Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Matthew: Chapter 16].
{The gates of Hades} (\pulai h•idou\) {shall not prevail against
it} (\ou katischusousin aut•s\). Each word here creates
difficulty. Hades is technically the unseen world, the Hebrew
Sheol, the land of the departed, that is death. Paul uses
\thanate\ in 1Co 15:55 in quoting Ho 13:14 for \h•id•\. It is
not common in the papyri, but it is common on tombstones in Asia
Minor, "doubtless a survival of its use in the old Greek
religion" (Moulton and Milligan, _Vocabulary_). The ancient
pagans divided Hades (\a\ privative and \idein\, to see, abode of
the unseen) into Elysium and Tartarus as the Jews put both
Abraham's bosom and Gehenna in Sheol or Hades (cf. Lu 16:25).
Christ was in Hades (Ac 2:27,31), not in Gehenna. We have here
the figure of two buildings, the Church of Christ on the Rock,
the House of Death (Hades). "In the Old Testament the 'gates of
Hades' (Sheol) never bears any other meaning (Isa 38:10; Wisd.
16:3; 3Macc. 5:51) than death," McNeile claims. See also Ps
9:13; 107:18; Job 38:17 (\pulai thanatou pul•roi h•idou\). It is
not the picture of Hades _attacking_ Christ's church, but of
death's possible victory over the church. "The \ekkl•sia\ is
built upon the Messiahship of her master, and death, the gates of
Hades, will not prevail against her by keeping Him imprisoned. It
was a mysterious truth, which He will soon tell them in plain
words (verse 21); it is echoed in Ac 2:24,31" (McNeile).
Christ's church will prevail and survive because He will burst
the gates of Hades and come forth conqueror. He will ever live
and be the guarantor of the perpetuity of His people or church.
The verb \katischu•\ (literally have strength against, \ischu•\
from \ischus\ and \kat-\) occurs also in Lu 21:36; 23:23. It
appears in the ancient Greek, the LXX, and in the papyri with the
accusative and is used in the modern Greek with the sense of
gaining the mastery over. The wealth of imagery in Mt 16:18
makes it difficult to decide each detail, but the main point is
clear. The \ekkl•sia\ which consists of those confessing Christ
as Peter has just done will not cease. The gates of Hades or bars
of Sheol will not close down on it. Christ will rise and will
keep his church alive. _Sublime Porte_ used to be the title of
Turkish power in Constantinople.
16:19 {The Keys of the kingdom} (\tas kleidas t•s basileias\).
Here again we have the figure of a building with keys to open
from the outside. The question is raised at once if Jesus does
not here mean the same thing by "kingdom" that he did by "church"
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