Mark 14:30-31

14:30 Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, ¹  today – this very night – before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 14:31 But Peter ²  insisted emphatically, ³  “Even if I must die with you, I will never deny you.” And all of them said the same thing.

Mark 8:34

Following Jesus

8:34 Then ⁴  Jesus ⁵  called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ⁶  he must deny ⁷  himself, take up his cross, ⁸  and follow me.

Mark 14:72

14:72 Immediately a rooster ⁹  crowed a second time. Then ¹⁰  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. ¹¹ 

[14:30]  ¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[14:31]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Peter) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:31]  ³ tn Grk “said emphatically.”

[8:34]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[8:34]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:34]  ⁵ tn Grk “to follow after me.”

[8:34]  ⁶ tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.

[8:34]  ⁷ sn To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.

[14:72]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[14:72]  ⁶ tn Grk “he wept deeply.”