Matthew 16


Matthew 16 is the sixteenth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. Jesus begins a journey to Jerusalem from the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi, near the southwestern base of Mount Hermon. Verse 24 speaks of his disciples "following him".
The narrative can be divided into the following subsections:
The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 28 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
  • Codex Vaticanus
  • Codex Sinaiticus
  • Codex Bezae
  • Codex Washingtonianus
  • Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus
  • Codex Purpureus Rossanensis
  • Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus
  • Codex Sinopensis

    Locations

ends with Jesus sending the multitude of his followers away and He and his disciples sail to Magdala on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. In the Pharisees and Sadducees come to him, presumably in the same location.
refers again to travel to "the other side", and verses are set "in the region of Caesarea Philippi".
The "other side" of the lake would have been the eastern side. In regard to the statement in verse 5 that they had forgotten to take bread, Joseph Benson suggests that they should have obtained bread before embarking on the western side, noting that in Mark's parallel passage they had only one loaf with them, whereas Henry Alford and Heinrich Meyer both argue that they should have obtained more supplies when they arrived on the eastern side, because they had a further journey in mind.
Caesarea Philippi is the furthest point north referred to in Matthew's Gospel, and marks the turning point from which Jesus and his disciples will travel south to Jerusalem.

Pharisees and Sadducees (16:1–12)

Verse 1

Following earlier references to the Pharisees' objections to Jesus' teaching, further opposition is now put forward by a coalition of Pharisees and Sadducees, whose theological views and policies were markedly different from each other, but who were forced to co-operate as members of Sanhedrin, the Jewish supreme court. Biblical commentator Dale Allison describes the coalition as an "unlikely" one, as do Wilhelm de Wette, David Strauss, Weiss and Jan Hendrik Scholten. Arthur Carr suggests that the formation of this coalition "can only be accounted for by the uniting influence of a strong common hostility against Jesus". Theologian John Gill suggests that "these were Galilean Sadducees and Pharisees, of whom mention is made in the Misna", and distinct from the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem, mentioned in. Gill notes that Obadiah of Bertinoro, a 15th-century Italian rabbi who wrote a popular commentary on the Mishnah, also made reference to "Galilean Sadducees".
An earlier request for a sign was recorded in Matthew 12:38. Meyer suggests that there were two distinct occasions when such signs were requested, once when Jesus was asked to provide a sign, and once when a sign is requested "from heaven".

Verses 2–3

Allison notes that, had he wanted to do so, Jesus could have provided the "spectacular sign" they were requesting: in, Jesus reminds his followers, "do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?".

Verse 5

Meyer includes Jesus in this journey although he is not mentioned, only the disciples. He reads verse 6 as conclusive to this effect.

Verse 6

"Leaven" means "teaching" or "doctrine".

Peter's confession (16:13–20)

This pericope is considered the climax of the first part of the Gospel of Matthew, when Peter received a revelation from God telling him that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Allison argues that "the primary function of this passage is to record the establishment of a new community, one which will acknowledge Jesus' true identity and thereby become the focus of God's activity in history".

Verse 13

  • "Region" : The King James Version refers to the "coasts" of Caesarea Philippi, although Caesarea Philippi is not in the vicinity of a sea: the sense is one of "borders" or "regions". The regions of Caesarea Philippi are called "the northern coasts of the land of Israel", marking "the most northerly point" reached by Jesus Christ in his ministry.
The Textus Receptus has, tina me legousin, but the με is omitted by Westcott-Hort. Hence translations vary as to whether Jesus' question is set out in the first person or third person:

Verse 14

The popular consensus is that Jesus is a prophet: all the forerunners mentioned were prophets.

Verse 16

This answer from Peter combined a traditional Jewish title of "Messiah" meaning "anointed", with a Greek title "Son of... God" for a ruler or divine leader, which is also another Hebrew royal title.

Verse 18

  • "Shall...prevail against": or "be victorious", from the Greek word κατισχύσουσιν, .
Pope Francis notes that "this is the first time that Jesus uses the word 'Church'. He does so expressing all His love for the new Covenant community "which He defines as 'My Church'".

Verse 19

  • "Will be bound... will be loosed": or "will have been bound... will have been loosed".

    Death and glory (16:21–28)

Still at the location near Caesarea Philippi, the narrative follows Peter's confession with a decisive new phase of Jesus' ministry, with Jerusalem as the next geographical focus. Verse 21 states that Jesus "must go to Jerusalem", but this journey does not properly begin until.