The Fallible Study Bible

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Matthew26:69–75

Peter Denies Jesus

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Matthew 26:69–75 — Peter Denies Jesus. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

69

Meanwhile, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came up to him. “You also were with Jesus the Galilean,” she said.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Ho Petros ekathēto exō en tē aulē kai mia paidiskē prosēlthen autō sy Kai ēstha meta Iēsou tou Galilaiou legousa

Word by word21 · parsed
δὲdeMeanwhileG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὉHoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ΠέτροςPetrosPeterG4074
√ Πέτρος — a (piece of) rock (larger than G3037 (λίθος))NounNominative Masculine Singular
ἐκάθητοekathētowas sittingG2521
√ κάθημαι — and (to sitVerbImperfect Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
kathēmai: to sit down, be seated Imperfect, durative. The posture is the whole indictment before a word is spoken: Peter has taken a seat in the enemy's yard. Henry, on this paragraph, reads exactly this: "Bad company leads to sin: those who needlessly thrust themselves into it, may expect to be tempted and insnared, as Peter." The verb is the quiet opposite of the ἑστῶτες, those standing, in v. 73.
ἔξωexōoutG1854
√ ἔξω — out(-side, of doors), literally or figurativelyAdverb
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῇtētheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
αὐλῇaulēcourtyardG833
√ αὐλή — a yard (as open to the wind)NounDative Feminine Singular
aulē: a yard, open to the wind An open enclosure, not a room. It matters for the geography the commentators fight over (Matthew's ἔξω, Mark's "beneath") and for the exposure: a yard open to the sky has no private corner, so a whispered denial (v. 70, ἔμπροσθεν πάντων) becomes a public one.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
μίαmiaaG1520
√ εἷς — oneAdjectiveNominative Feminine Singular
παιδίσκηpaidiskēservant girlG3814
√ παιδίσκη — a girl, iNounNominative Feminine Singular
paidiskē: a girl, a young female slave A diminutive: the lowest voice in the household. Gill and Pulpit identify her from John 18:16 as the doorkeeper who had let Peter in, which sharpens the irony that the one who admitted him is the one who exposes him. Gill notes the weakness "that he should be intimidated by a servant maid."
προσῆλθενprosēlthencame upG4334
√ προσέρχομαι — to approach, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτῷautōto himG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
σὺsyYouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 2nd Person Singular
ΚαὶKaialsoG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἦσθαēsthawereG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbImperfect Indicative Middle2nd Person Singular
eimi: to be (imperfect, 2nd person) An unusual form. The imperfect makes the accusation biographical rather than incidental: you were, habitually, with this man. The sentence she frames is a true confession of Peter's identity, spoken by an unbeliever; Peter will answer it with a false one.
μετὰmetawithG3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
ἸησοῦIēsouJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
τοῦtoutheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΓαλιλαίουGalilaiouGalileanG1057
√ Γαλιλαῖος — Galilean or belonging to GalileaNounGenitive Masculine Singular
Galilaios: Galilean, of Galilee Placed last for contempt, and it becomes the trap: the same regional mark that she names by sight, the crowd will name by sound in v. 73 (λαλιά). Gill: so she called him "not so much to distinguish him from any other of that name, as by way of reproach." Geography is the thread on which the whole collapse is strung.
λέγουσαlegousashe saidG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Feminine Singular
70

But he denied it before them all: “I do not know what you are talking about.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Ho ērnēsato emprosthen pantōn legōn Ouk oida ti legeis

Word by word10 · parsed
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὉHoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἠρνήσατοērnēsatohe denied [it]G720
√ ἀρνέομαι — to contradict, iVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
arneomai: to contradict, to disavow Aorist middle, a single decisive act. This is the milder of the unit's two denial verbs; the compound ἀπαρνέομαι of Jesus' prophecy (v. 75) is the stronger. Matthew's care in using the simple verb here and at v. 72, and reserving the compound for the Lord's word, means the narrative measures Peter against what was foretold rather than merely reporting it.
ἔμπροσθενemprosthenbeforeG1715
√ ἔμπροσθεν — in front of (in place (literally or figuratively) or time)Preposition
emprosthen: in front of, in the presence of Publicity is the aggravation. Gill: "as it is to a man's commendation to profess a good profession of Christ before many witnesses, so it is to his disgrace, and is resented by Christ, to deny him before men."
πάντωνpantōn[them] allG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveGenitive Masculine Plural
λέγωνlegōnG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
ΟὐκOukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
οἶδαoidaI do not knowG1492
√ εἴδω — used only in certain past tenses, the others being borrowed from the equivalent G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι) and G3708 (ὁράω)VerbPerfect Indicative Active1st Person Singular
eidō: to know, to have perceived (perfect) The perfect claims a settled state of not-knowing. Gill lists what the perfect makes false: Peter "had been with him from the beginning, had heard all his discourses, and seen his miracles," including the mount and the garden. The grammar, not only the theology, is what convicts him.
τίtiwhatG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
λέγειςlegeisyou are talking aboutG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Singular
Present tense, direct address: the evasion is aimed at her words, not at his Lord, which is exactly how it can be spoken so easily.
71

