John Oswalt
the key of the house of David may have been a literal key of considerable size slung from the shoulder (so Skinner). But equally likely the reference here is symbolic. The authority to admit people to or exclude them from the king’s presence is vested in, or put on the shoulder of (9:5 [Eng. 6]), the one “who is over the house.” Obviously, this authority constituted tremendous power and required great character if it was not to be abused (cf. Gen. 39:6, 8). By the same token, the one to whom such power was given could know the depth of the king’s trust in him. This was what Jesus was showing to his disciples in Matt. 16:19. Similar words are applied to Christ himself in Rev. 3:7.[1]
H. Benedict Green
The Old Testament type for Peter here is Eliakim the principal officer in the court of the David king—not merely the comptroller of the royal household, but vicegerent in the kingdom (cf. 22.21), and thus the saliyah whose actions bind his principal. What Eliakim is to be to the kingdom of Judah (as distinct from the palace), Peter is to be to the kingdom of heaven (as distinct from the Church); his role is concerned with admission to the final eschatological reign.[2]
John T. Willis
Mt. 16.13-23 assumes the reader knows the context of Isa. 22.15-25, and in Mt.16.19 Jesus borrows the language of Isa. 22.22. According to Mt. 16.16, Peter confesses that Jesus is ‘the Christ’, ‘the Son of the living God’, that is, that Jesus is king. The expression ‘Son of God’ is one of the common Old Testament titles for a king, and the context of Mt. 16.16 shows Peter had that nuance in mind in his confession, not the idea that Jesus is divine as in other New Testament contexts. Jesus commends Peter for the words he used, but not for his understanding of those words. He tells Peter that he (Peter) will be the rock on which his (Jesus’) church will be built. Then, in his role as king, Jesus gives Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the authority and responsibility to bind and loose on earth what has already been bound and loosed in heaven, that is, Jesus makes Peter the major domo of his kingdom with all the privileges and responsibilities accruing to that function.[3]
Walter Brueggemann
First, it is likely that the reference to Eliakim and “the key of the house of David” (v. 22) is replicated in Matthew 16:19, wherein Peter is promised: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” This is an enormously powerful authorization, which has been fully and maximally appreciated in the Petrine theory of church authority. Peter holds the office, not unlike Eliakim, second only to the reigning David, Jesus. Peter, like Eliakim, is entrusted with complete oversight of the household of the church.[4]
Oscar Cullman
Just as in Isaiah 22:22 the Lord puts the keys of the house of David on the shoulders of his servant Eliakim, so does Jesus hand over to Peter the keys of the house of the kingdom of heaven and by the same stroke establishes him as his superintendent. There is a connection between the house of the Church, the construction of which has just been mentioned and of which Peter is the foundation, and the celestial house of which he receives the keys. The connection between these two images is the notion of God’s people.[5]
Leonard Doohan
The story seems to parallel the conferring of power on Eliakim to become the viceroy of Judah (Isaiah 22:19-23). Peter is portrayed as having complete authority, delegated from Jesus. Eliakim was made prime-minister in place of Shebna, who was unworthy of office, and, possibly, leadership is presented to Peter instead of to the scribes and Pharisees (Mt 23:13-14).[6]
Benedict Viviano
This office of grand vizier or prime minister is developed and illustrated in Isa 22:15-25, with imagery which is echoed in Matt 16:19. There Shebna, whose titles are steward (soken, LXX: tamias) and master of the (royal) household (‘acer al-habbayit, LXX: v.23 archon) is deposed from his office, and Eliakim son of Hilkiah is set in his place…. The point here is that, as Aaron serves as Moses’ spokesperson and assistant, so Shebna and later Eliakim serve as stewards or prime ministers to the Davidide king, and Peter as authorized lieutenant (in the etymological sense of place holder or locum tenens) to Jesus. It is a case of Mosaic and Davidide typology, but among the characters of secondary rank.[7]
F. F. Bruce
And what about the “keys of the kingdom”? The keys of a royal or noble establishment were entrusted to the chief steward or major domo; he carried them on his shoulder in earlier times, and there they served as a badge of the authority entrusted to him. About 700 B.C. an oracle from God announced that this authority in the royal palace in Jerusalem was to be conferred on a man called Eliakim: “I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open” (Is 22:22). So in the new community that Jesus was about to build, Peter would be, so to speak, chief steward.[8]
