Translation
Then He said, “I tell you, PETER,
Go to footnote numberI tell you, the rooster will not crow today
Go to footnote numberuntil you have denied knowing me three times.”
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
Then Jesus replied, “YOU WHO ARE SOLID AS A ROCK, let me tell you something. I assure you that the rooster will not crow even once as this next morning comes before you have denied knowing me three times.”
Footnotes
1
Notice that Jesus calls him Peter, which means “the rock”, rather by his more common name, Simon, which means “heard by God.” Sometimes both names were used together. However, here it is only the name that points to strength. Even while Jesus was telling Peter that he would fail miserably, Jesus was telling him that he had strength; he would not be known for his failures but for his strength. Therefore he should not let guilt overcome him, but move on to live in strength.
2
Their day started at sundown and went till the next Sundown. Since this was already after sunset, it was the same day as the morning would be, thus “today” in this case is the same as “tomorrow morning” would be for us.
3
I include this verse to show the context for the following verses. Luke is the only one of the Gospel writers to mention Jesus’ comments about the sword on this occasion. I want you to see that Jesus brings up the issue of whether or not to take a sword with them; it is not a direct response to something that the disciples said or asked. It may be an indirect reference to their arguing earlier, but Jesus decided to bring it up in order to emphasize something.