Discovery BoxMatthew 26:57-75 
Context26:57 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. 26:59 The 5 chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were trying to find false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 26:60 But they did not find anything, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally 6 two came forward 26:61 and declared, “This man 7 said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” 26:62 So 8 the high priest stood up and said to him, “Have you no answer? What is this that they are testifying against you?” 26:63 But Jesus was silent. The 9 high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, 10 the Son of God.” 26:64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand 11 of the Power 12 and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 13 26:65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and declared, 14 “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Now 15 you have heard the blasphemy! 26:66 What is your verdict?” 16 They 17 answered, “He is guilty and deserves 18 death.” 26:67 Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists. And some slapped him, 26:68 saying, “Prophesy for us, you Christ! 19 Who hit you?” 20
26:69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A 21 slave girl 22 came to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 26:70 But he denied it in front of them all: 23 “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” 26:71 When 24 he went out to the gateway, another slave girl 25 saw him and said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.” 26:72 He denied it again with an oath, “I do not know the man!” 26:73 After 26 a little while, those standing there came up to Peter and said, “You really are one of them too – even your accent 27 gives you away!” 26:74 At that he began to curse, and he swore with an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment a rooster crowed. 28 26:75 Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. 29
1 tn Grk “where.”
2 tn Or “where the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
3 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
4 sn The guards would have been the guards of the chief priests who had accompanied Judas to arrest Jesus.
5 tn Grk “Now the.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
6 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
7 tn Grk “This one.”
8 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the false testimony.
9 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
10 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.
11 sn An allusion to Ps 110:1. This is a claim that Jesus shares authority with God in heaven. Those present may have thought they were his judges, but, in fact, the reverse was true.
12 sn The expression the right hand of the Power is a circumlocution for referring to God. Such indirect references to God were common in 1st century Judaism out of reverence for the divine name.
13 sn An allusion to Dan 7:13 (see also Matt 24:30).
14 tn Grk “the high priest tore his clothes, saying.”
15 tn Grk “Behold now.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
16 tn Grk “What do you think?”
17 tn Grk “answering, they said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
18 tn Grk “he is guilty of death.” L&N 88.313 states, “pertaining to being guilty and thus deserving some particular penalty – ‘guilty and deserving, guilty and punishable by.’ οἱ δὲ ἀποκριθέντες εἶπαν, ᾿Ενοχος θανάτου ἐστίν ‘they answered, He is guilty and deserves death’ Mt 26:66.”
19 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.
20 tn Grk “Who is the one who hit you?”
sn Who hit you? This is a variation of one of three ancient games that involved blindfolds.
21 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
22 tn The Greek term here is παιδίσκη (paidiskh), referring to a slave girl or slave woman.
23 tn Grk “he denied it…saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
24 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
25 tn The words “slave girl” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the feminine singular form ἄλλη (allh).
26 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
27 tn Grk “your speech.”
28 tn It seems most likely that this refers to a real rooster crowing, although a number of scholars have suggested that “cockcrow” is a technical term referring to the trumpet call which ended the third watch of the night (from midnight to 3 a.m.). This would then be a reference to the Roman gallicinium (ἀλεκτοροφωνία, alektorofwnia; the term is used in Mark 13:35 and is found in some
29 sn When Peter went out and wept bitterly it shows he really did not want to fail here and was deeply grieved that he had.
