Matthew 26:73-74

26:73 After ¹  a little while, those standing there came up to Peter and said, “You really are one of them too – even your accent ²  gives you away!” 26:74 At that he began to curse, and he swore with an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment a rooster crowed. ³ 

Luke 22:59-60

22:59 And after about an hour still another insisted, ⁴  “Certainly this man was with him, because he too is a Galilean.” ⁵  22:60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” At that moment, ⁶  while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. ⁷ 

John 18:26-27

18:26 One of the high priest’s slaves, ⁸  a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, ⁹  said, “Did I not see you in the orchard ¹⁰  with him?” ¹¹  18:27 Then Peter denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed. ¹² 

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

² tn Grk “your speech.”

³ tn It seems most likely that this refers to a real rooster crowing, although a number of scholars have suggested that “cockcrow” is a technical term referring to the trumpet call which ended the third watch of the night (from midnight to 3 a.m.). This would then be a reference to the Roman gallicinium (ἀλεκτοροφωνία, alektorofwnia; the term is used in Mark 13:35 and is found in some mss [Ì^37vid,45 ˹] in Matt 26:34) which would have been sounded at 3 a.m.; in this case Jesus would have prophesied a precise time by which the denials would have taken place. For more details see J. H. Bernard, St. John (ICC), 2:604. However, in light of the fact that Mark mentions the rooster crowing twice (Mark 14:72) and in Luke 22:60 the words are reversed (ἐφώνησεν ἀλέκτωρ, efwnhsen alektwr), it is more probable that a real rooster is in view. In any event natural cockcrow would have occurred at approximately 3 a.m. in Palestine at this time of year (March-April) anyway.

⁴ tn Grk “insisted, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated here.

⁵ sn According to Mark 14:70 it was Peter’s accent that gave him away as a Galilean.

⁶ tn Grk “And immediately.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁷ tn A real rooster crowing is probably in view here (rather than the Roman trumpet call known as gallicinium), in part due to the fact that Mark 14:72 mentions the rooster crowing twice. See the discussion at Matt 26:74.

⁸ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

⁹ sn This incident is recounted in v. 10.

¹⁰ tn Or “garden.”

¹¹ tn This question, prefaced with οὐκ (ouk) in Greek, anticipates a positive answer.

¹² tn It seems most likely that this refers to a real rooster crowing, although a number of scholars have suggested that “cockcrow” is a technical term referring to the trumpet call which ended the third watch of the night (from midnight to 3 a.m.). This would then be a reference to the Roman gallicinium (ἀλεκτοροφωνία, alektorofwnia; the term is used in Mark 13:35 and is found in some mss [Ì^37vid,45 ˹] in Matt 26:34) which would have been sounded at 3 a.m.; in this case Jesus would have prophesied a precise time by which the denials would have taken place. For more details see J. H. Bernard, St. John (ICC), 2:604. However, in light of the fact that Mark mentions the rooster crowing twice (Mark 14:72) and in Luke 22:60 the words are reversed (ἐφώνησεν ἀλέκτωρ, efwnhsen alektwr), it is more probable that a real rooster is in view. In any event natural cockcrow would have occurred at approximately 3 a.m. in Palestine at this time of year (March-April) anyway.