When Peter had gone out to the gateway, another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Exelthonta eis ton pylōna allē eiden auton kai legei tois ekei Houtos ēn meta Iēsou tou Nazōraiou

Word by word18 · parsed
δὲdeWhenG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ἘξελθόνταExelthonta[Peter] had gone outG1831
√ ἐξέρχομαι — to issue (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Participle ActiveAccusative Masculine Singular
exerchomai: to go out, to issue Peter's whole retreat is told with this one verb, used twice in the unit. Here he goes out toward the gate to escape questioning and is caught by it; in v. 75 he goes out for good, and weeps. Barnes sees the irony: "By the very movement to avoid detection, he came into contact with another who knew him."
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
πυλῶναpylōnagatewayG4440
√ πυλών — a gate-way, door-way of a building or cityNounAccusative Masculine Singular
pylōn: a gate-way of a building or city A relatively uncommon word (12 verses). It is the same word that stands in Acts 12:13, where a servant girl comes to the gateway and Peter is on the outside of it, delivered. Here the gateway is his attempted escape and his exposure.
ἄλληallēanother [servant girl]G243
√ ἄλλος — "else," iAdjectiveNominative Feminine Singular
εἶδενeidensawG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτὸνautonhimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
λέγειlegeisaidG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
Historic present: the narrative shifts into live speech at the moment of accusation.
τοῖςtoisto the peopleG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
ἐκεῖekeithereG1563
√ ἐκεῖ — thereAdverb
ΟὗτοςHoutosThis [man]G3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
houtos: this one, this (man) A pointing word, used of a person in the third person while he stands there: contempt by grammar. Note what she confesses while she sneers: ἦν μετὰ Ἰησοῦ, he was with Jesus. The truth about Peter is being spoken correctly by everyone except Peter.
ἦνēnwasG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
μετὰmetawithG3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
ἸησοῦIēsouJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
τοῦtouofG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΝαζωραίουNazōraiouNazarethG3480
√ Ναζωραῖος — a Nazoræan, iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
Nazōraios: a Nazarene, of Nazareth The first maid said "the Galilean," this one "the Nazarene." Pulpit notes that Christ was popularly so known (Matthew 21:11), and Gill that the title "was commonly, if not always used by way of contempt." The very name by which the household mocks him is the name the risen Lord keeps (Acts 22:8) and the name under which Peter will heal (Acts 3:6).
72

And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man!”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai palin ērnēsato meta horkou hoti Ouk oida ton anthrōpon

Word by word10 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πάλινpalinagainG3825
√ πάλιν — (adverbially) anew, iAdverb
Adverb of repetition: the second stage of the fall, in Pulpit's reckoning.
ἠρνήσατοērnēsatohe denied [it]G720
√ ἀρνέομαι — to contradict, iVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
μετὰmetawithG3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
ὅρκουhorkouan oathG3727
√ ὅρκος — perhaps akin to G3725 (ὅριον))NounGenitive Masculine Singular
horkos: an oath, a sworn pledge The oath is the theological center of the verse. Ellicott reads it against Matthew 5:34, where this Lord forbade his disciples to swear at all: the first thing Peter breaks in denying Jesus is a command of Jesus. Under the Law an oath sworn falsely is a profaning of the Name itself (Leviticus 19:12; Exodus 20:7), so Peter's cover story makes him a blasphemer in order to keep him from being called a disciple.
ὅτιhotiG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
Recitative particle, untranslated: the words that follow are quoted, not paraphrased.
ΟὐκOukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
οἶδαoidaI do not knowG1492
√ εἴδω — used only in certain past tenses, the others being borrowed from the equivalent G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι) and G3708 (ὁράω)VerbPerfect Indicative Active1st Person Singular
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ἄνθρωπονanthrōponmanG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounAccusative Masculine Singular
anthrōpos: a man, a human being The word is chosen for distance. Gill refuses the excuse that Peter meant he did not know Christ as mere man: "such an ambiguous expression, and mental reservation, is no other than dealing fallaciously." Gill's counter-list is the point of the note: Peter knew him "as mediator, and the Saviour of lost sinners," and "had had personal intimacy and conversation with him of a long time."
73

After a little while, those standing nearby came up to Peter. “Surely you are one of them,” they said, “for your accent gives you away.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Meta mikron hoi hestōtes proselthontes tō Petrō Alēthōs sy kai ei ex autōn eipon gar kai sou hē lalia poiei se dēlon

