John 18:16-17

18:16 But Simon Peter was left standing outside by the door. So the other disciple who was acquainted with the high priest came out and spoke to the slave girl who watched the door, ¹  and brought Peter inside. 18:17 The girl ²  who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You’re not one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” ³  He replied, ⁴  “I am not.”

John 18:25-27

Peter’s Second and Third Denials

18:25 Meanwhile Simon Peter was standing in the courtyard ⁵  warming himself. They said to him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” ⁶  Peter ⁷  denied it: “I am not!” 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 

Matthew 26:34

26:34 Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, ¹³  on this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”

Matthew 26:69-75

Peter’s Denials

26:69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A ¹⁴  slave girl ¹⁵  came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 26:70 But he denied it in front of them all: ¹⁶  “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” 26:71 When ¹⁷  he went out to the gateway, another slave girl ¹⁸  saw him and said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.” 26:72 He denied it again with an oath, “I do not know the man!” 26:73 After ¹⁹  a little while, those standing there came up to Peter and said, “You really are one of them too – even your accent ²⁰  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. ²¹  26:75 Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. ²² 

Mark 14:30

14:30 Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, ²³  today – this very night – before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”

Mark 14:66-72

Peter’s Denials

14:66 Now ²⁴  while Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s slave girls ²⁵  came by. 14:67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked directly at him and said, “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus.” 14:68 But he denied it: ²⁶  “I don’t even understand what you’re talking about!” ²⁷  Then ²⁸  he went out to the gateway, and a rooster crowed. ²⁹  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 ³⁰  one of them, because you are also a Galilean.” 14:71 Then he began to curse, and he swore with an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about!” 14:72 Immediately a rooster ³¹  crowed a second time. Then ³²  Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him: “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept. ³³ 

Luke 22:34

22:34 Jesus replied, ³⁴  “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow ³⁵  today until you have denied ³⁶  three times that you know me.”

Luke 22:56-62

22:56 Then a slave girl, ³⁷  seeing him as he sat in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man was with him too!” 22:57 But Peter ³⁸  denied it: “Woman, ³⁹  I don’t know ⁴⁰  him!” 22:58 Then ⁴¹  a little later someone else ⁴²  saw him and said, “You are one of them too.” But Peter said, “Man, ⁴³  I am not!” 22:59 And after about an hour still another insisted, ⁴⁴  “Certainly this man was with him, because he too is a Galilean.” ⁴⁵  22:60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” At that moment, ⁴⁶  while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. ⁴⁷  22:61 Then ⁴⁸  the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, ⁴⁹  how he had said to him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 22:62 And he went outside and wept bitterly. ⁵⁰ 

[18:16]  ¹ tn Grk “spoke to the doorkeeper”; her description as a slave girl is taken from the following verse. The noun θυρωρός (qurwro") may be either masculine or feminine, but the article here indicates that it is feminine.

[18:17]  ² tn Grk “slave girl.” Since the descriptive term “slave girl” was introduced in the translation in the previous verse, it would be redundant to repeat the full expression here.

[18:17]  ³ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are you?”).

[18:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “He said.”

[18:25]  ⁵ tn The words “in the courtyard” are not in the Greek text. They are supplied for the benefit of the modern reader, to link this scene to the preceding one in John 18:15-18.

[18:25]  ⁶ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are you?”).

[18:25]  ⁷ tn Grk “That one denied it and said”; the referent of the pronoun (Peter) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:26]  ⁸ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

[18:26]  ⁹ sn This incident is recounted in v. 10.

[18:26]  ¹⁰ tn Or “garden.”

[18:26]  ¹¹ tn This question, prefaced with οὐκ (ouk) in Greek, anticipates a positive answer.

[18:27]  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.

[26:34]  ¹³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[26:69]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:69]  ¹⁵ tn The Greek term here is παιδίσκη (paidiskh), referring to a slave girl or slave woman.

[26:70]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he denied it…saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[26:71]  ¹⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:71]  ¹⁸ tn The words “slave girl” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the feminine singular form ἄλλη (allh).

[26:73]  ¹⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:73]  ²⁰ tn Grk “your speech.”

[26:74]  ²¹ 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.

[26:75]  ²² sn When Peter went out and wept bitterly it shows he really did not want to fail here and was deeply grieved that he had.

[14:30]  ²³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[14:66]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[14:66]  ²⁵ tn The Greek term here is παιδίσκη (paidiskh), referring to a slave girl or slave woman.

[14:68]  ²⁶ tn Grk “he denied it, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[14:68]  ²⁷ 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).

[14:68]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[14:68]  ²⁹ 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.

[14:70]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Truly you are.”

[14:72]  ³¹ tn This occurrence of the word ἀλέκτωρ (alektwr, “rooster”) is anarthrous and consequently may not point back explicitly to the rooster which had crowed previously in v. 68. The reason for the anarthrous construction is most likely to indicate generically that some rooster crowed. Further, the translation of ἀλέκτωρ as an indefinite noun retains the subtlety of the Greek in only hinting at the Lord’s prediction v. 30. See also NAB, TEV, NASB.

[14:72]  ³² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[14:72]  ³³ tn Grk “he wept deeply.”

[22:34]  ³⁴ tn Grk “he said”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:34]  ³⁵ sn That is, Peter’s denials will happen before the sun rises.

[22:34]  ³⁶ sn Once again, Jesus is quite aware that Peter will deny him. Peter, however, is too nonchalant about the possibility of stumbling.

[22:56]  ³⁷ tn The Greek term here is παιδίσκη (paidiskh), referring to a slave girl or slave woman.

[22:57]  ³⁸ tn Grk “he denied it, saying.” The referent (Peter) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[22:57]  ³⁹ sn Woman was a polite form of address (see BDAG 208-9 s.v. γυνή), similar to “Madam” or “Ma’am” used in English in different regions.

[22:57]  ⁴⁰ sn The expression “I do not know him” had an idiomatic use in Jewish ban formulas in the synagogue and could mean, “I have nothing to do with him.”

[22:58]  ⁴¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:58]  ⁴² sn In Mark 14:69, the same slave girl made the charge. So apparently Peter was being identified by a variety of people.

[22:58]  ⁴³ tn Here and in v. 60 “Man” is used as a neutral form of address to a stranger.

[22:59]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “insisted, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated here.

[22:59]  ⁴⁵ sn According to Mark 14:70 it was Peter’s accent that gave him away as a Galilean.

[22:60]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “And immediately.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:60]  ⁴⁷ 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.

[22:61]  ⁴⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:61]  ⁴⁹ tn “The word of the Lord” is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; here and in Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said. Because of its technical nature the expression has been retained in the translation in preference to a smoother rendering like “remembered what the Lord had said” (cf. TEV, NLT).

[22:62]  ⁵⁰ sn When Peter went out and wept bitterly it shows he really did not want to fail here and was deeply grieved that he had.