The Meaning of Matthew 26:74 Explained

Matthew 26:74

KJV: Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

YLT: Then began he to anathematise, and to swear -- 'I have not known the man;' and immediately did a cock crow,

Darby: Then he began to curse and to swear, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

ASV: Then began he to curse and to swear, I know not the man. And straightway the cock crew.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then  began he  to curse  and  to swear,  [saying],  I know  not  the man.  And  immediately  the cock  crew. 

What does Matthew 26:74 Mean?

Context Summary

Matthew 26:67-75 - "ashamed Of Jesus!"
What a shameful travesty of justice! When men yield themselves to violence like this, their passion condemns them as perpetrating the devil's work. But in the whirlwind of abuse and horror, the one thing that hurt our Lord was the defection of Peter, Luke 22:61.
It was love that led him to dare to follow to the court. John contrived to get him in, John 18:16. But he stood too near the fire amid that motley group, who were discussing their night adventure. He had been too self-confident, John 13:36; he had not watched unto prayer, Matthew 26:40. The more he cursed and swore, the more he betrayed his Galilean brogue. Ah, the agony that ensued! Did he rush off to Gethsemane, and throw himself on the bent grass, where the form of the Master had so recently lain prostrate? Did his tears mingle with the sweat of blood? But Jesus loved him still, and was preparing a propitiation that would cleanse his sin, as He had already secured that his faith should not fail, Luke 22:32. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 26

1  Jesus foretells his own death
3  The rulers conspire against him
6  The woman anoints his feet
14  Judas bargains to betray him
17  Jesus eats the Passover;
26  institutes his holy supper;
30  foretells the desertion of his disciples, and Peter's denial;
36  prays in the garden;
47  and being betrayed by a kiss,
57  is carried to Caiaphas,
69  and denied by Peter

Greek Commentary for Matthew 26:74

Then began he to curse and to swear [τοτε ηρχατο κατατεματιζειν και ομνυειν]
He repeated his denial with the addition of profanity to prove that he was telling the truth instead of the lie that they all knew. His repeated denials gave him away still more, for he could not pronounce the Judean gutterals. He called down on himself (κατατεματιζειν — katathematizein) imprecations in his desperate irritation and loss of self-control at his exposure. [source]
The cock crew [αλεκτων επωνησεν]
No article in the Greek, just “a cock crew” at that juncture, “straightway” But it startled Peter. [source]
To curse [καταθεματίζειν]
A new development of profanity. Hitherto he had merely sworn. Now he adds imprecation; invoking curses on himself if the case be not as he says. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 26:74

Mark 14:71 Curse [ἀναθεματίζειν]
Compare on Matthew 26:74; where the word is καταθεματίζειν , to call down ( κατὰ ) curses on himself if he were not telling the truth. The words are synonymous. [source]
Mark 14:71 Curse [ανατεματιζειν]
Our word anathema Finally the two meanings were distinguished by ανατεμα — anathēma for offering and ανατεμα — anathema for curse. Deissmann has found examples at Megara of κατατεματιζειν — anathema in the sense of curse. Hence the distinction observed in the N.T. was already in the Koiné. Matthew 26:74 has απαχ λεγομενον — katathematizein which is a hapax legomenon in the N.T., though common in the lxx. This word has the notion of calling down curses on one‘s self if the thing is not true. [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]
Revelation 22:3 There shall be no curse any more [παν κατατεμα ουκ εσται ετι]
No other example of κατατεμα — katathema has been found outside of the Didache XVI. 5, though the verb κατατεματιζω — katathematizō occurs in Matthew 26:74, meaning to curse, while we have ανατεματιζω — anathematizō in Mark 14:71 in the same sense. It may be a syncopated form of κατανατεμα — katanathema The usual ανατεμα — anathema (curse) occurs in 1 Corinthians 16:22; Galatians 1:8; Romans 9:3. For παν — pan with ουκουδεν — ouk =λατρευσουσιν αυτωι — ouden see Revelation 21:27. [source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 26:74 mean?

Then he began to curse and to swear - Not I know the man immediately a rooster crowed
Τότε ἤρξατο καταθεματίζειν καὶ ὀμνύειν ὅτι Οὐκ οἶδα τὸν ἄνθρωπον εὐθέως ἀλέκτωρ ἐφώνησεν

ἤρξατο  he  began 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἄρχω  
Sense: to be the first to do (anything), to begin.
καταθεματίζειν  to  curse 
Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active
Root: καταθεματίζω 
Sense: to curse.
ὀμνύειν  to  swear 
Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active
Root: ὄμνυμι 
Sense: to swear.
ὅτι  - 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
οἶδα  I  know 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: οἶδα  
Sense: to see.
ἄνθρωπον  man 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: ἄνθρωπος  
Sense: a human being, whether male or female.
εὐθέως  immediately 
Parse: Adverb
Root: εὐθέως  
Sense: straightway, immediately, forthwith.
ἀλέκτωρ  a  rooster 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἀλέκτωρ  
Sense: a cock, or male of any bird, a rooster.
ἐφώνησεν  crowed 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: φωνέω 
Sense: to sound, emit a sound, to speak.