Matthew 26:69

Peter’s Denials

26:69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A ¹  slave girl ²  came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.”

Matthew 26:71

26:71 When ³  he went out to the gateway, another slave girl ⁴  saw him and said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”

Mark 14:68-70

14:68 But he denied it: ⁵  “I don’t even understand what you’re talking about!” ⁶  Then ⁷  he went out to the gateway, and a rooster crowed. ⁸  14:69 When the slave girl saw him, she began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 14:70 But he denied it again. A short time later the bystanders again said to Peter, “You must be ⁹  one of them, because you are also a Galilean.”

Luke 22:58

22:58 Then ¹⁰  a little later someone else ¹¹  saw him and said, “You are one of them too.” But Peter said, “Man, ¹²  I am not!”

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

² tn The Greek term here is παιδίσκη (paidiskh), referring to a slave girl or slave woman.

³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁴ tn The words “slave girl” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the feminine singular form ἄλλη (allh).

⁵ tn Grk “he denied it, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

⁶ tn Grk “I do not know or understand what you are saying.” In the translation this is taken as a hendiadys (a figure of speech where two terms express a single meaning, usually for emphatic reasons).

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁸ tc Several important witnesses (א B L W Ψ* 579 892 2427 pc) lack the words “and a rooster crowed.” The fact that such good and early Alexandrian witnesses lack these words makes this textual problem difficult to decide, especially because the words receive support from other witnesses, some of which are fairly decent (A C D Θ Ψ^c 067 Ë^1,13 33 [1424] Ï lat). The omission could have been intentional on the part of some Alexandrian scribes who wished to bring this text in line with the other Gospel accounts that only mention a rooster crowing once (Matt 26:74; Luke 22:60; John 18:27). The insertion could be an attempt to make the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy in 14:30 more explicit. Internally, the words “and a rooster crowed” fit Mark’s Gospel here, not only in view of 14:30, “before a rooster crows twice,” but also in view of the mention of “a second time” in 14:71 (a reading which is much more textually secure). Nevertheless, a decision is difficult.

⁹ tn Grk “Truly you are.”

¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹¹ sn In Mark 14:69, the same slave girl made the charge. So apparently Peter was being identified by a variety of people.

¹² tn Here and in v. 60 “Man” is used as a neutral form of address to a stranger.