(Caphis), which signifies a rafter, a cross beam, a binder; or, as the margin (on Habak. ii. 11.) has it, "a fastener," from the verb
כפס
(Caphas), to bind, to connect, to join.
That our Lord never used the Greek word σὺ εἶ Πετρος all must admit; that Κηφᾶς is not the Syriac word for stone is well known to every Oriental scholar. The proper Syriac word for stone is
כאפא
. However, there is a resemblance between the respective words, which may have been the origin of Simon's second surname—I mean to that of Cephas—Peter.
The import of Matt. xvi. 16-19. seems to me to be this: Christ acknowledges Simon to be part and parcel of the house, the Church; nay, more, He tells Simon that He intends him to be a "master-builder," to join, or bind, many members to that Church, all of which would be owned of Him. But the Church itself must be built upon the Ebhen, the Stone; by which Jesus evidently alluded to Ps. cxviii. 22.:
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