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Mat_16:17. Simon, son ( áÌÇø ) of Jona, a solemnly circumstantial style of address, yet not intended as a contrast to the designation of him as Peter which is about to follow (de Wette), in connection with which view many expositors have allegorized the Βαριωνᾶ in an arbitrary and nugatory fashion, but merely on account of the importance of the subsequent statement, in which case Βαριωνᾶ is to be ascribed to the practice of adding the patronymic designation, and blending the βάρ . with the proper name (Mat_10:3; Act_13:6; Mar_10:46).
ὅτι ] because thou art favoured far above my other followers in having had such a revelation as this.
σὰρξ κ . αἷμα ] áÌÈùÒÈø åÀãÈí (among the Rabbis), paraphrastic expression for man, involving the idea of weakness as peculiar to his bodily nature, Sir_14:18; Lightfoot on this passage; Bleek’s note on Heb_2:14. Comp. the note on Gal_1:16; Eph_6:12. Therefore to be interpreted thus: no weak mortal (mortalium ullus) has communicated this revelation to thee; but, and so on. Inasmuch as ἀποκαλύπτειν , generally, is a thing to which no human being can pretend, the negative half of the statement only serves to render the positive half all the more emphatic. Others refer σὰρξ κ . αἷμα to ordinary knowledge and ideas furnished by the senses, in contradistinction to πνεῦμα (de Wette, following Beza, Calvin, Calovius, Neander, Olshausen, Glöckler, Baumgarten-Crusius, Keim). Incorrectly, partly because the lower part of man’s nature is denoted simply by σάρξ , not by σὰρξ κ . αἷμα (in 1Co_15:50 the expression flesh and blood is employed in quite a peculiar, a physical sense), partly because ἀπεκάλυψε (Mat_11:25) compels us to think exclusively of a knowledge which is obtained in some other way than through the exercise of one’s human faculties. For a similar reason, the blending of both views (Bleek) is no less objectionable.
It must not be supposed that, in describing this confession as the result of a divine revelation, there is anything inconsistent with the fact that, for a long time before, Jesus had, in word and deed, pointed to Himself as the Messiah (comp. above all the Sermon on the Mount, and such passages as Mat_11:5 f., 27), and had also been so designated by others (John the Baptist, and such passages as Mat_8:29, Mat_14:33), nay, more, that from the very first the disciples themselves had recognised Him as the Messiah, and on the strength of His being so had been induced to devote themselves to His person and service (Mat_4:19; Joh_1:42; Joh_1:46; Joh_1:50); nor are we to regard the point of the revelation as consisting in the ὁ υἱὸς τ . θεοῦ τ . ζῶντος , sometimes supposed (Olshausen) to indicate advanced, more perfect knowledge, a view which it would be difficult to reconcile with the parallel passages in Mark and Luke; but observe: (1) That Jesus is quite aware that, in spite of the vacillating opinions of the multitude, His disciples continue to regard Him as the Messiah, but, in order to strengthen and elevate both them and Himself before beginning (Mat_16:21) the painful and trying announcement of His future sufferings, and as furnishing a basis on which to take His stand in doing so, He seeks first of all to elicit from them an express and decided confession of their faith. (2) That Peter acts as the mouthpiece of all the others, and with the utmost decision and heartiness makes such a declaration of his belief as, at this turning-point in His ministry, and at a juncture of such grave import as regards the gloomy future opening up before Him, Jesus must have been longing to hear, and such as He could not fail to be in need of. (3) That He, the heart-searching one, immediately perceives and knows that Peter (as ὁ τοῦ χοροῦ τῶν ἀποστόλων κορυφαῖος , Chrysostom) was enabled to make such a declaration from his having been favoured with a special revelation from God (Mat_11:27), that He speaks of the distinction thus conferred, and connects with it the promise of the high position which the apostle is destined to hold in the church. Consequently ἀπεκάλυψε is not to be understood as referring to some revelation which had been communicated to the disciples at the outset of their career as followers of Jesus, but it is to be restricted to Peter, and to a special revelation from God with which he had been favoured. This confession, founded as it was upon such a revelation, must naturally have been far more deliberate, far more deeply rooted in conviction, and for the Lord and His work of far greater consequence, than that contained in the exclamation of the people in the boat (Mat_14:33) when under the influence of a momentary feeling of amazement, which latter incident, however, our present passage does not require us to treat as unhistorical (Keim and others); comp. note on Mat_14:33.
Observe, further, how decidedly the joyful answer of Jesus, with the great promise that accompanies it, forbids the supposition that He consented to accept the title and dignity of a Messiah only from “not being able to avoid a certain amount of accommodation” to the ideas of the people (Schenkel; see, on the other hand, Weissenborn, p. 43 ff.).