The Meaning of Luke 22:61 Explained

Luke 22:61

KJV: And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

YLT: And the Lord having turned did look on Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he said to him -- 'Before a cock shall crow, thou mayest disown me thrice;'

Darby: And the Lord, turning round, looked at Peter; and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he said to him, Before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice.

ASV: And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how that he said unto him, Before the cock crow this day thou shalt deny me thrice.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  the Lord  turned,  and looked upon  Peter.  And  Peter  remembered  the word  of the Lord,  how  he had said  unto him,  Before  the cock  crow,  thou shalt deny  me  thrice. 

What does Luke 22:61 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 22:54-62 - The Disciple Who Denied His Lord
Peter loved Christ truly, but miscalculated his strength. Be very careful not to adventure yourself into the midst of temptation. If God leads you thither, that is another matter. We do well to remember Psalms 1:1-3. Let us beware of warming ourselves at the world's fires. It was the firelight falling on his face that revealed Peter, and his brogue that betrayed him.
If, even at that hour, however, He had looked to God, a way of escape would have been found. "He delivereth and rescueth, and worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth," Daniel 6:27. But Peter sought to save himself from the results of his folly and sin; only to land deeper and deeper in the morass.
What a look that must have been, Luke 22:61! But, even now, when we sin, Christ looks at us from out of His holy heaven, with such mingled pity and love, that these constitute the worst torment. There is no need of literal fire to make hell. Disappointed love is hotter than "coals of juniper." [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 22

1  The leaders conspire against Jesus
3  Satan prepares Judas to betray him
7  The apostles prepare the Passover
19  Jesus institutes his holy supper;
21  covertly foretells of the traitor;
24  rebukes the rest of his apostles from ambition;
31  assures Peter his faith should not fail;
34  and yet he should deny him thrice
39  He prays in the mount, and sweats blood;
47  is betrayed with a kiss;
50  he heals Malchus' ear;
54  he is thrice denied by Peter;
63  shamefully abused;
66  and confesses himself to be the Son of God

Greek Commentary for Luke 22:61

The Lord turned [στραπεις ο κυριος]
Second aorist passive participle of στρεπω — strephō coming verb. Graphic picture drawn by Luke alone. [source]
Looked upon Peter [ενεβλεπσεν τωι Πετρωι]
Ingressive aorist active indicative of ενβλεπω — enblepō an old and vivid verb, to glance at. Remembered (υπεμνηστη — hupemnēsthē). First aorist passive indicative of υπομιμνησκω — hupomimnēskō common verb to remind one of something (υπο — hupo giving a suggestion or hint). The cock crowing and the look brought swiftly back to Peter‘s mind the prophecy of Jesus and his sad denials. The mystery is how he had forgotten that warning. [source]
Remembered [υπεμνηστη]
First aorist passive indicative of υπομιμνησκω — hupomimnēskō common verb to remind one of something The cock crowing and the look brought swiftly back to Peter‘s mind the prophecy of Jesus and his sad denials. The mystery is how he had forgotten that warning. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 22:61

