Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadHeinrich Meyer Commentary - Matthew 26:34 - 26:34
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Mat_26:34 f. Πρὶν ἀλέκτορα φωνῆσαι ] before a cock crows, therefore before the day begins to dawn. Cock-crowing occurs in the third of the four night watches (see on Mat_14:24), which watch lasted from midnight till about three o’clock, and is called ἀλεκτοροφωνία in Mar_13:35. For the opposite of the πρὶν ἀλ . φων ., see Plat. Symp. p. 223 C: πρὸς ἡμέραν ἤδη ἀλεκτρυόνων ᾀδόντων ; Lucian, Ocyp. 670: ἐπεὶ δʼ ἀλέκτωρ ἡμέραν ἐσάλπισεν ; Horace, Sat. i. 1. 10. For a later modification of the expression in conformity with the repeated denials, see Mar_14:30. On the question as to whether or not ἀλέκτωρ can be considered good Greek, consult Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 228 f. This prediction as to the time was subsequently confirmed by the actual crowing of a cock, Mat_26:74.
ἀπαρνήσῃ με ] thou wilt deny me, deny that I am thy Lord and Master. Comp. Celsus in Origen, ii. 45: οὔτε συναπέθανον οὔτε ὑπεραπέθανον αὐτοῦ , οὐδὲ κολάσεων καταφρονεῖν ἐπείσθησαν , ἀλλὰ καὶ ἠρνήσαντο εἶναι μαθηταί . For σὺν σοὶ ἀποθ . comp. Joh_11:16.
ἀπαρνήσομαι ] The future after οὐ μή (see Hartung, Partikell. p. 157; Winer, p. 471 f. [E. T. 635]) is rather more expressive of a confident assertion than the subjunctive, the reading of A E G, etc.
ὁμοίως καὶ πάντες , κ . τ . λ .] Considering the sincere but as yet untried love of each, this is not an improbable statement, though it is found only in Matthew and Mark.