Word by word23 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ΜετὰMetaAfterG3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
μικρὸνmikrona little whileG3398
√ μικρός — small (in size, quantity, number or (figuratively) dignity)AdjectiveAccusative Neuter Singular
Accusative of extent of time. Luke measures it at about an hour (Luke 22:59); Gill presses the moral weight of the interval: there was "time to reflect upon what he had been saying, and to guard against another temptation," and he did not use it.
οἱhoithoseG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
ἑστῶτεςhestōtesstanding nearbyG2476
√ ἵστημι — to stand (transitively or intransitively), used in various applications (literally or figuratively)VerbPerfect Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
histēmi: to stand, to take one's stand (perfect) The perfect participle describes a completed act of standing that persists. Those who merely stand around are, in this scene, more upright than the apostle named Rock, and the commentators feel the pressure: Henry ends on "let him, therefore, that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall," and Barnes quotes the same verse. The contrast with Peter's seat in v. 69 is Matthew's, not ours.
προσελθόντεςproselthontescame upG4334
√ προσέρχομαι — to approach, iVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
τῷtōG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
ΠέτρῳPetrōto PeterG4074
√ Πέτρος — a (piece of) rock (larger than G3037 (λίθος))NounDative Masculine Singular
ἈληθῶςAlēthōsSurelyG230
√ ἀληθῶς — trulyAdverb
alēthōs: truly, really Emphatic and first in the clause. The crowd speaks accurate testimony about Peter while Peter speaks false testimony about Christ. Matthew's scene is built on this inversion: every accusation in it (v. 69, v. 71, v. 73) is true.
σὺsyyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 2nd Person Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
εἶeiareG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Singular
ἐξexone ofG1537
√ ἐκ — literal or figurativePreposition
αὐτῶνautōnthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
εἶπονeiponthey saidG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
γὰρgarforG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
λαλιάlaliaaccentG2981
√ λαλιά — talkNounNominative Feminine Singular
lalia: talk, manner of speech A rare noun, in three verses only. In John 4:42 the Samaritans believe no longer because of a woman's λαλιά but because they have heard for themselves; in John 8:43 Jesus asks why his hearers do not understand his λαλιά. Here a man's λαλιά betrays him: the same word covers the speech that reveals Christ and the speech that exposes a coward.
ποιεῖpoieigivesG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
σεseyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Singular
δῆλόνdēlonawayG1212
√ δῆλος — clearAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Singular
dēlos: clear, evident Rare (three verses). The idiom "makes you evident" is the reverse of what Peter is attempting. He can control what he says but not how he says it, and the accent he was born with betrays the discipleship he is disowning. Gill: "not his spiritual speech, for he had not been speaking in the language of a disciple of Christ."
74

At that he began to curse and swear to them, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Tote ērxato katathematizein kai omnyein hoti Ouk oida ton anthrōpon Kai eutheōs alektōr ephōnēsen

Word by word14 · parsed
ΤότεToteAt thatG5119
√ τότε — the when, iAdverb
ἤρξατοērxatohe beganG756
√ ἄρχομαι — to commence (in order of time)VerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
Inceptive aorist with present infinitives: he began, and continued.
καταθεματίζεινkatathematizeinto curseG2653
√ καταναθεματίζω — to imprecateVerbPresent Infinitive Active
katanathematizō: to imprecate, to curse down A word found only here in the New Testament. The curse is self directed: Peter calls down whatever God pleases upon himself if he is lying, which is to say he stakes his own damnation on a falsehood about the only one who can save him. Pulpit charts the gradation: "he first simply asserts; he then asserts with an oath; lastly, he adds curses to his oath."
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὀμνύεινomnyeinswear [to them]G3660
√ ὀμνύω — to swear, iVerbPresent Infinitive Active
omnyō: to swear, to take an oath The second oath in three verses, and the second breach of Matthew 5:34. Benson: "in order to give his lie the better colour, he profaned the name of God by swearing, and wished the bitterest curses on himself." The instrument by which men make their words trustworthy is now the instrument of his lie.
ὅτιhotiG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ΟὐκOukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
οἶδαoidaI do not knowG1492
√ εἴδω — used only in certain past tenses, the others being borrowed from the equivalent G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι) and G3708 (ὁράω)VerbPerfect Indicative Active1st Person Singular
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ἄνθρωπονanthrōponmanG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounAccusative Masculine Singular
ΚαὶKaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
εὐθέωςeutheōsimmediatelyG2112
√ εὐθέως — directly, iAdverb
ἀλέκτωρalektōra roosterG220
√ ἀλέκτωρ — a cock or male fowlNounNominative Masculine Singular
alektōr: a cock, a male fowl A rare word (11 verses), and in every one of them it belongs to this single night: Matthew 26:34 and 26:74 and 26:75, Mark, Luke, John. The New Testament has no other occasion to name this bird. Whatever else it is, ἀλέκτωρ is the vocabulary of one prophecy and its fulfilment.
ἐφώνησενephōnēsencrowedG5455
√ φωνέω — to emit a sound (animal, human or instrumental)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
phōneō: to emit a sound, to call out The verb of calling. Matthew places it against the noise Peter is making: while Peter swears with human speech to unmake his discipleship, an animal's voice speaks the word of Christ back to him. Henry draws the application: "conscience should be to us as the crowing of the cock, to put us in mind of the sins we had forgotten."
75

Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai ho Petros emnēsthē tou rhēmatos Iēsou eirēkotos hoti Prin alektora phōnēsai aparnēsē me tris kai exelthōn exō eklausen pikrōs

Word by word20 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiThenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ΠέτροςPetrosPeterG4074
√ Πέτρος — a (piece of) rock (larger than G3037 (λίθος))NounNominative Masculine Singular
ἐμνήσθηemnēsthērememberedG3403
√ μιμνήσκω — to remind, iVerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
mimnēskō: to remind, to be brought to mind (passive) The passive is the theological pivot of the unit. Peter does not summon the word; the word is brought to him, by a bird and, as Luke 22:61 adds, by a look. Poole insists the look was more than eye contact: "with that look there was a virtue which went from Christ which healed Peter." That is Poole's inference, but the passive verb is Matthew's, and it points the same way: grace acts first.
τοῦtoutheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
ῥήματοςrhēmatosword [that]G4487
√ ῥῆμα — an utterance (individually, collectively or specially),NounGenitive Neuter Singular
rhēma: an utterance, a spoken word Not doctrine in general but one sentence, spoken to one man, at Matthew 26:34. The unit's whole structure turns on it: Peter's three denials are measured against a remembered utterance, and the utterance proves more reliable than the apostle's own vehement promise.
ἸησοῦIēsouJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
εἰρηκότοςeirēkotoshad spokenG2046
√ ἐρέω — an alternate for G2036 (ἔπω) in certain tensesVerbPerfect Participle ActiveGenitive Masculine Singular
ὅτιhotiG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ΠρὶνPrinBeforeG4250
√ πρίν — prior, soonerAdverb
ἀλέκτοραalektora[the] roosterG220
√ ἀλέκτωρ — a cock or male fowlNounAccusative Masculine Singular
φωνῆσαιphōnēsaicrowsG5455
√ φωνέω — to emit a sound (animal, human or instrumental)VerbAorist Infinitive Active
ἀπαρνήσῃaparnēsēyou will denyG533
√ ἀπαρνέομαι — to deny utterly, iVerbFuture Indicative Middle2nd Person Singular
aparneomai: to deny utterly, to disown A rare verb (11 verses), and the compound form. It is the same word Jesus uses of the self that a disciple must disown in order to follow him (Matthew 16:24). Peter, who would not deny himself, denied his Lord instead; the grammar of discipleship was inverted, and the prophecy used the exact verb for it.
μεmeMeG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Singular
τρὶςtristhree timesG5151
√ τρίς — three timesAdverb
καὶkaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐξελθὼνexelthōnhe wentG1831
√ ἐξέρχομαι — to issue (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
ἔξωexōoutsideG1854
√ ἔξω — out(-side, of doors), literally or figurativelyAdverb
exō: outside, out of doors The unit's first word about Peter's position (v. 69, sitting ἔξω) is also its last movement (going ἔξω). He began outside by choice, to watch at a safe distance; he ends outside in grief, and Gill reads the second exit as the beginning of health: he went out "to leave the company he had got into."
ἔκλαυσενeklausen[and] weptG2799
√ κλαίω — to sob, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
πικρῶςpikrōsbitterlyG4090
√ πικρῶς — bitterly, iAdverb
pikrōs: bitterly The adverb is what distinguishes this from Judas' remorse (Matthew 27:3-5), in the reading Henry and Gill share: "sorrow for sin must not be slight, but great and deep," and Gill notes that this repentance "was not like Cain's, nor Esau's, nor Judas's; it was not the repentance of one in despair." The text itself reports only tears; the distinction between the two men's sorrow is drawn from what each subsequently did.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The man who sat down — 26:69-70

Matthew opens with a posture, not an action: ἐκάθητο (imperfect), Peter settled in the αὐλή, which Ellicott insists is not a "palace" at all but "the court-yard or quadrangle round which a house was built," and which Cambridge describes as "a central court open to the sky." Strong's gives the root as a yard open to the wind, and that is the scene: no roof, no corner, every word audible. Barnes and Gill labour to reconcile Matthew's ἔξω with Mark's "beneath," Benson quoting Macknight at length for a single hall with judges at one end and servants at the other; we take no side, and note only that all of them agree Peter was inside the household of Christ's enemies and outside the room where Christ stood. Henry's reading is the one the Greek posture invites: "Bad company leads to sin: those who needlessly thrust themselves into it, may expect to be tempted and insnared, as Peter." The accusation, when it comes, is grammatically exact. She says ἦσθα, an imperfect: you used to be with him, habitually. Gill sees that this is a charge about identity and not about geography, "that he was a disciple of his, one that believed in him." Peter's answer is the aorist ἠρνήσατο, and it takes no object in the Greek: he did not deny a fact, he denied. Pulpit judges the denial "gratuitous and unnecessary"; Barnes, less generous and more precise, calls it "palpable falsehood." Poole adds the detail that decides the aggravation: "He denied before them all; so loud that all heard it," which is what ἔμπροσθεν πάντων says.

