Expert: Dean Gade - 10/21/2007

Question
In Galatians Paul used Greek 'Peter' and Aramaic 'Cephas' interchangeably.  Either one could be correct but mixed seems improbable. Is this the way it is in the oldest known Greek manuscripts, or is one version used?

Answer
St. Peter was a man of many "names".   When Jesus added to his name, He did use them rather interchangeably:

John 1:40-42
41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter).
(from New International Version)


As far as Galatians goes,  there are some variations in the original manuscripts.   In v.9 almost all the well-trusted manuscripts  have "iachobos kai kaiphas".  One minor papyrus , P46, has just "petros" for that phrase.

In v.11 we have "kaiphas" being substituted with "petros" by the Koine and Bezae and a few other minor manuscripts. They have a bit more weight than P47 in v.9.

But since names added in the time Jesus walked on earth were often meant to be descriptions, there is no doctrinal problem with any modern translation.  Jesus Himself was "the Christ" (Heb. "Messiah"  ="the annointed one", ") which was a description and not His name.