Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 16:13
The district of Caesarea Philippi lay 25 miles north of Galilee. Its inhabitants were mainly Gentiles. Herod Philip II, the tetrarch of the region, had enlarged a smaller town on the site at the foot of Mt. Hermon. The town’s elevation was 1,150 feet above sea level. He named it Caesarea in honor of Caesar, and it became known as Caesarea Philippi in distinction from the Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast, Caesarea Sebaste (also known as Caesarea Palaestinae and Caesarea Meritima).Since Jesus... read more
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Matthew 16:18
18. And I say also unto thee—that is, "As thou hast borne such testimony to Me, even so in return do I to thee." That thou art Peter—At his first calling, this new name was announced to him as an honor afterwards to be conferred on him ( :-). Now he gets it, with an explanation of what it was meant to convey. and upon this rock—As "Peter" and "Rock" are one word in the dialect familiarly spoken by our Lord—the Aramaic or Syro-Chaldaic, which was the mother tongue of the country—this exalted... read more