ii. The oath, then the curse — 26:71-74

The second and third assaults escalate, and Matthew marks the escalation by loading the same verb rather than replacing it: ἠρνήσατο again in v. 72, now μετὰ ὅρκου. Ellicott states the cost plainly, that "the downward step once taken" made the fall "fatally rapid," and that Peter, "forgetful of his Lord's command forbidding any use of oaths in common speech (Matthew 5:34), he did not shrink from invoking the divine name." Gill will not permit the pious escape that Peter meant something subtle by "I do not know the man": "such an ambiguous expression, and mental reservation, is no other than dealing fallaciously," and he lists the knowledge Peter is perjuring away, that he knew him "as mediator, and the Saviour of lost sinners." Pulpit hears the distancing article: "He calls his beloved Master the man!" Then the crowd, and a sourced philological detail worth its weight. They say his λαλιά makes him δῆλόν, and both words are rare (three verses each). Cambridge explains that "the Galilæans were unable to pronounce the gutturals distinctly, and they lisped," Ellicott that the patois thickened under excitement, and Gill supplies the Talmudic report of the men of Galilee who confounded Chamor, Chamar, Hamar and Immar; he compares the Ephraimites and Shibboleth (Judges 12:6). Pulpit adds a shrewder possibility: the λαλιά exposed him because "if Peter had not talked, he might have escaped further notice." The third denial breaks into καταθεματίζειν, a verb found nowhere else in the New Testament, and every voice here agrees the curse falls on Peter himself, not on Jesus. Gill: "he cursed himself; he began to imprecate himself"; the Geneva note, in four words, "He swore and cursed himself"; Ellicott reconstructs a stock formula of execration. Pulpit's ladder is the fairest summary of vv. 70 to 74: "he first simply asserts; he then asserts with an oath; lastly, he adds curses to his oath."

iii. A voice in the dark, and the word remembered — 26:74-75

Matthew's Greek is quieter than the English at the decisive moment. There is no article: Ellicott, "the Greek has no article; a cock crew," some bird, unappointed. The verb is ἐφώνησεν, whose root sense Strong's gives as to emit a sound, the ordinary verb for calling out to someone, and it is the same verb as the φωνῆσαι inside the remembered prophecy. Then the hinge: ἐμνήσθη, aorist passive. He was reminded. Benson credits the bird, "the crowing of the cock reminding him of them," and adds what Matthew does not record and Luke does, that Christ "turning about, fixed his eyes on his cowardly disciple." Poole builds his whole exposition on that look and on its asymmetry: "He looked only upon the face of Judas, but he looked upon the heart of Peter, as well as upon his face." Barnes records the same harmonization and its moral, and Pulpit notes that the Lord, "amid all his own sufferings and sorrows," had not forgotten Peter. We flag the move: the look is Luke's, brought here by the commentators, and it is Matthew who wrote the passive verb that says the same thing more soberly, that something was done to Peter's memory from outside it. What he remembered was a ῥῆμα, one utterance, quoted in the verse, and it used the compound ἀπαρνήσῃ, deny utterly, the full measure Peter had by then reached. He goes ἔξω, the word that first described where he chose to sit, and weeps πικρῶς. Henry's sentence is the one the whole unit earns: "Peter, who wept so bitterly for denying Christ, never denied him again, but confessed him often in the face of danger."

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested. Notice who tells the truth in this courtyard. The doorkeeper says Peter was with Jesus, and she is right. The second maid says this one was with Jesus the Nazarene, and she is right. The bystanders say Ἀληθῶς, truly, you are one of them, and they are right, and the Greek adverb they use is the one the centurion will use at the cross. Three accusations, all accurate; three denials, all false. The only person in the scene lying is the apostle, and the only witness he can silence is himself. That is what makes this more than a story about cowardice. Peter is not being asked to defend a doctrine; he is being handed, three times, a correct statement of who he is, and three times he refuses it. So the fall is not first a failure of courage but a refusal of a true word about himself, and the repair, when it comes, is a true word about himself returning from outside: he was reminded (ἐμνήσθη, passive) of a ῥῆμα that had already described this night more accurately than his own promises had. Two speech acts run against each other through the unit. Peter's words get louder and emptier: a shrug, then an oath, then a curse laid on his own head, until he has staked his damnation on a lie. Christ's one sentence, spoken hours earlier, never raises its voice and simply turns out to be true, down to the compound verb ἀπαρνήσῃ that Peter's escalation eventually fulfils. Between them stands an animal with no article in front of it, giving voice in the dark. The house had the high priest, the council, the witnesses and the fire; the word of Christ had a bird. It was enough. We do not claim more than the text gives: Matthew records tears, not pardon, and the restoration lies outside this unit (John 21). But the grammar of v. 75 is honest about the direction of rescue. The man did not remember; the man was reminded. Anyone who has broken a promise to God in public can take the passive voice as the good news of this passage.

