. Yet it is absurd in the Papists to infer from this, that the Church is founded on him, as will afterwards be more fully explained, ( Matthew 16:18 .) Christ called the sons of Zebedee sons of thunder, because he was to give them a powerful voice, that they might thunder throughout the whole world. (355) And that thunder is heard, in the present day, from the mouth of John. As to his brother, there can be no doubt that, so long as he lived, he shook the earth. The word has been corrupted: for the full pronunciation would be בני רגש, (Benae-regesh;) (356) but the changes which words undergo in passing into other languages are well known.
(354) This alludes to the Greek word Πέτρος, (Peter,) which literally signifies a stone. We shall afterwards find (Matthew 16:18) that our Lord makes express reference to the meaning of the name. — Ed.
(355) “ Afin qu’ils tonnassent par tout le monde en preschant;” — “in order that they might thunder throughout the whole world in preaching.”
(356) Philologists have been a good deal perplexed by this word. There is even some difficulty in settling the Greek orthography: for conflicting manuscripts present us with the various forms of Βοανηργές, Βοανεργής, and Βοανεργείς. The name is unquestionably of Hebrew origin. Some of the derivations, which have been given, are so far-fetched as not to deserve refutation. There is plausibility in Jerome's hypothesis, that it comes from רעם, (Ragam,) thunder. But the substitution of final, ς for μ has never been satisfactorily explained. Admitting that ές or ής, is a Greek termination, the absence of the final and radical Mem ( ם) is too violent a supposition. After many trials, scholars are pretty nearly agreed, that they must return to the derivation which is suggested by our author, and which some writers have illustrated and defended by a considerable array of learning. — Ed.