But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Parallel translations
- WEB But he turned, and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.”
- BSB But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
- NKJV But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
- NASB But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s purposes, but men’s.”
- NLT Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus rebukes Peter as 'Satan,' a stumbling block setting his mind on man's things, not God's. It matters because opposing the cross aligns with the tempter's purpose.
Overview
Jesus sharply rebukes Peter, naming the satanic character of any attempt to turn him from the cross. To reject Christ's suffering is to side with the very temptation Satan offered in the wilderness. The contrast is between God's redemptive plan and merely human thinking. The rebuke underscores how central the cross is to God's saving purpose.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Rom 8:5–8For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
- Col 3:2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
- Phil 3:19Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
- Mark 8:33But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
- 1 Cor 2:14–15But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- Matt 4:10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
- John 6:70Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
- Luke 4:8And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
- 2 Cor 11:14–15And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
- Gen 3:17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
- Zech 3:1–2And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
- 1 Chr 21:1And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
- Rom 14:13Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
- 2 Sam 19:22And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?
- Isa 8:14And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
- Gen 3:1–6Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
- Rom 14:21It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
- Matt 18:7Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 16:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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