Luke 22:55-60

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, 1  seeing him as he sat in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man was with him too!” 22:57 But Peter 2  denied it: “Woman, 3  I don’t know 4  him!” 22:58 Then 5  a little later someone else 6  saw him and said, “You are one of them too.” But Peter said, “Man, 7  I am not!” 22:59 And after about an hour still another insisted, 8  “Certainly this man was with him, because he too is a Galilean.” 9  22:60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” At that moment, 10  while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 11 

1 tn The Greek term here is παιδίσκη (paidiskh), referring to a slave girl or slave woman.

2 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.

3 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.

4 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.”

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

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

7 tn Here and in v. 60 “Man” is used as a neutral form of address to a stranger.

8 tn Grk “insisted, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated here.

9 sn According to Mark 14:70 it was Peter’s accent that gave him away as a Galilean.

10 tn Grk “And immediately.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

11 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.