Three strangers told Peter the truth about himself, and he swore against all three. (This line is the tool's own synthesis, not a verse of Scripture.)

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The remembered utterance: Matthew 26:34 spoken back by a bird verbal / quotation: confirmed

Verse 75 quotes the Lord's own sentence from earlier in the same chapter, and the quotation is verbal in the strict sense: ἀλέκτωρ (G220), φωνέω (G5455) and the compound ἀπαρνέομαι (G533) all recur from Matthew 26:34, with Mark 14:30 carrying the same three. Two of the three are rare: ἀλέκτωρ stands in 11 verses and ἀπαρνέομαι in 11, and every occurrence of ἀλέκτωρ in the New Testament belongs to this one night. Poole notes the fulfilment explicitly, "all in an exact fulfilling of what Christ had told Peter, Matthew 26:34, though he was then difficult to believe it." The Verifier records the shared lexemes; the quotation is Matthew's own, marked with recitative ὅτι.

Matthew 26:34 · Mark 14:30

basis: Verifier: shared rare Greek lexemes G220 ἀλέκτωρ (in 11 vv) and G533 ἀπαρνέομαι (in 11 vv), plus G5455 φωνέω (in 39 vv); Matthew 26:75 quotes Matthew 26:34 directly, introduced by recitative ὅτι. Greek to Greek, within the same Gospel and its Marcan parallel.

The same tears in three Gospels: going out and weeping structural / thematic: confirmed

Luke 22:61-62 and Mark 14:72 narrate this same close, and the Verifier records the overlap with Luke 22:62 in ἐξέρχομαι (G1831), ἔξω (G1854) and κλαίω (G2799), and with Luke 22:61 and Mark 14:72 in Πέτρος and ἀλέκτωρ. The lexemes are common, so no quotation is being claimed: these are independent accounts of one event. Cambridge treats the small disagreements as evidence rather than embarrassment: the accounts "differ slightly, and exactly in such a way as the evidence of honest witnesses might be expected to differ," and "discrepancies of this kind form the strongest argument for the independence of the different gospels." Luke alone supplies the look of Jesus, which Matthew does not have and which most of our commentators import.

Luke 22:61 · Luke 22:62 · Mark 14:72

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G1831 ἐξέρχομαι (in 212 vv), G1854 ἔξω (in 62 vv), G2799 κλαίω (in 34 vv) with Luke 22:62, and G4074 Πέτρος (in 150 vv) with G220 ἀλέκτωρ (in 11 vv) with Luke 22:61 and Mark 14:72. All common except ἀλέκτωρ; parallel narration of one event, not quotation, so the tier stays structural.

The snare of the fear of man structural / thematic: confirmed

Proverbs 29:25 names the mechanism this narrative demonstrates: dread of a human face becomes a trap, while trust in the LORD is safety. The connection is not lexical and cannot be, since the Matthew text is Greek and Proverbs is Hebrew. It is the commentators, not the Verifier, who make it: Gill says the denial arose "from the fear of man, which brought this snare upon him," using the proverb's own image of the snare, and Benson generalizes, "thus through the mere fear of man, a principle from which have sprung many denials of Christ and his truth in different ages." Ellicott dissents in part, arguing that shame was at least as strong a motive as fear.

Proverbs 29:25

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so shared Strong's numbers are impossible and no verbal link is claimed. The recorded basis is a shared motif, the fear of a human face as a snare, made explicit by Gill ("the fear of man, which brought this snare upon him") and Benson. Confirmed as a thematic link only.

Swearing falsely by the Name: the law Peter breaks to hide structural / thematic: confirmed

To cover a lie Peter reaches for an oath (v. 72) and then for a self curse (v. 74). Under the Law a false oath is not a secondary offence but a profaning of the Name itself (Leviticus 19:12), and the third commandment forbids taking that Name in vain (Exodus 20:7). Ellicott reaches instead for the Lord's own prohibition, that Peter was "forgetful of his Lord's command forbidding any use of oaths in common speech (Matthew 5:34)"; Benson says he "profaned the name of God by swearing, and wished the bitterest curses on himself." So the man denying Christ does it by misusing the very Name Christ bears. No quotation is involved and the link crosses the Testaments, so it is tiered thematic.

Leviticus 19:12 · Exodus 20:7 · Matthew 5:34

basis: Cross-Testament for the two Old Testament refs (Greek to Hebrew), so no shared Strong's basis exists and no verbal tier is possible. Basis: the shared legal pattern of false swearing as profanation of the divine Name, with Ellicott and Benson naming the oath and the self curse as exactly that. Matthew 5:34 is a within-Gospel thematic link, also not a quotation.

