Does Elikiam's authority from Isaiah 22:22 relate to Peter's authority from Matthew 16:19?

Question

I heard a Catholic commentator point out that in Matt 16:19 Jesus used the same words to describe Peter's authority as Isaiah used in Is 22:22 when describing the authority Elikiam would be given as head of Hezekiah's household (replacing Shebna). Cross references I've seen only go one way - Isaiah to Matthew, but not Matthew to Isaiah.

It matters to me because the commentator went on to claim that this is a biblical passage that gives the church/Pope the authority to 'loose/bind' on earth as in heaven (that's based on the assumption Peter was the first Pope and the authority was granted to each subsequent Pope).

I don't know Greek or Hebrew, so I am curious to see if the original words used in each passage really do mean the same thing. Thanks!

Answer 1

I can see why a catholic commentator would make such an association between Isa 22:22 and Matt 16:19. The language is very superficially similar. So, let us examine them more closely.

Isa 22:22

Since this passage in in Hebrew, and the NT quotes/alludes to this passage in Greek, let me quote the Greek translation available to Jesus at the time, the LXX:

καὶ δώσω τὴν δόξαν Δαυὶδ αὐτῷ, καὶ ἄρξει, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ ἀντιλέγων. καὶ δώσω αὐτῷ τὴν κλεῖδα οἴκου Δαυὶδ ἐπὶ τῷ ὤμῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνοίξει, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ ἀποκλείων, καὶ κλείσει καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ ἀνοίγων. = And I will give him the glory of David; and he shall rule, and there shall be none to speak against him: and I will give him the key of the house of David [upon] his shoulder; and he shall open, and there shall be none to shut; and he shall shut, and there shall be none to open.

Matt 16:19

δώσω σοι τὰς κλεῖδας τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ ὃ ἐὰν δήσῃς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται δεδεμένον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, καὶ ὃ ἐὰν λύσῃς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται λελυμένον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. = I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you might bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you might loose on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens."

Note that there are one common element between these two passages namely:

• key/keys (not a perfect match!)

But that is about all. Here are the differences which make the connection between these two passages, tenuous at best.

Isa 22:22	Matt 16:19
key	keys
key of the house of David	keys of the kingdom of heavens
open/shut	bind/loose
simple future indicative active	future perfect passive

The last entry in the table requires further explanation. In Isa 22:22 we have a verb with a simple future tense, viz, "he shall open", etc. By contrast, the tense of the verb in Matt 16:19 is far more complex. In commenting on this curious grammatical construction, J B Phillips in an appendix to his translation of the New Testament in Modern English offers these comments:

Matthew 16:19 and 18:18, “forbidding” and “permitting”. There is a very curious Greek construction here, viz, a simple future followed by the perfect participle passive. If Jesus had meant to say quite simply, “Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in Heaven”, can anyone explain why the simple future passive is not used? It seems to me that if the words of Jesus are accurately reported here, and I have no reason to doubt it, then the force of these sayings is that Jesus’ true disciples will be so led by the Spirit that they will be following the heavenly pattern. In other words what they “forbid” or “permit” on earth will be consonant with the Divine rules.

Thus, it becomes apparent that Isa 22:22 is talking about the terrestrial house of David; but Matt 16:19 is talking about the spiritual kingdom of heaven.

Answer 2

Does Elikiam's authority from Isaiah 22:22 relate to Peter's authority relate to Peter's authority from Matthew 16:19?

Yes and No

Without going to the original languages let's look at the ESV as a start.

Matthew 16

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Isaiah 22

15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? 17 Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you 18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master's house. 19 I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. 20 In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house. 24 And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father's house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. 25 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”

Both passages have a key or keys in common.
Both passages are about the granting of authority.

In Isaiah God is transferring authority from one steward of the kings household (Shebna) to another steward (Eliakim). The key to the house of David is the symbol of that authority.

In Matthew it's the keys to the kingdom of heaven which indicate that Jesus is granting authority. Exactly who Jesus is granting authority to is the topic of another question.

Both passages talk about the allocation of God's authority. The context of the passages is very different. So, the passages are related but not directly related.