Matthew 16:19 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Matthew 16:19
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
to give (used in a very wide application · verb — future active indicative, 1st person singular
unto thee
σοίsoí
G4671
to thee
the keys
κλεῖδαςkleidas
G2807
a key (as shutting a lock) · noun — accusative plural feminine
of the kingdom
βασιλείαςbasileias
G932
properly · noun — genitive singular feminine
of heaven
οὐρανῶν,ouranōn
G3772
the sky · noun — genitive plural masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
whatsoever
ἐὰνean
G1437
a conditional particle · conditional particle
thou shalt bind
δήσῃςdēsēs
G1210
to bind (in various applications · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 2nd person singular
on
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
earth
γῆς,gēs
G1093
soil · noun — genitive singular feminine
shall be
ἔσομαιésomai
G2071
will be
bound
δεδεμένονdedemenon
G1210
to bind (in various applications · verb — perfect passive participle, nominative singular neuter
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
heaven
οὐρανοῖς,ouranois
G3772
the sky · noun — dative plural masculine
and
καίkaí
G2532
and
whatsoever
ἐὰνean
G1437
a conditional particle · conditional particle
thou shalt loose
λύσῃςlusēs
G3089
to "loosen" (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 2nd person singular
on
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
earth
γῆς,gēs
G1093
soil · noun — genitive singular feminine
shall be
ἔσομαιésomai
G2071
will be
loosed
λελυμένονlelumenon
G3089
to "loosen" (literally or figuratively) · verb — perfect passive participle, nominative singular neuter
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
heaven
οὐρανοῖς.¶ouranois
G3772
the sky · noun — dative plural masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in…
Isaiah 22:22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall ope…
Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
John 20:23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
Revelation 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he…
2 Corinthians 2:10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of…
Revelation 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to sm…
1 Corinthians 5:4-5 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 16:13-20
We have here a private conference which Christ had with his disciples concerning himself. It was in the coasts of Cesarea Philippi, the utmost borders of the land of Canaan northward; there in that remote corner, perhaps, there was less flocking after him than in other places, which gave him leisure for this private conversation with his disciples. Note, When ministers are abridged in their public work, they should endeavour to do the more in their own families.
Christ is here catechising his disciples.
I. He enquires what the opinions of others were concerning him; Who do men say that I, the Son of man, am?
1. He calls himself the Son of man; which may be taken either, (1.) As a title commo…
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven--the kingdom of God about to be set up on earth
and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven--Whatever this mean, it was soon expressly extended to all the apostles (Mat 18:18); so that the claim of supreme authority in the Church, made for Peter by the Church of Rome, and then arrogated to themselves by the popes as the legitimate successors of St. Peter, is baseless and impudent. As first in confessing Christ, Peter got this commission before the rest; and with these "keys," on the day of Pentecost, he first "opened the door of faith" to the…
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,.... By the kingdom of heaven is meant the Gospel, which comes from heaven, declares the king Messiah to be come, speaks of things concerning his kingdom, is the means of setting it up, and enlarging it, displays the riches of his grace, and gives an account of the kingdom of heaven, and of persons' right unto it, and meetness for it. "The keys" of it are abilities to open and explain the Gospel truths, and a mission and commission from Christ to make use of them; and being said to be given to Peter particularly, denotes his after qualifications, commission, work, and usefulness in opening the door of faith, or preaching the Gospel…
The Church Fathers
For Christ is a rock which is never disturbed or worn away. Therefore Peter gladly received his name from Christ to signify the established and unshaken faith of the church.… The devil is the gateway of death who always hastens to stir up against the holy church calamities and temptations and persecutions. But the faith of the apostle, which was founded upon the rock of Christ, abides always unconquered and unshaken. And the very keys of the kingdom of the heavens have been handed down so that one whom he has bound on earth has been bound in heaven, and one whom he has set free on earth he has also set free in heaven.
If, because the Lord has said to Peter, "Upon this rock will I build My Church," "to thee have I given the keys of the heavenly kingdom; " or, "Whatsoever thou shale have bound or loosed in earth, shall be bound or loosed in the heavens," you therefore presume that the power of binding and loosing has derived to you, that is, to every Church akin to Peter, what sort of man are you, subverting and wholly changing the manifest intention of the Lord, conferring (as that intention did) this (gift) personally upon Peter? "On thee," He says, "will I build My Church; "and," I will give to thee the keys," not to the Church; and, "Whatsoever thou shall have loosed or bound," not what they shall have loosed or bound.
See how great power has that rock upon which the Church is built, that its sentences are to continue firm as though God gave sentence by it. Let him then be without blame who binds or looses another, that he may be found worthy to bind or loose in heaven. Moreover, to him who shall be able by his virtues to shut the gates of hell, are given in reward the keys of the kingdom of heaven. For every kind of virtue when any has begun to practise it, as it were opens itself before Him, the Lord, namely, opening it through His grace, so that the same virtue is found to be both the gate, and the key of the gate. But it may be that each virtue is itself the kingdom of heaven.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Caesarea Philippi — is mentioned only in the first two Gospels, (Matthew 16:13; Mark 8:27) and in accounts of the same transactions. It was at the easternmost and most important of the two recognized sources of the…
Church — Derived probably from the Greek kuriakon (i.e., “the Lord’s house”), which was used by ancient authors for the place of worship. In the New Testament it is the translation of the Greek word ecclesia,…
Key — Frequently mentioned in Scripture. It is called in Hebrew maphteah, i.e., the opener (Judg. 3:25); and in the Greek New Testament kleis, from its use in shutting (Matt. 16:19; Luke 11:52; Rev. 1:18,…
Peter — Originally called Simon (=Simeon, i.e., “hearing”), a very common Jewish name in the New Testament. He was the son of Jona (Matt. 16:17). His mother is nowhere named in Scripture. He had a younger…
Apostles · .See COMMISSION OF, above and — .See COMMISSION OF, above and
Apostles, The · Equal authority given to each of — Equal authority given to each of
Discipline Of The Church · Ministers authorised to establish — Ministers authorised to establish
Key · A symbol of authority — A symbol of authority
Kingdom Of Heaven · Keys of — Keys of
Millennium · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Matthew 16:13-19
Matthew 16:13-19
Mark 8:27-29
Luke 9:18-20
13. And when Jesus came to the coasts of Cesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I the Son of man am? 14. And they said, Some [say,] John the Baptist; and other, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. 15. He saith to them, But who do you say that I am? 16. And Simon Peter answering said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17. And Jesus answering said to him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona; [436] for flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. 18. But I say to thee, That thou art Peter, and on this rock will I build my church; and the ga…
Keys are an image for access to privileged knowledge that gives one authority (see 13:16-17; 23:13; Isa 22:22; Rev 3:7). • forbid . . . permit: Jesus granted to Peter (and later to the rest of the Twelve, Matt 18:18) the authority to teach the will of God as revealed in Jesus Christ (13:52; 18:15-20; 23:2-12; 28:16-20). • will be: This could be translated will have been, emphasizing that God’s sovereign decision comes first.
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
