Luke 22:62

‘And he went out, and wept bitterly.'

Broken at heart he staggered from the courtyard and found a quiet place and there he wept as though his heart would break. He knew that he had betrayed the One Whom he loved more than life itself, and that that would be Jesus' final memory of him. He would find it hard to forgive himself for that.

The story is one of the few told in one way or another in all four Gospels, which brings out how important it was seen to be. For all knew that in the end it was not the story of Peter but the story of God. By the time it was written Peter was one of the most admired men on earth. But he retained his humility to the end. And all knew that one of the reasons why he was able to do so was because of what had happened here. It was all part of God's preparation for his future.

Luke 22:62 is missing in one Greek manuscript and a few versions. But for it to be in all the other Greek manuscripts must indicate that it is original, otherwise it could not possibly have got into them all. The omission was probably a careless copying error, which was then passed on. Compare Matthew 26:75.

Notes. The problem of reporting briefly in few words on the rather complicated behaviour of Peter as a result of his agitation while he was in the courtyard, and the comments that he had to face from people there, comes out in the apparent differences in the accounts. We must after all reckon both on the fact that Peter was on tenterhooks and could not sit still for long, so that to pinpoint where he was at any point in time would be complicated, and on the fact that the conversations and situations are both translations and abbreviations for the sake of the readers. A number of people may well have made a number of comments about him, as well as to him, especially when he spoke in his ‘foreign accent'. Such things happen when people are gathered together with nothing better to do. And they possibly did not really care what he was one way or the other. They may indeed have been secretly amused to think that he was there, rather than vindictive. No writer would want to record them all.

And we should be able to understand Peter's own problem. The fire beckoned because it was chilly, but he found that it drew unwelcome attention to him, while the porch beckoned because it was outside the direct fire light, and would enable a quick escape if there was a move to arrest him, and also because he was constantly not sure whether to stay or go. Furthermore the porch was clearly not far from that particular fire because the girl who watched over the porch could also be found near the fire. Thus being near the fire and by the porch were not all that different.

It is probable therefore that in his agitation and fear Peter nervously went between the two more than once (he would never be one to sit still under stress), and this may possibly well have been what drew the girl's attention to him. At his first denial he was by the fire, but clearly in his embarrassment soon moved to the porch, possibly waiting for what happened next. When the serving girl again pointed him out to her companions a second time he was by the porch so that nothing may have been said to him directly that time, until he returned to the fire and found himself directly challenged. Thus both accusation were responsible for his denial. He was possibly also keen to get away from girl, who would perforce be moving between the two, which might further have kept him on the move. The third incident is given no background. Thus we obtain from all this some idea of his agitated movements. We also gain the impression of some talking about him, and some addressing him directly. This again should not surprise us. Crowds with nothing to do, gathered at night when they would rather be at home enjoying a feast or a sleep, would be only too pleased to have something spicy to talk about in order to pass the time, while to serving girls a companion to a known criminal would be especially exciting. It had probably taken her a great deal of courage to challenge him in the first place. The general comments overheard by him would then arouse his fears, while the comments made to him would then demand an answer. Both could therefore be seen as responsible for his denials. And the content of them would clearly be varied, so that each writer could choose what appealed to him.

With regard to the crowing of the cocks Mark alone refers to this occurring twice. But he probably lived in Jerusalem and recognised the fact of life in Jerusalem that the actual crowing of cocks occurred more than once, possibly because they first echoed over the mountains from outside Jerusalem, before finally affecting Jerusalem itself. Alternately he may have had in mind the regular times during the night when cocks did crow in eastern countries, or of a special crowing that took place because of unusual weather connected with that night. Compare with regard to the weather the hours of darkness that occurred on the following day. The other three, who had little experience of all this, possibly had their minds more on the official cock crow which ended the third watch of the night (Mark 13:35), which would be known to all their readers, and would not want to cause confusion. They wanted cockcrowing to be the focal point of the narrative.

Some have argued that as the cock was seen in the Talmud as ‘unclean' because it scratched in dunghills it would not be found in the High Priest's house at night. But quite apart from the fact that Pilate would certainly have cockerels available while he was in Jerusalem, whose crowing no doubt reached a long way, there are also no grounds for assuming that the Sadducees felt bound by Pharisaic niceties. There was nothing about hens in the Law of Moses (they were probably introduced by the Romans). So the cock could have been either Roman or Jewish.

End of note.