Matthew 26:75 He went out and wept bitterly [εχελτων εχω εκλαυσεν πικρως]
Luke adds that the Lord turned and looked upon Peter (Luke 22:61). That look brought Peter back to his senses. He could not stay where he now was with the revilers of Jesus. He did not feel worthy or able to go openly into the hall where Jesus was. So outside he went with a broken heart. The constative aorist here does not emphasize as Mark‘s imperfect does (Mark 14:72, εκλαιεν — eklaien) the continued weeping that was now Peter‘s only consolation. The tears were bitter, all the more so by reason of that look of understanding pity that Jesus gave him. One of the tragedies of the Cross is the bleeding heart of Peter. Judas was a total wreck and Peter was a near derelict. Satan had sifted them all as wheat, but Jesus had prayed specially for Peter (Luke 22:31.). Will Satan show Peter to be all chaff as Judas was? [source]
Mark 14:72 Called to mind [ανεμνηστη]
First aorist passive indicative. Matthew 26:75 has the uncompounded verb εμνηστη — emnēsthē while Luke 22:61 has another compound υπεμνηστη — hupemnēsthē was reminded. [source]
John 1:42 Looked upon him [εμβλεπσας αυτωι]
See John 1:36 for same word and form of John‘s eager gaze at Jesus. Luke uses this word of Jesus when Peter denied him (Luke 22:61). He brought him Effective second aorist active indicative of αγο — ago as if Andrew had to overcome some resistance on Simon‘s part. Thou shalt be called Cephas Apparently before Simon spoke. We do not know whether Jesus had seen Simon before or not, but he at once gives him a nickname that will characterize him some day, though not yet, when he makes the noble confession (Matthew 16:17.), and Jesus will say, “Thou art Peter.” Here the future passive indicative of καλεω — kaleō is only prophecy. The Aramaic Χηπας — Cēphās (rock) is only applied to Simon in John except by Paul (1 Corinthians 1:12; Galatians 1:18, etc.). But the Greek Πετρος — Petros is used by all. In the ancient Greek πετρα — petra was used for the massive ledge of rock like Stone Mountain while πετρος — petros was a detached fragment of the ledge, though itself large. This distinction may exist in Matthew 16:17., except that Jesus probably used Aramaic which would not have such a distinction. [source]
John 18:26 Did not I see thee in the garden with him? [ουκ εγω σε ειδον εν τωι κηπωι μετ αυτου]
This staggering and sudden thrust expects an affirmative answer by the use of ουκ — ouk not μη — mē as in John 18:17, John 18:25, but Peter‘s previous denials with the knowledge that he was observed by a kinsman of Malchus whom he had tried to kill (John 18:10) drove him to the third flat denial that he knew Jesus, this time with cursing and swearing (Mark 14:71; Matthew 26:73). Peter was in dire peril now of arrest himself for attempt to kill. Straightway As in Matthew 26:74 while Luke has παραχρημα — parachrēma (Luke 22:60). Mark (Mark 14:68, Mark 14:72) speaks of two crowings as often happens when one cock crows. See Matthew 26:34 for αλεκτωρ — alektōr (cock). That was usually the close of the third watch of the night (Mark 13:35), about 3 a.m. Luke 22:61 notes that Jesus turned and looked on Peter probably as he passed from the rooms of Annas to the trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin (the ecclesiastical court). See Mrs. Browning‘s beautiful sonnets on “The Look”. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 22:61 mean?

And having turned the Lord looked at - Peter remembered - Peter the word of the Lord how He had said to him - Before [the] rooster crows today you will deny Me three times
καὶ στραφεὶς Κύριος ἐνέβλεψεν τῷ Πέτρῳ ὑπεμνήσθη Πέτρος τοῦ λόγου τοῦ Κυρίου ὡς εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὅτι Πρὶν ἀλέκτορα φωνῆσαι σήμερον ἀπαρνήσῃ με τρίς

στραφεὶς  having  turned 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Passive, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: στρέφω  
Sense: to turn, turn around.
Κύριος  Lord 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: κύριος  
Sense: he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord.
ἐνέβλεψεν  looked  at 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἐμβλέπω  
Sense: to turn one’s eyes on.
τῷ  - 
Parse: Article, Dative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Πέτρῳ  Peter 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: Πέτρος  
Sense: one of the twelve disciples of Jesus.
ὑπεμνήσθη  remembered 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ὑπομιμνῄσκω  
Sense: to cause one to remember, bring to remembrance, recall to mind: to another.
  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Πέτρος  Peter 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: Πέτρος  
Sense: one of the twelve disciples of Jesus.
λόγου  word 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: λόγος  
Sense: of speech.
τοῦ  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Κυρίου  Lord 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: κύριος  
Sense: he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord.
ὡς  how 
Parse: Adverb
Root: ὡς 
Sense: as, like, even as, etc.
εἶπεν  He  had  said 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: λέγω  
Sense: to speak, say.
αὐτῷ  to  him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
ὅτι  - 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
Πρὶν  Before 
Parse: Adverb
Root: πρίν  
Sense: before, formerly.
ἀλέκτορα  [the]  rooster 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: ἀλέκτωρ  
Sense: a cock, or male of any bird, a rooster.
φωνῆσαι  crows 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active
Root: φωνέω 
Sense: to sound, emit a sound, to speak.
σήμερον  today 
Parse: Adverb
Root: σήμερον  
Sense: this (very) day).
ἀπαρνήσῃ  you  will  deny 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Middle, 2nd Person Singular
Root: ἀπαρνέομαι  
Sense: to deny.
με  Me 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Accusative 1st Person Singular
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
τρίς  three  times 
Parse: Adverb
Root: τρίς  
Sense: thrice.