A rare word for speech that exposes and reveals structural / thematic: confirmed

λαλιά (G2981) occurs in only three verses of the New Testament, and the Verifier surfaces both of the others. In John 4:42 the Samaritans say they no longer believe because of the woman's λαλιά, having heard for themselves; in John 8:43 Jesus asks why his hearers cannot hear his λαλιά. In Matthew 26:73 a man's λαλιά betrays the discipleship he is denying. The same rare noun thus covers speech that leads to Christ, speech that comes from Christ, and speech that gives away a follower of Christ against his will. The link is genuinely lexical and rare, but nothing is quoted, so it stays structural.

John 4:42 · John 8:43

basis: Verifier: shared rare Greek lexeme G2981 λαλιά (in 3 vv), Greek to Greek. A real verbal link inside a shared motif of revealing speech, not a quotation, so the tier is structural rather than verbal.

Peter at a gateway, and a servant girl, a second time structural / thematic: confirmed

The Verifier pairs this unit with Acts 12:13, where Peter, delivered from prison, knocks at the πυλών and a παιδίσκη comes (προσέρχομαι) to answer. The three shared lexemes are exactly the furniture of Matthew 26:69 and 26:71: a gateway, a servant girl, and someone coming up. In the Gospel the gateway is where Peter is exposed and a servant girl's voice undoes him; in Acts the gateway is where he stands free and a servant girl's voice announces him. We claim no authorial intent here, only the pattern the shared vocabulary records.

Acts 12:13

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3814 παιδίσκη (in 12 vv), G4440 πυλών (in 12 vv) and G4334 προσέρχομαι (in 85 vv), Greek to Greek. Moderately uncommon but no quotation and no claim of deliberate allusion, so structural only.

A broken and contrite heart: the sacrifice left when an apostle has nothing typological

Psalm 51:17 sets out what God does not despise when a believer has forfeited every other offering, and the Psalm is David's after a sin far more deliberate than Peter's. Poole makes the comparison directly: "David lay longer than Peter under the guilt of his sin, but both of them wept bitterly." Read figurally, Peter's πικρῶς in the dark outside the high priest's house is the New Testament instance of the Psalm's broken and contrite heart, and Gill's distinction between this sorrow and Judas' despair is drawn on the same pattern. This is a figural reading, and we mark it as such: it is a widely held Christian way of reading Psalm 51 with the Gospel penitents, but it is not stated by Matthew, and no lexical link exists across the Testaments.

Psalm 51:17 · 2 Corinthians 7:10

basis: Figural, ancient and widely held: Psalm 51 read as the pattern of evangelical repentance, with Peter's bitter weeping as its Gospel instance. Cross-Testament for the Psalm (Greek to Hebrew), so no shared Strong's basis exists and no verbal claim is made. Poole supplies the David and Peter comparison; Gill supplies the distinction from Judas' remorse. Matthew records only the tears.

How many crowings, and were there cocks in Jerusalem flagged: verify source

Matthew, Luke and John have one cock crow; Mark has two, with a first crow at the first denial (Mark 14:68) and the second here (Mark 14:72), and a prophecy at Mark 14:30 that specifies twice. Barnes, Poole and Pulpit all harmonize by treating Matthew's crow as Mark's second, and the manuscript tradition of the Marcan clauses is itself disputed. Gill raises a second uncertainty and cannot resolve it: he cites a Jewish canon that "they do not bring up cocks in Jerusalem, because of the holy things," then admits "whether this canon was then in being, or how it was dispensed with, or whether there was any particular providence in the cock being here now, and so nigh the high priest's palace, is not certain." We record both problems as open. Nothing in the unit's reading depends on settling either, but the harmonization is an interpretive act and the rabbinic citation is a report we have not verified.

Mark 14:30 · Mark 14:68 · Mark 14:72

basis: Verifier records shared G220 ἀλέκτωρ (in 11 vv) and G5455 φωνέω (in 39 vv) with Mark 14:30, a real Greek to Greek link. Flagged because the number of crowings differs between Matthew and Mark, the relevant Marcan clauses are textually contested, the standard harmonization (Matthew's crow equals Mark's second) is an inference by Barnes, Poole and Pulpit rather than a datum, and Gill's supporting rabbinic canon on cocks in Jerusalem is a citation whose applicability he himself calls uncertain.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The faithful witness confessing while his apostle denies ancient/widely-held

⚙ Matthew has arranged the two scenes to be read together. In the chamber, under oath put to him by the high priest, Jesus does not deny; in the yard, unthreatened by anyone with authority, Peter denies three times and finally swears. The same household, the same hour, two men asked who Jesus is. Gill opens his note on v. 69 with this juxtaposition: the spitting and the blows "did not give him so much pain and grief, as to be denied by his own disciple." The apostolic writings name what Matthew stages: Christ is the one who made the good confession before the governing power (1 Timothy 6:13) and the faithful witness (Revelation 1:5). This is not a novel reading; it is the plain shape of the chapter, and the commentators assume it throughout.

