Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said therefore unto him, Art thou also one of his disciples? He denied and said, I am not. One of the servants of the high priest, being a kinsman of him whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? Peter therefore denied again: and straightway the cock crew.

The additional element provided by John in this episode is that of the introduction of an eyewitness of Peter's association with the Lord in the garden. The synoptics mention the Galilean accent; but, in the circumstance of one of Malchus' kinsmen having actually seen him with Jesus, there was hardly any way Peter could deny it. Therefore, he did so with an oath, which has ever been the support of lame propositions. John softened the account of Peter's denial by leaving out any mention of the oath.

This account sheds light on the identity of Peter's questioners, whether "a damsel," another "maid," or "they," as here - all such questions resolve in the fact of a number of questioners, especially the last and unanswerable one in the person of a kinsman of Malchus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself,.... This is repeated from John 18:18 to connect the history, and carry on the thread of the account of Peter's denial of Christ, which is interrupted by inserting the examination of Christ before the high priest, which was made at the same time. Peter stood among, and continued with the servants and officers of the high priest, warming himself by a fire they had made, it being a cold night; and this proved of bad consequence to him. The company and conversation of wicked men should be abstained from; no good is got thereby; continuance among such is very dangerous; men are too often more concerned for their bodies than their souls; Satan baits his temptations for the fleshly and sensitive part; and that which is thought to be for good, is the occasion of hurt.

They said therefore unto him; the servants and officers, among whom he stood warming himself, having observed what the maid had said to him:

art thou not also one of his disciples? suspecting that he was, though he had denied it, and therefore press him to give a direct answer: they might observe his countenance to fall, when the maid put the question to him; there might be something in his dress, and especially in his speech, which increased the suspicion:

but he denied it, and said, I am not; a second time. This denial of his being a disciple of Christ, as before, did not arise from a sense of his unworthiness to be one; nor from diffidence and distrust of a right to such a character; but from the fear of men; and being ashamed of Christ, he denies that which was his great mercy, privilege, and glory.

Geneva Study Bible

⁹ And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also [one] of his disciples? He denied [it], and said, I am not.

(9) After men have once fallen, they cannot only not lift themselves up by their own strength, but also they fall more and more into a worse condition, until they are raised up again by a new power from God.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Art thou not also one of his disciples? — In Matthew 26:71 the second charge was made by “another maid, when he was gone out into the porch,” who “saw him, and said unto them that were there, This [fellow] was also with Jesus of Nazareth.” So also Mark 14:69. But in Luke 22:58 it is said, “After a little while” (from the time of the first denial), “another [man] saw him, and said, Thou art also of them.” Possibly it was thrown at him by more than one; but these circumstantial variations only confirm the truth of the narrative.

He denied it, and said, I am not — in Matthew 26:72, “He denied with an oath, I do not know the man.” This was THE SECOND DENIAL.

Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament

Was standing and warming himself (ην εστως και τερμαινομενος — ēn hestōs kai thermainomenos). Two periphrastic imperfects precisely as in John 18:18, vivid renewal of the picture drawn there. John alone gives the examination of Jesus by Annas (John 18:19-24) which he places between the first and the second denials by Peter. Each of the Four Gospels gives three denials, but it is not possible to make a clear parallel as probably several people joined in each time. This time there was an hour‘s interval (Luke 22:59). The question and answer are almost identical with John 18:17 and “put in a form which almost suggested that Peter should say ‹No‘” (Bernard), a favourite device of the devil in making temptation attractive.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Отрекся. Ужасное оцепенение Петра, который, отрекшись от Учителя, не только не испытывает раскаяния, но и ожесточает себя самой возможностью грешить. Если бы каждый по порядку спросил его, он не усомнился бы тысячу раз отречься. Вот куда бросает сатана несчастных, после того как уводит их с пути. Также надо отметить обстоятельства дела, о которых говорят прочие евангелисты. Петр произнес клятву и засвидетельствовал, что Христос ему неизвестен. Такое и сегодня случается со многими. Вначале падение не слишком тяжко, но затем возникает привычка, и совесть совершенно засыпает. Тот же, кто привык презирать Бога, все считает себе позволительным и решается на любые крайности. Посему, лучше всего постоянно остерегаться, дабы искушаемый сатаной не потакал себе, пока не впал в грех.

 

 

 

John Trapp Complete Commentary

25 And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not.

Ver. 25. He denied it, and said, I am not] Take heed by this example, Patres nos instruunt tum docentes, tum labentes, saith Augustine. Seest thou such as Peter to make shipwreck? Look well to thy tackling. They that will not profess Christ (unless they repent with Peter, which Stephen Gardiner said at his death that he could not) shall be sorted with such in participation of plagues, as through excess of pain and defect of patience, gnaw their own tongues, Revelation 16:10.

Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament

John 18:25. καὶ σὺ) thou also, who art here present, a stranger to us.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Ver. 25-27. This history of Peter’s denial of his Master the second time we have before met with, Matthew 26:71,72 Mr 14:69,70; Luke 22:58,59, with several circumstances not mentioned by John. See Poole on "Matthew 26:69".

