Mark

14:53-72

Entering the Promised Land, 11:1-16:20

4. Victory,14:1-15:39

iv] Peter's denial

Having arrested Jesus, he is brought before an informal meeting of the Sanhedrin in the palace of the high priest. Peter follows at a distance, and enters the courtyard, and sits beside the fire with some of the arresting officers.

Inside the palace, Jesus is facing interrogation, subject to the testimony of false witnesses with regard to the desecration of the temple. The problem facing the authorities is that there is little agreement between the witnesses. Frustrated by the proceedings, the high priest tries to get Jesus to incriminate himself, as to his messianic credentials. Jesus is quite happy to comply, given the fact that he has openly revealed himself in the temple since arriving in Jerusalem. A messianic word on the coming of the Son of Man is enough for the high priest and his friends, and so they condemn Jesus to death. The guards then set about assaulting him.

Meanwhile, Peter, still warming himself by the fire in the courtyard, is confronted by a servant who suggests that he was "with the Nazarene." Peter denies the suggestion and moves to the entrance of the palace, but again she tells those standing at the entrance that Peter is "one of them." Peter again denies the claim. A little later, those standing around, again call Peter out; "Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean" - his rough dialect has given him away. With curses, Peter swears that he isn't with Jesus. At that moment the cock crows a second time and Peter melts in tears.

Unlike the sinners he comes to save, the testimony of the Son of Man does not falter in the face of suffering.

i] Context: See 14:1-11.

ii] Background: The trial of Jesus. Jesus' trial falls into two parts, ecclesiastical and civil. There are two parts to the ecclesiastical trial:

The first ecclesiastical trial is an informal, and probably illegal, meeting of representatives of the Sanhedrin gathered in the palace of the high priest. Probably still the residence of Annas, the former high priest, recognised as such by many of the people, but not the Roman authorities. Caiaphas, the official high priest, is also obviously present, and both probably lead the questioning of Jesus. For it to be a formal meeting of the Sanhedrin, it would need to meet between sunrise and sunset, but this meeting was in the middle of the night. There is also an improper use of witnesses, reliance on self-incrimination and physical assault. By means of this sham trial, Jesus is found guilty of the charge of blasphemy.

The second part of the ecclesiastical trial involves an early morning gathering of the Sanhedrin in the temple precincts to confirm Jesus' conviction of blasphemy. The problem facing the religious authorities is that they have no authority to execute a person for blasphemy. If they had the evidence for his desecration of the temple, then they could have him stoned to death, but on this issue, the witnesses do not agree. The authorities therefore have to depend on a civil trial with the trumped-up charge of treason.

The first part of the civil trial before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, is held early morning. Pilate quickly realises that this a religious dispute, not civil, and that he is being used by the religious authorities to do their dirty work. So, Pilate sends Jesus on for Herod to judge the case, but Herod is too cunning to get involved in a religious dispute between the religious authorities and the people. As far as he is concerned, the matter is outside his jurisdiction. Jesus is returned to Palate, who recognising that the problem is not going to go away, decides to placate the religious authorities with a charge of treason against Jesus, and sentences him to crucifixion.

iii] Structure: The trial and Peter's denial:

iv] Interpretation:

v] Synoptics:

The trial and Peter's denial of Jesus, v53-72: i] Peter in the courtyard, v53-54.

proV + acc. "to [the high priest]" - [and they led away jesus] toward [the high priest and gather together all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes]. Spatial, expressing direction toward.

autw/ dat. pro. "[followed] him" - [and peter from afar followed] him. Dative of direct object after the verb "to follow."

eJwV esw eiV "right into" - up to inside into [the courtyard of the high priest]. This spatial idiomatic prepositional construction expressing movement up to a point inside, takes the sense "right into", as NIV and most translations.

h\n sugkaqhmenoV + gen. "he sat with" - [and] he was sitting with [with the servants, assistants and warming himself]. The present participle, as with the participle "warming himself", with the imperfect verb to-be, forms an imperfect periphrastic construction, possibly emphasising durative aspect. Repeating the sense of the sun prefix verb "to sit with" with the preposition meta, "with", is stylistic. The servants / assistants are probably members of the temple guard, and possibly also temple officials (vergers).

proV to fwV "at the fire" - toward the light. This idiomatic phrase takes the sense "at the light of the fire", MM.

