Matthew 26:57-58

Condemned by the Sanhedrin

26:57 Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, in whose house ¹  the experts in the law ²  and the elders had gathered. 26:58 But Peter was following him from a distance, all the way to the high priest’s courtyard. After ³  going in, he sat with the guards ⁴  to see the outcome.

Matthew 26:71

26:71 When ⁵  he went out to the gateway, another slave girl ⁶  saw him and said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”

Matthew 26:73

26:73 After ⁷  a little while, those standing there came up to Peter and said, “You really are one of them too – even your accent ⁸  gives you away!”

Luke 22:52-54

22:52 Then ⁹  Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, ¹⁰  and the elders who had come out to get him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs like you would against an outlaw? ¹¹  22:53 Day after day when I was with you in the temple courts, ¹²  you did not arrest me. ¹³  But this is your hour, ¹⁴  and that of the power ¹⁵  of darkness!”

Jesus’ Condemnation and Peter’s Denials

22:54 Then ¹⁶  they arrested ¹⁷  Jesus, ¹⁸  led him away, and brought him into the high priest’s house. ¹⁹  But Peter was following at a distance.

Luke 22:56-60

22:56 Then a slave girl, ²⁰  seeing him as he sat in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man was with him too!” 22:57 But Peter ²¹  denied it: “Woman, ²²  I don’t know ²³  him!” 22:58 Then ²⁴  a little later someone else ²⁵  saw him and said, “You are one of them too.” But Peter said, “Man, ²⁶  I am not!” 22:59 And after about an hour still another insisted, ²⁷  “Certainly this man was with him, because he too is a Galilean.” ²⁸  22:60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” At that moment, ²⁹  while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. ³⁰ 

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, ³¹  and brought Peter inside. 18:17 The girl ³²  who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You’re not one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” ³³  He replied, ³⁴  “I am not.”

John 19:26

19:26 So when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, ³⁵  look, here is your son!”

[26:57]  ¹ tn Grk “where.”

[26:57]  ² tn Or “where the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[26:58]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:58]  ⁴ sn The guards would have been the guards of the chief priests who had accompanied Judas to arrest Jesus.

[26:71]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:71]  ⁶ tn The words “slave girl” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the feminine singular form ἄλλη (allh).

[26:73]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:73]  ⁸ tn Grk “your speech.”

[22:52]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:52]  ¹⁰ tn This title, literally “official of the temple” (στρατηγὸς τοῦ ἱεροῦ, strathgo" tou Jierou), referred to the commander of the Jewish soldiers who guarded and maintained order in the Jerusalem temple. Here, since the term is plural, it has been translated “officers of the temple guard” rather than “commanders of the temple guard,” since the idea of a number of commanders might be confusing to the modern English reader.

[22:52]  ¹¹ tn Or “a revolutionary.” This term can refer to one who stirs up rebellion: BDAG 594 s.v. λῃστής 2 has “revolutionary, insurrectionist, guerrilla” citing evidence from Josephus (J. W. 2.13.2-3 [2.253-254]). However, this usage generally postdates Jesus’ time. It does refer to a figure of violence. Luke uses the same term for the highwaymen who attack the traveler in the parable of the good Samaritan (10:30).

[22:53]  ¹² tn Grk “in the temple.”

[22:53]  ¹³ tn Grk “lay hands on me.”

[22:53]  ¹⁴ tn Or “your time.”

[22:53]  ¹⁵ tn Or “authority,” “domain.”

[22:54]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:54]  ¹⁷ tn Or “seized” (L&N 37.109).

[22:54]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:54]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn The Greek term here is παιδίσκη (paidiskh), referring to a slave girl or slave woman.

[22:57]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:58]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tn Here and in v. 60 “Man” is used as a neutral form of address to a stranger.

[22:59]  ²⁷ tn Grk “insisted, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated here.

[22:59]  ²⁸ sn According to Mark 14:70 it was Peter’s accent that gave him away as a Galilean.

[22:60]  ²⁹ tn Grk “And immediately.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:60]  ³⁰ 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.

[18:16]  ³¹ 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]  ³² 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]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ tn Grk “He said.”

[19:26]  ³⁵ sn The term Woman is Jesus’ normal, polite way of addressing women (Matt 15:28, Luke 13:12; John 4:21; 8:10; 19:26; 20:15; see BDAG 208-9 s.v. γυνή 1). But it is unusual for a son to address his mother with this term. The custom in both Hebrew (or Aramaic) and Greek would be for a son to use a qualifying adjective or title. Is there significance in Jesus’ use here? Jesus probably used the term here to help establish Mary and the beloved disciple in a new “mother-son” relationship. Someone would soon need to provide for Mary since Jesus, her oldest son, would no longer be alive. By using this term Jesus distanced himself from Mary so the beloved disciple could take his place as her earthly son (cf. John 2:4). See D. A. Carson, John, 617-18, for discussion about symbolic interpretations of this relationship between Mary and the beloved disciple.