πέτρα
petra
rock
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Greek word πέτρα (petra) is defined as "rock." It is used 16 times in the Bible, demonstrating its significance in various contexts. In its most literal sense, petra refers to a solid, unyielding, and often massive rock formation. This meaning is evident in passages where the word is used to describe natural landscape features, such as mountains or cliffs. Beyond its literal meaning, petra is also used metaphorically to convey strength, stability, and permanence. In these contexts, the word emphasizes the reliability and unwavering nature of something or someone. For example, in Matthew 16:18, Jesus refers to the church as a petra, emphasizing its solidity and resistance to external pressures. The frequency and range of usage for petra suggest its importance in the biblical narrative. As a symbol of strength and stability, petra underscores the reliability of God's promises and the enduring nature of his kingdom.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
16 total occurrences across the text
“Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock.
Matthew 7:25The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it didn’t fall, for it was founded on the rock.
Matthew 16:18I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
Matthew 27:51Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split.
Matthew 27:60and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out in the rock, and he rolled a great stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.
Mark 15:46He bought a linen cloth, and taking him down, wound him in the linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of a rock. He rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.
Luke 6:48He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock. When a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it was founded on the rock.
Luke 6:48He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock. When a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it was founded on the rock.
Luke 8:6Other seed fell on the rock, and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
Luke 8:13Those on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, who believe for a while, then fall away in time of temptation.
Romans 9:33even as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense; and no one who believes in him will be disappointed.”
1 Corinthians 10:4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.
1 Peter 2:8and, “a stumbling stone and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.
Revelation 6:15The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains.
Revelation 6:16They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,