ii] The trial before the high priest, v55-65. The proceedings deal first with the charges brought against Jesus. The false testimony is likely to focus on the desecration of the temple, since this is the one crime that the Jewish authorities had the right to execute someone, and this by stoning. As v59 indicates, there is conflicting testimony on what Jesus said about the temple, and so the charge cannot be substantiated.

kata + gen. "against [Jesus]" - [and the chief priests and whole council were seeking a witness] against [jesus]. The spatial preposition here expresses opposition. "The chief priests and the whole council tried to find someone to accuse Jesus of a crime", CEV. "The council", high council = the Sanhedrin.

eiV to + inf. "so that they could put [him] to death" - into the = in order [to put to death him and they were not finding any ground to charge him]. This construction serves to introduce a final clause expressing purpose; "in order to have him put to death", Moffatt; "hand him over to be executed."

gar "-" - for, because. Introducing a causal clause explaining why the authorities were not finding any ground to charge him, because the witnesses did not agree.

kat (kata) + gen. "against [him]" - [many were testifying falsely] against [him and = and yet the testimonies where not equal (the same, consistent, alike)]. The spatial preposition here expresses opposition, as NIV. "Plenty of people were willing to bring in false charges, but nothing added up, and they ended cancelling each other out", Peterson.

anastanteV (anisthmi) aor. part. "Then [some] stood up" - [and certain, some] having stepped up [were bearing false witness against him]. The NIV opts for adverbial, temporal, but possibly attendant circumstance expressing action accompanying the verb "to step up"; "Some got up and bore false witness against him", Moffatt. The imperfect verb "to bear false witness" is possibly inceptive, "began to bear false witness." Most of the imperfect verbs in this passage may well just indicate the provision of background information.

legonteV (legw) pres. part. "-" - saying. Adverbial, modal, expressing manner, "saying", or instrumental, expressing means, "by saying"; redundant.

Jesus may have said something like this, although it is probably not drawn from 13:2. The derisive words directed to Jesus on the cross may also reflect the statement made by Jesus, 15:29. Cranfield suggests that "made with hands" and "not made with hands" are later interpretive glosses added by the early church to give the proper sense of Jesus' words. Note also how John seeks to correct the record in 2:19-22.

oJti "-" - that. Introducing an object clause / dependant statement of direct speech expressing what the false witnesses were saying.

hJmeiV "We" - we [we heard]. As with egw, "I", following, an emphatic use of the personal pronoun.

autou gen. pro. "him" - him. Genitive of direct object after the verb "to hear."

legontoV (legw) gen. pres. part. "say" - saying. Genitive complement of the genitive direct object "him", standing in a double genitive construction and asserting a fact about the object "him".

oJti "-" - that [i will destroy, demolish, tear down this temple, sanctuary made with, by hands (ie., spiritual)]. Here introducing an object clause / dependent statement of perception expressing what the witnesses claim to have heard Jesus say.

dia + gen. "in [three days]" - through [three days i will build another not made with hands]. Temporal use of the preposition, "through in time" - "throughout, during, after."

ouJtwV adv. "even then" - [and not] so [the testimony of them was equal]. Adverb of manner drawing a logical conclusion; "thus even so, even in this manner / way". "But even so their evidence conflicted", Phillips.

anastaV (anisthmi) aor. part. "then [the high priest] stood up" - [and the high priest] having stood up [into midst, questioned jesus]. The participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal, as NIV. The epi prefix of the verb "to question" probably intensifies, so "interrogated".

legwn (legw) "-" - saying. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action action accompanying the verb "to ask, question", "questioned and said", redundant / adverbial, either modal, expressing manner, "saying", or instrumental, expressing means, "by saying."

ouc ... ouden "[are you] not" - not [do you answer] nothing [as to what these witnesses]. This negation assumes an affirmative answer in a question. The double negation is emphatic; "Do you make no reply?", Rieu.

sou gen. pro. "you" - [testify] of you. The verb "to testify against" usually takes a dative of direct object, but here the genitive "you" is adverbial, reference / respect, so "what these witnesses testify concerning you", so Decker.

