The wife of St Peter

[Paul Cowan]

I am reading in


Matthew 8:14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them

Is there any tradition concerning his wife? We know who the woman with the issue of blood is, we know who the woman at the well is, why do we not know who St. Peter's wife was? Was she already deceased and Peter was simply caring for his mother in law so there was no need to know who she was? Or perhaps she was not mentioned as the rich man was not by name since he was a "bad" person?

I guess I am caught in the text of "his wife's mother" versus "his mother in law". The latter would, to me at least, suggest his wife was already dead.

Paul

[Eric Peterson]

While we do know some things about some figures in the Scripture, I would conjecture that the number of unknown knowns surpasses that of known knowns, and that doesn't even factor in the unknown unknowns.

[Andrew D. Morrell]

Hi Paul,

My wife told me she'd read that St. Peter's wife was a martyr. We did a little searching and found this information and very touching account:

The story of the martyrdom of Peter and his wife is found
in the pages of The History of the Church, written by Eusebius,
a bishop in the Holy Land during the first decades of the 300s.
In it he quotes from a much earlier source, Miscellanies (Book
VII), written by Clement of Alexandria (circa A.D. 150–215).

This work describes how Peter’s wife suffered martyrdom just
before him:
We are told that when blessed Peter saw his
wife led away to death, he was glad that her
call had come and that she was returning
home, and spoke to her in the most encouraging
and comforting way, addressing her by
name:“My dear, remember the Lord.” Such was
the marriage of the blessed, and their consummate
feeling towards their dearest.

In Christ,
Andrew



I am reading in



Is there any tradition concerning his wife? We know who the woman with the issue of blood is, we know who the woman at the well is, why do we not know who St. Peter's wife was? Was she already deceased and Peter was simply caring for his mother in law so there was no need to know who she was? Or perhaps she was not mentioned as the rich man was not by name since he was a "bad" person?

I guess I am caught in the text of "his wife's mother" versus "his mother in law". The latter would, to me at least, suggest his wife was already dead.

Paul

[James Haddad]

What translation was your quote from? Is it from the Orthodox Study Bible which uses the NKJV? I checked a couple of translations online and this is the ESV

And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw(B) his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever.

I don't know the Greek, but I know in Armenian, we use the word "zokanch" which is specifically the man's wife's mother. My point is, I suspect that what your thinking about is a superficial thing.

[Olga]

The Greek word used in the account of Luke is penthera, which unmistakeably means mother-in-law. If it were Peter's wife, she would be referred to as gyni or gynaika.

[Michael 'Anthony' Cornett]

Geronta Pavlos spoke of this last night during his talks. He was discussing a situation with a female Saint who lived with and took care of 2 mother-in-laws

[Vasiliki D.]

If all else fails Paul: "they say her name was Mary" (there is enough of them to assume she too was a Mary)

;-)

[Nina]

Geronta Pavlos spoke of this last night during his talks. He was discussing a situation with a female Saint who lived with and took care of 2 mother-in-laws

I am interested to learn about this story, if you can post a little more, dear Michael.

P.S There is a joke about the mother in law of Saint Peter and St. Peter's betrayal amongst Greeks lol it is funny but I better refrain and not post it. Or can I? Since it is Paschaltide?

[Nina]

I am interested to learn about this story, if you can post a little more, dear Michael.


Dear Michael, I found it while listening to the videos you so kindly have posted from Elder Pavlos. Thank you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GN8MzII-2E&feature=related

[Bryan J. Maloney]

The Greek word used in the account of Luke is penthera, which unmistakeably means mother-in-law.

It's used in Matthew and Mark for the same event, too. The word is indifferently translated as "mother-in-law" or "wife's mother" in some translations. There is no distinction between whether or not the wife is living or dead, as far as I can tell.

[Michael 'Anthony' Cornett]

Great! I was just searching through the footage, trying to find the right spot. Glad you found it.