Bar-jona

Bar-jona (meaning son of Jonah or son of John) is the Aramaic patronymic of Simon Peter, used by Jesus in two key passages. In Matthew 16:17, after Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God, Jesus responds: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. The use of the full Aramaic name at this moment of revelation emphasizes the personal and direct nature of the divine disclosure.

In John 1:42, Jesus gives Simon the new name Peter (Cephas) at their first meeting: Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas. The father's name appears as Jonah in Matthew, Jona in John, and John in John 21:15–17 — variations likely representing different Aramaic and Greek forms of the same name. Bar-jona as a designation thus identifies Peter within his family lineage before he received the name by which history knows him.