Jesus' refusal to engage on the charge of desecrating the temple, and the problem of conflicting evidence, forces the high priest to try and gain some admission from Jesus that would support a charge of blasphemy.

oJ de "but" - but/and he. Transitional, indicating a step in the narrative, a change in subject from the high priest to Jesus.

ouk ... ouden "no [answer]" - [and he did] not [answer] nothing [again]. An emphatic use of the double negative.

autw/ dat. pro. "him" - [the high priest was asking him and says] to him. Dative of indirect object.

su pro. "[are] you" - you [are you the christ]. Emphatic by position and use. The high priest's question seeks an admission from Jesus, as to his claim to messiahship; "Are you God's Christ / Messiah / Anointed One?"

tou euloghtou (oV) gen. adj. "the Blessed One" - [the son] of the blessed one? The adjective serves as a substantive, the genitive being adjectival, relational. "Blessed One" is viewed by most commentators as a reverential avoidance of the use of the holy name of God by the high priest. "Son of" serves as a messianic identifier. So, the phrase "the Son of the Blessed" is a title for the messiah which stands in apposition to oJ cristoV, "the Christ." The phrase is similar to "The Son of God" (a messianic title used more frequently in Matthew, Luke and John than Mark), a title which makes no claim to a filial relationship with God the Father.

By combining Psalm 101:1 and Daniel 7:13-14, Jesus claims for himself divine authority and sovereignty; he is no messiah in the terms of a political revolutionary. The high priest has no mere man standing before him. The two-part allusion is describing the same status. The Son of Man is "sitting", he is "at my right side, until I make your enemies into a footstool for you", Ps.101:1. And the Son of Man is "coming", "presented to the Ancient of Days", "crowned king and given power and glory", Dan.7.13-14. The eschatological sense of the word "coming" always confuses because it is so often seen in the terms of movement rather than acting - a "coming" is an act of reigning. Both "sitting" and "coming" describe the same activity, that of judging and blessing with divine authority - the act of reigning on high at God's right hand.

oJ de "-" - but/and he. Transitional, indicating a change again in subject.

ego eimi "I am" - [jesus said] i am. The variants "you say that I am", or "these are your words not mine", probably derive from Matthew 26:64. Jesus openly admits to his messianic claim. Many commentators argue that the messianic secret operative up to this point, but it seems more likely that from the moment of his climactic entry into Jerusalem, Jesus has not attempted to hide his messianic status. So, Jesus openly answers the high priest's question, an answer which is not overly provocative. In fact, a clear "Yes", or "No" on this matter is required of Jesus to maintain dignity before God. Having answered in the affirmative, Jesus would be expected to go on and provide proof of his claim, but instead of that, he broadens his messianic claim.

tou anqrwpou (oV) "[you will see the Son] of Man" - [and you will see the son] of man. The genitive is adjectival, relational; see 2:10. How the high priest "will see" Jesus' messianic enthronement is not explained. France sees it in terms of vindication. Religious Israel will get to witness the unfolding of the universal sovereignty of the risen Jesus powerfully illustrated in the demise of Jerusalem and the temple, and the unstoppable growth of the Christian church.

kaqhmenon (kaqhmai) pres. mid. part. "sitting" - sitting. As with the participle "coming", this participle serves as the accusative complement of the direct object "Son", standing in a double accusative construction and asserting a fact about the "Son".

ek + gen. "at [the right hand]" - from [the right]. Expressing separation, "one from the right." This is the position of power and authority.

thV dunamewV (iV ewV) gen. "of the Mighty One" - of the power. The genitive is adjectival, partitive. Just as with "the Blessed One", this term serves as a respectful title for God, a title that refrains from using the divine name.

meta + gen. "on [the clouds]" - with [the clouds]. Expressing association. Note that the LXX of Dan.7:13 has "upon", and in Mark in 13:26 en, "in, on", with just "clouds" and no "heaven".

tou ouranou (oV) gen. "of heaven" - of heaven. The genitive is adjectival, possibly idiomatic / local; "the clouds which are located in / found in heaven", even possessive, "belonging to heaven." Given that Mark's reference to Dan.7:13 in 13:26 has no referenced to heaven, it is likely that the genitive is just attributive, "heavenly clouds." Daniel's imagery seems to describe the Son of Man coming (processing to his enthronement) with / on / in clouds to the Ancient of Day in heaven and that these clouds are heavenly like. The heavenly cloud may even represent the shekinah glory, the cloud denoting the divine presence.

oJ de "-" - but/and he. Transitional, change in subject again, here back to the high priest.

diarrhxaV (diarhgnumi) aor. part. "tore" - [the high priest] having torn [the tunic of him says]. The participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal; "Then the high priest tore his cloths and cried", Moffatt. The act of tearing one's clothes expresses grief or distress, here, what was presumed to be a blasphemous statement.

tiv pro. "why" - what [still, further]. Interrogative pronoun; "What further witnesses do we need?" ESV.

marturwn (uV roV) gen. "witnesses" - [need] of witnesses [do we have]? The noun creia, "need", when expressing a need of someone or something, takes a genitive of what or who is needed, here "witnesses".