Hans Wildberger
Throughout the history of the church, Isa. 22:22 has played an even more important role elsewhere; this verse, significantly altered in Matt. 16:19, is used to paraphrase the full authority accorded to Peter: “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” This passage is quoted “correctly” insofar as it is not applied to Christ himself but directed toward Peter, who, one might say, is elevated to serve as the one in charge of the palace, the vizier of Christ, and as such is to carry on the affairs of his ascended Lord on earth.[9]
John P. Meier
Jesus will give (again, the future) the keys of the Kingdom of heaven to Peter. Coming from verse 18c, we might think of the keys to the gates of Hades, but 19bc indicate a different application. The basic idea seems to be one of the delegated authority. The closest parallel in the Old Testament is found in Isaiah 22:15-25, where Shebna is dismissed from his post as majordomo of King Hezekiah’s palace, and Eliakim is appointed in his place. In Isaiah 22:22, God says of Eliakim: “I shall place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; when he opens no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open.” Peter is thus the vice-gerent or prime minister of Jesus the Messiah in the royal household of the church.[10]
Edward Sri and Curtis Mitch
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven—is an allusion to Isa 22:22. There the prophet announces that “the key of the House of David” will pass from the hands of one royal steward, Sheba, to his successor, Eliakim. Of Eliakim it is said that “when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open.” Peter too will be installed as the chief steward of the kingdom, but his will not be a government position under an earthly head of state. Instead, he is chosen to be the prime minister of the universal Church under the Davidic Messiah. Inasmuch as the office of chief steward in Israel was occupied by a line of successors, it is reasonable to suppose that Peter’s authority is likewise intended for successors. In fact, Isa 22:22 is a text in which the focus is precisely the succession of office from one royal steward to the next.[11]
William F. Albright and C. S. Mann
Isa xxii 15 ff. undoubtedly lies behind this saying. The keys are the symbol of authority, and Roland de Vaux…rightly sees here the same authority as that vested in the vizier, the master of the house, the chamberlain, of the royal household in ancient Israel. Eliakim is described as having the same authority in Isaiah; it was Hilkiah’s position until he was ousted, and Jotham as regent is also described as “over the household” (II Kings xv 5). Significantly, the first Chaldean governor after the deportation of 586 B.C., Gedaliah, is given the same title on his official seal. It is of considerable importance that in other contexts, when the disciplinary affairs of the community are being discussed (cf. xviii 18; John xx23) the symbol of the keys is absent, since the sayings apply in those instances to a wider circle. In John xx 23 the words are used of pardon, and in that context the Greek words luein and kratein derive from a secondary interpretation of Isaiah’s Hebrew.[12]
[1] Oswalt, John N. The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1–39 (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 422). Eerdmans. Kindle Edition.
[2] H. Benedict Green, Matthew, Poet of the Beatitudes (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001), 136.
[3] Craig A. Evans; James A. Sanders, Early Christian Interpretation of the Scriptures of Israel: Investigations and Proposals (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997), 350-351.
[4] Brueggemann, Walter. Isaiah 1-39 (Westminster Bible Companion) (pp. 181-182). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
[6] Leonard Doohan, Matthew: A Gospel for a Divided Community (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1985), 116-117.
[7] Benedict Viviano, Matthew and His World: The Gospel of the Open Jewish Christians: Studies in Biblical Theology, 150.
[8] Walter C. Kaiser Jr.; Peter H. Davids; F. F. Bruce; Manfred T. Brauch, Hard Sayings of the Bible (Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1996), 385.
[9] Hans Wildberger, Isaiah 13-27: A Continental Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997), 402.
[10] John P. Meier, The Vision of Matthew: Christ, Church, and Morality in the First Gospel (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1991), 113.
[11] Mitch, Curtis; Sri, Edward. The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) (p. 209). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
[12] W. F. Albright; C. S. Mann, Matthew (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1986), 196.
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