Matthew 26:63-64 · 1 Timothy 6:13 · Revelation 1:5

The look that heals, and the prayer that held ancient/widely-held

⚙ Matthew writes the passive: Peter was reminded (ἐμνήσθη). Luke supplies the agent the other Gospels leave implicit, that the Lord turned and looked at Peter (Luke 22:61), and the tradition our voices represent reads that look as effective and not merely sad. Poole: "more must be understood by this look of Christ upon him than the mere cast of Christ's bodily eye," and he presses the contrast with Judas, "He looked only upon the face of Judas, but he looked upon the heart of Peter." Pulpit adds, "Christ had prayed for him, and the effect of that prayer was now felt," pointing to Luke 22:32, where Jesus had already told Peter that he had prayed for him and commissioned him to strengthen his brothers after turning back. The restoration itself lies outside this unit (John 21:15-17), and Matthew reports only tears. But the grammar of v. 75 and the prayer of Luke 22:32 both say that the initiative in Peter's recovery was Christ's.

Luke 22:61 · Luke 22:32 · John 21:15-17

Denied, and still not denying novel

⚙ A reading we offer as our own, to be tested. Peter's refusals in vv. 70 and 72 use the simple verb ἀρνέομαι (G720), and that is the verb standing in 2 Timothy 2:12-13: if we deny him he will deny us, yet if we are faithless he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. The compound ἀπαρνέομαι (G533) belongs to the Lord's prophecy in v. 75 and to the self denial required of a disciple (Matthew 16:24); we do not claim Paul has this scene in view. Peter stands exactly on that seam. He has denied, in the strongest form of the verb, and the sentence of 2 Timothy 2:12 should fall on him; what actually happens is that the word of Christ comes back to him and he weeps, because Christ had already prayed for him and said that he would turn (Luke 22:32). Ellicott notices a related honesty and draws it to the same end: "the fact that the record of his fall appears in every Gospel" suggests Peter himself did not hide it, but "sought rather that men might find in him ... a proof of the mercy and tender pity of his Lord" (at the ellipsis Ellicott cites 1 Timothy 1:12-16 in a parenthesis we have elided). We mark this reading novel in its particular framing, since no voice in our brief argues it from the verbs; the mercy it describes is not novel at all.

2 Timothy 2:12-13 · Luke 22:32 · Matthew 16:24

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text and sources. The English base is the Berean Standard Bible (CC0); the interlinear surfaces, transliterations, glosses, Strong's numbers and parses are the Berean interlinear as supplied in this unit's brief, and every Greek form cited above is taken from it. The lexical glosses are Strong's, which are terse and sometimes truncated in the source (G220, G444, G3727 and others arrive mid-phrase in the brief's lexicon); where a gloss was clipped we have used only what the brief actually gives. Frequency counts ("in N vv") and all cross-reference bases are the Verifier's computed output, not our estimates.

Voices. Nine of the ten commentators in the brief are quoted here: Ellicott, Benson, Henry, Barnes, Poole, Gill, Geneva, Cambridge and Pulpit. JFB is not quoted, because the JFB entry for every verse in this unit contains no exposition at all: it is a heading that refers the reader to the commentary on Mark 14:53-72, which is outside this unit's brief. Matthew Henry's entry is a single block covering 26:69-75 and is identical under each verse, so it is cited once, at v. 75. The Benson entry at v. 69 and the Benson and Barnes entries at v. 75 are capped in the brief; we quoted only from the visible portion and did not draw on the unseen remainder.

What is uncertain. First, the harmonization of the denials. Ellicott sets out three distinct occasions with sub-incidents across all four Gospels; Pulpit argues Matthew "groups them all together in one view without special regard to time and place" and that Peter did not deny in three single utterances but on three occasions in many words; Benson quotes Macknight for a single hall rather than a court and porch, against Barnes and Cambridge who keep the court and the gateway distinct. We have not adjudicated between them and have flagged where a commentator's reconstruction, rather than Matthew's text, is doing the work. Second, the look of Jesus (Luke 22:61) is absent from Matthew, yet Ellicott, Benson, Barnes, Poole and Pulpit all build on it here; we mark each such use as harmonization. Third, the number of cock crows and Gill's rabbinic canon about cocks in Jerusalem are both unresolved, and are carried in a thread tiered flagged rather than asserted. Fourth, the descriptions of the Galilean dialect offered by Cambridge, Ellicott, Pulpit and Gill rest on later rabbinic report (Gill cites Erubin); they are plausible and mutually consistent, but they are not first century documentation, and the Greek word λαλιά itself means only "manner of speech," not specifically "accent."

Claims we have deliberately not made. Matthew 26:75 records that Peter wept bitterly; it does not record his forgiveness. Gill's judgment that the repentance "was not like Cain's, nor Esau's, nor Judas's," Henry's that he "never denied him again," and our own Christ-section readings all depend on later Scripture, and are presented as such. No thread pairing this Greek text with a Hebrew text is tiered verbal, because shared Strong's numbers cannot exist across the Testaments; the Proverbs, Leviticus, Exodus and Psalm links are tiered thematic or typological with the reason stated in each basis. This unit contains no formal Old Testament quotation.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)