The informal gathering of religious leaders gives their legal opinion, one that will be confirmed later in the morning at the official gathering of the Sanhedrin.

thV blasfhmiaV (a) gen. "the blasphemy" - [you heard] the blasphemy. Genitive of direct object after to verb "to hear."

uJmin dat. pro. "[what do] you [think]?" - [what seems, appears] to you? The verb fainw takes a Dative of direct object when expressing the sense "to have the appearance, seem", as here (often + inf.); "What seems to you to be our response to this claim?" = "What think you?"

einai (eimi) pres. inf. "-" - [but/and they all condemned him] to be [liable, guilty]. The infinitive introduces an object clause / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing their condemnation, namely, that he is guilty of death.

qanatou (oV) gen. "of death" - of death. The adjective enocon, "liable, guilty, deserving" takes a dative, or genitive complement, as here, specifying the punishment, "liable to death / deserving of death", Zerwick.

The slapping and spitting serve to demonstrate the rejection of Jesus' claims by the religious authorities. The blindfolding, and asking who struck him, possibly reflects the view that the messiah was able to operate without sight.

emptuein (emptuw) pres. inf. "to spit at" - [and certain, some began] to spit upon. As with "to cover", "to strike", and "to say", the infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "to begin." "Some of them spat on him", Barclay.

autw/ dat. pro. "him" - him [and to cover the face of him and to strike him]. Dative of direct object after the en prefix verb "to spit upon."

autw/ dat. pro. "to him" - [and to say] to him [prophecy]. Dative of indirect object.

elabon (lambanw) aor. "-" - and the servants (temple guards)] took. In the sense of "took him into custody, took hold of him."

pJapismasin (a atoV) dat. "beat [him]" - with blows [him]. The dative is adverbial, modifying the verb "to take, receive", so the guards received him, took hold of Jesus violently, "the guards beat him" = "worked him over", Decker.

iii] The threefold denial of Jesus by Peter, v66-72. The resolve of Jesus in the face of humiliation is now contrasted with Peter's failure to honour his Lord. Peter denies any knowledge of Jesus.

ontoV (eimi) gen. pres. part. "While [Peter] was" - [and peter] being [below in the courtyard]. The genitive participle and its genitive subject "Peter", forms a genitive absolute construction, temporal, as NIV. The fact that Peter is katw, "below, beneath", in the courtyard indicates that the action in the palace is above (a second story???) the action in the courtyard.

twn paidiskwn (h) gen. "[one] of the servant girls" - [one] of the servants, maidservants / slave-girls [of the high priest comes]. The genitive is adjectival, partitive. The girl is probably some sort of domestic servant, rather than a slave, so Swete. The genitive "of the high priest" is adjectival, possessive, expressing a dependant status, "employed by."

idousa (oJraw) aor. part. "When she saw" - [and] having seen [peter]. The participle, as with "having looked at", is adverbial, best treated as temporal, as NIV.

qermainomenon (qermainw) pres. mid. part. "warming himself" - warming himself. The participle serves as the accusative complement of the direct object "Peter", standing in a double accusative construction and asserting a fact about the object "Peter". Decker classifies it as adjectival, attributive.

autw/ dat. pro. "him" - [and having gazed closely at] him [she says]. Dative of direct object after the en prefix verb "to gaze directly at." The verb implies that the woman has taken careful note of Peter and somehow recognises that he has been with Jesus.

meta + gen. "with" - [you and = also were] with [the nazarene, jesus]. Expressing association / accompaniment. "Jesus" stands in apposition to "the Nazarene." It is unclear whether the woman's words are dismissive of Jesus, but they are often taken that way, as NIV.

