"You are Peter" in Jesus' language of Aramaic

Since we will soon be in the land where all this took place — Israel — I thought you would find this interesting.

So, what did it sound like at Caesarea Philippi when Jesus renamed Simon and made him the foundation of the Church: "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it" (Matt 16:18)? Compare John 1:42.

You know of course, that Jesus did not speak English.  If most of us heard Him speak those words today we would have no clue what He was saying. Jesus spoke Aramaic and that language is still alive in very small communities in the Middle East.

What you see written to the right is Syriac Aramaic as written by my friend Efrem Nissan in Bethlehem. He is a Syrian Orthodox Christian. (Click on the text for a larger image.)

Now, not only can you see the script — which is close to what would have been written in the time of Jesus – but you can listen to it as well. I took this short video clip of Efrem reading the words you see written here. He read them on our pilgrimage. Listen for the word "kepha" twice. Kepha is the word "rock" in Aramaic.