Yohanes 13:38

13:38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? ¹  I tell you the solemn truth, ²  the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times!

Matius 26:34

26:34 Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, ³  on this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”

Matius 26:74-75

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. ⁴  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. ⁵ 

Markus 14:30

14:30 Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, ⁶  today – this very night – before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”

Markus 14:68

14:68 But he denied it: ⁷  “I don’t even understand what you’re talking about!” ⁸  Then ⁹  he went out to the gateway, and a rooster crowed. ¹⁰ 

Markus 14:71-72

14:71 Then he began to curse, and he swore with an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about!” 14:72 Immediately a rooster ¹¹  crowed a second time. Then ¹²  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. ¹³ 

Lukas 22:34

22:34 Jesus replied, ¹⁴  “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow ¹⁵  today until you have denied ¹⁶  three times that you know me.”

Lukas 22:60-62

22:60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” At that moment, ¹⁷  while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. ¹⁸  22:61 Then ¹⁹  the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, ²⁰  how he had said to him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 22:62 And he went outside and wept bitterly. ²¹ 

[13:38]  ¹ tn Or “Will you die willingly for me?”

[13:38]  ² tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[26:34]  ³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[26:74]  ⁴ 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 mss [Ì^37vid,45 ˹] in Matt 26:34) which would have been sounded at 3 a.m.; in this case Jesus would have prophesied a precise time by which the denials would have taken place. For more details see J. H. Bernard, St. John (ICC), 2:604. However, in light of the fact that Mark mentions the rooster crowing twice (Mark 14:72) and in Luke 22:60 the words are reversed (ἐφώνησεν ἀλέκτωρ, efwnhsen alektwr), it is more probable that a real rooster is in view. In any event natural cockcrow would have occurred at approximately 3 a.m. in Palestine at this time of year (March-April) anyway.

[26:75]  ⁵ 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.

[14:30]  ⁶ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[14:68]  ⁷ tn Grk “he denied it, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[14:68]  ⁸ tn Grk “I do not know or understand what you are saying.” In the translation this is taken as a hendiadys (a figure of speech where two terms express a single meaning, usually for emphatic reasons).

[14:68]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[14:68]  ¹⁰ tc Several important witnesses (א B L W Ψ* 579 892 2427 pc) lack the words “and a rooster crowed.” The fact that such good and early Alexandrian witnesses lack these words makes this textual problem difficult to decide, especially because the words receive support from other witnesses, some of which are fairly decent (A C D Θ Ψ^c 067 Ë^1,13 33 [1424] Ï lat). The omission could have been intentional on the part of some Alexandrian scribes who wished to bring this text in line with the other Gospel accounts that only mention a rooster crowing once (Matt 26:74; Luke 22:60; John 18:27). The insertion could be an attempt to make the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy in 14:30 more explicit. Internally, the words “and a rooster crowed” fit Mark’s Gospel here, not only in view of 14:30, “before a rooster crows twice,” but also in view of the mention of “a second time” in 14:71 (a reading which is much more textually secure). Nevertheless, a decision is difficult.

[14:68]  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 mentions the rooster crowing twice. See the discussion at Matt 26:74.

[14:72]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[14:72]  ¹³ tn Grk “he wept deeply.”

[22:34]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he said”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:34]  ¹⁵ sn That is, Peter’s denials will happen before the sun rises.

[22:34]  ¹⁶ sn Once again, Jesus is quite aware that Peter will deny him. Peter, however, is too nonchalant about the possibility of stumbling.

[22:60]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And immediately.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:60]  ¹⁸ 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.

[22:61]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:61]  ²⁰ tn “The word of the Lord” is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; here and in Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said. Because of its technical nature the expression has been retained in the translation in preference to a smoother rendering like “remembered what the Lord had said” (cf. TEV, NLT).

[22:62]  ²¹ 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.