Kamień, o który wszyscy się potykają (Mt 16, 23)
The Rock that Causes Everyone to Stumble (Matt 16:23)

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the verse Matt. 16:23 in which Jesus addresses Peter in the following way: “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (KJV). One of the meanings of the word provided by dictionaries is analysed: ‘skándalon is the native rock rising up through the earth, which trips up the traveler’ (http://biblehub.com/greek/4625.htm). Syriac dictionaries explain the meaning of the word used in the Peshitta as a stumbling-block, that is the rock upon which people stumble. The expression kefo d-tuqalto in Peshitta Rom. 9:33, referring to Isa. 18:14, is a particularly interesting use of this word. Considering an original Aramaic version of the Peter’s name Kefo, the wordplay difficult to be translated into Polish is analysed: in Matt. 16:18 Jesus names Simon with a new name Kefo meaning the Rock as the foundation of the Church, and a few verses farther He calls him [kefo] d-tuqalto meaning the rock that sticks up on the road for everyone to stumble. Moreover, an analysis of the related words in the Hebrew Bible, the Peshitta and the Targums provides additional interesting details, for example about the millstone mentioned in Matt. 18.

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