Luke 22:54-60

Jesus’ Condemnation and Peter’s Denials

22:54 Then ¹  they arrested ²  Jesus, ³  led him away, and brought him into the high priest’s house. ⁴  But Peter was following at a distance. 22:55 When they had made a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 22:56 Then a slave girl, ⁵  seeing him as he sat in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man was with him too!” 22:57 But Peter ⁶  denied it: “Woman, ⁷  I don’t know ⁸  him!” 22:58 Then ⁹  a little later someone else ¹⁰  saw him and said, “You are one of them too.” But Peter said, “Man, ¹¹  I am not!” 22:59 And after about an hour still another insisted, ¹²  “Certainly this man was with him, because he too is a Galilean.” ¹³  22:60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” At that moment, ¹⁴  while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. ¹⁵ 

[22:54]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:54]  ² tn Or “seized” (L&N 37.109).

[22:54]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:54]  ⁴ sn Putting all the gospel accounts together, there is a brief encounter with Annas (brought him into the high priest’s house, here and John 18:13, where Annas is named); the meeting led by Caiaphas (Matt 26:57-68 = Mark 14:53-65; and then a Sanhedrin meeting (Matt 27:1; Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66-71). These latter two meetings might be connected and apparently went into the morning.

[22:56]  ⁵ tn The Greek term here is παιδίσκη (paidiskh), referring to a slave girl or slave woman.

[22:57]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:58]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Here and in v. 60 “Man” is used as a neutral form of address to a stranger.

[22:59]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “insisted, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated here.

[22:59]  ¹⁸ sn According to Mark 14:70 it was Peter’s accent that gave him away as a Galilean.

[22:60]  ²¹ tn Grk “And immediately.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:60]  ²² 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.