There is nothing unusual about Peter's denial; this form of words is common in rabbinical law.

oJ de "but" - but/and he. Transitional, indicating a change in subject from the woman to Peter.

legwn (legw) pres. part. "-" - [he denied] saying. Redundant attendant circumstance participle, although where it is argued that an attendant circumstance participle expresses separate, but related action, then it would be classified as adverbial - modal or instrumental.

oute ..... oute "[I do]n't [know] or" - neither [do i know] nor [understand]. A negated correlative construction. The sense is probably "I neither know nor understand what you are saying", but the words can be taken in a number of ways depending on punctuation. So for example, "I don't understand! What (tiv) are you saying?"

su pro. "you're" - you [what you are saying, and he went outside into the entryway, and a rooster crowed]. Emphatic by position and use. The statement, "a rooster crowed", is not found in a number of manuscripts. Cranfield suggests it was dropped in alignment with Matthew, or even to "make the denial seem a little less shameful."

idousa (oJraw) aor. part. "When [the servant girl] saw" - [and the maidservant] having seen [him]. The participle is adverbial, probably best treated as temporal, as NIV.

legein (legw) pres. inf. "said" - [began] to say [again]. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "to begin."

toiV parestwsin (paristhmi) dat. pres. part. "to those standing around" - to the ones having stood by (those present). The participle serves as a substantive, dative of indirect object.

oJti "-" - that. Introducing an object clause / dependent statement of direct speech expressing what the girl said.

ex (ek) + gen. "of [them]" - [this man is] from [them]. The preposition is used in place of a partitive genitive. The sense is "belongs to them."

oJ de "-" - but/and he [he was denying it]. Transitional, indicating a change in subject. Cranfield suggests that the imperfect verb "to deny" is iterative, expressing repeated denials; "again he repeatedly denied it", Barclay. Yet, as Gundry notes, the imperfect is often used with speech because of its durative nature.

meta + gen. "after" - [and] after [a little time elapsed]. Temporal use of the preposition, giving the sense "a little later / shortly afterwards."

oiJ parestwteV (paristhmi) perf. part. "those standing near" - [again] the ones standing by. The participle serves as a substantive, nominative subject of the verb "to say." The sequential adverb palin, "again" = "once more."

tw/ Petrw/ (oV) dat. "to Peter" - [were saying] to peter. Dative of indirect object. Mark has again used an imperfect verb, possibly inceptive, "began to say", but probably again just reflecting an appropriate tense for speech.

ex (ek) + gen. "[one] of [them]" - [truly = certainly you are one] from [them]. The preposition serves as a partitive genitive; "you are one of them."

gar "for" - because [and = indeed you are a galilean]. Variant addition "the speech of you is like." Introducing a causal clause explaining why those standing by think that Peter is a follower of Jesus. Peter's rough country accent is giving him away; "You've got 'Galilean' written all over you", Peterson.

anaqematizein (anaqematizw) pres. inf. "to call down curses" - [and he began] to curse [and to swear]. This infinitive, as for "to swear", is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "to begin." "To curse" is to call down anathema on someone for lying before God, while "to swear" is to assert the truth of something before God. It is unclear to whom Peter addresses his curses, ie., the object is unstated. So, are the curses directed to himself, or the bystanders, or even Jesus (so France, Marcus, .... taking the verb as transitive rather than reflective)? If what Peter has said is not true, then a curse on Peter; if it is true, then a curse on the bystanders. Of course, such curses and oaths are often little more than crude reinforcements of the truth of a person's words, reinforcements which usually indicate that the words are not true - "methinks thou dost protesteth too much". Note that Luke leaves out the "reinforcements"!

oJti "-" - that [i do not know this man who you speak]. Introducing a dependent statement of direct / indirect speech. "Peter began to call down curses on himself and swear that he did not know the man they meant", Rieu.

"Peter's bold denials give way to remorse", France.

ek deuterou "a second time" - [and immediately the cock, rooster crowed] from a second. The preposition here is adverbial, idiomatic sequential, "for a second time" = "again."

wJV "-" - [and peter remembered the word] as [jesus spoke to him]. Variant relative pronoun, ouJ, "which Jesus spoke to him." Obviously not here as a comparative, "like", possibly temporal, "when Jesus spoke to him", but more likely recitative, introducing a dependent statement of perception expressing what Peter remembered, "that = how Jesus had said to him"

oJti "-" - that [before a cock crows twice, three times you will deny me]. Introducing an object clause, dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what Jesus had said.

epibalwn (epiballw) aor. part. "he broke down" - [and] having thrown upon, [he was crying]. The participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal, "then ....." The sense of this verb is unclear, but "throwing himself on the ground", MM, is probably the best of many possibilities - "Peter ....... cast all restraint away and wept", Rieu; "he flung himself out and wept", Barclay; "and as it came home to him he burst into tears", Cassirer; "and he broke down and wept", Phillips; "so Peter started crying", CEV; "and he burst into tears", REB; "he collapsed in tears", Peterson, ...... The point is clear enough!

Mark Introduction

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