BEDROCK, a rock formation — as distinct from Petros, 'a stone,' the name Jesus gives Simon in the very same breath (Matthew 16:18, 'you are Petros, and on this petra I will build my congregation'). Jesus almost certainly spoke Aramaic, in which a single word, kepha, would have named both the man and the foundation; the pun survives translation into Greek only because Greek happens to have a masculine noun for 'a stone' beside a feminine one for 'bedrock' close enough in sound to carry the same joke. ⚠ Whether 'this rock' names Peter himself, his just-spoken confession, or Christ has divided readers for centuries — the historic Catholic reading takes it as Peter, founding an office; the historic Protestant reading more often takes it as the confession or Christ, pointing to 1 Corinthians 3:11 and Ephesians 2:20 (neither yet on these pages) as the only foundation named elsewhere. This library states the readings rather than choosing among them. → first discussed at Matt 16:18