Caesarea Philippi
A place in the Bible
A city in the north, at the foot of Mount Hermon, by one of the springs of the Jordan River.
What happened here
- Jesus’ question: there Jesus asked his disciples who people said he was.
- Peter: Simon Peter answered that he was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus told him that upon this rock he would build his Church.
Today
Its ruins remain at Banias, in the Golan Heights.
Where it appears in the Bible
Matthew 16:13-15; Matthew 16:16-18
What the Bible says
Matthew 16:13-15
13And Jesus came into the quarters of Cesarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of man is? 14But they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am?
Matthew 16:16-18
16Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. 17And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. 18And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Matthew 16:13-18; Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Caesarea Philippi”