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable

Under pressure again, Peter denied for a second time that he was one of Jesus" disciples as the "other disciple" was (cf. Matthew 10:33; Luke 12:9). The person who voiced the question was another girl ( Matthew 26:71; Mark 14:69).

"John has constructed a dramatic contrast wherein Jesus stands up to his questioners and denies nothing, while Peter cowers before his questioners and denies everything." [Note: Brown, 2:842.]

Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament

John 18:25. And Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. The remarkable taking up again in these words of the fact already mentioned in John 18:18 cannot fail to arrest attention. As far as mere history is concerned, the words are unnecessary. Nor does there seem to be any explanation of their presence here but that they are designed to elucidate the idea of the scene about to be described. Peter is no longer only near the door; he is within the court. He is no longer only in the cold; he is warming himself at the charcoal fire. He is no longer only with John; he is along with the servants and officers of the Jews. Everything corresponds to that more determined, that double, denial of our Lord now to be described.

They said therefore unto him, Art thou also one of his disciples? He denied and said, I am not. We are not told who asked the question. The general pronoun ‘they’ is used. In the narratives of the earlier Evangelists we find that, according to Matthew 26:71, this denial was drawn forth by ‘another maid;’ according to Mark 14:69 by ‘the maid,’ probably the maid of the porch; according to Luke 22:58 by ‘another man.’ In John we have what seems the solution of these apparent discrepancies. It was not one person only that thus spoke to Peter. The remark was made by many,—in the excitement of the moment by many at the same time; and Peter (as is even implied in Mark 14:70) repeated his answer to one after another. The ‘they’ thus suggests what was the true course of events. The second denial, as in Matthew 26:72, was in boldness and recklessness an advance upon the first. At John 18:17 only the word ‘saith’ is used; now ‘denied and said.’

The Expositor's Greek Testament

John 18:25 _{resumes the narrative interrupted at} John 18:18-19_{, and resumes by repeating the statement that Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. While he did so the servants and officers,} John 18:18_{, who were round the fire said, ’ “Are you also of His disciples?”}

 

 

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

stood, &c. = was standing, &c., as in John 18:18.

denied. Greek. arneomai. See note on John 13:38. See App-160.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(25) And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself.—Better, And Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. (Comp. John 18:18.) The words are repeated to draw attention to the fact that he was standing in the court at the time when Jesus was sent from Annas unto Caiaphas, that is, from one wing of the quadrangular building across the court to the other. In Luke 22:61 it is said that “the Lord turned and looked upon Peter.”

Art not thou also one of his disciples?—Comp. Note to John 18:17.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not.

stood

18; Mark 14:37,38,67; Luke 22:56

They

Matthew 26:69,71; Mark 14:68-70; Luke 22:58

He

Genesis 18:15; Proverbs 29:25; Galatians 2:11-13

Reciprocal: Matthew 14:30 - when;  Matthew 26:58 - and went;  Mark 14:30 - before;  Mark 14:54 - and he;  Mark 14:69 - and began;  Luke 22:57 - he denied;  John 13:38 - The cock;  John 20:6 - General;  John 21:16 - the second;  Acts 1:13 - Peter;  Acts 7:24 - General

Ernst Hengstenberg on John, Revelation, Ecclesiastes, Ezekiel & Psalms

Ver. 25. "And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself: they said therefore unto him. Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not."

In ver. 17 τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τούτου, here αὐτοῦ, as in ver. 26. Jesus, at the second and third denial, was in the court. The αὐτοῦ points to the Lord as present. The entrance of Jesus into the court probably gave occasion for the renewal of the assault upon Peter. According to St Mark, the initiative was taken again by the same maid who stirred the matter at the first. On the former occasion she had addressed Peter; now, repelled by him, she addresses the bystanders. According to St Mark, "another maid" spoke to those around, "This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth." According to St Luke, "another" spoke to Peter on the matter, "Thou art also of them." St John embraces the various persons introduced by the others in one εἶπον, "they said." Apart from the statements of the Evangelists, it is obvious that, in the midst of the idle circle, whose thoughts naturally were fixed upon the business that laid upon them this disagreeable night's service, one word begat another, and the several scenes were hastily enacted, one being made prominent by one Evangelist, another by another.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

25.He denied it. How shocking the stupidity of Peter, who, after having denied his Master, not only has no feeling of repentance, but hardens himself by the very indulgence he takes in sinning! If each of them in his turn had asked him, he would not have hesitated to deny his Master a thousand times. Such is the manner in which Satan hurries along wretched men, after having degraded them. We must also attend to the circumstance which is related by the other Evangelists, (Matthew 26:74; Mark 14:71,) that he began to curse and to swear, saying, that he did not know Christ. Thus it happens to many persons every day. At first, the fault will not be very great; next, it becomes habitual, and at length, after that conscience has been laid asleep, he who has accustomed himself to despise God will think nothing unlawful for him, but will dare to commit the greatest wickedness. There is nothing better for us, therefore, than to be early on our guard, that he who is tempted by Satan, while he is yet uncorrupted, may not allow himself the smallest indulgence.