Who challenged Peter at each of his three denials?

Hard question · The death and resurrection of Jesus · raised by 1 of the lists sceptics circulate

Different details of one event

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The passages

Matthew 26:69–74

First a servant girl; then “another maid” at the porch; then “they that stood by”, because his speech gave him away.

Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

Mark 14:66–71

One of the high priest’s maids; then the maid again, speaking to the bystanders; then the bystanders, because he was a Galilean.

And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest: And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew. And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.

Luke 22:55–60

A maid by the fire; then another, a man (“Man, I am not”); about an hour later another man, who insisted Peter was a Galilean.

And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him. And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilean. And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.

John 18:15–27

The girl who kept the door; then “they” at the fire; then a servant of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter cut off.

And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter. Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man’s disciples? He saith, I am not. And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself. The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine. Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing. …

The objection

The four Gospels name different questioners. At the second denial Matthew has another servant girl, Mark the same girl again, Luke a man and John a group of people. At the third, Matthew and Mark have the bystanders, Luke a single man and John a relative of Malchus. Critics say the accounts cannot all be right about who accused Peter.

The answer

The first challenge is the same in all four: a servant girl. John tells us who she was, the girl who kept the door, who had let Peter in at the request of “that other disciple” (John 18:16–17). Peter was then sitting or standing by the fire in a crowded courtyard at night, among servants and officers (John 18:18).

Once a girl had pointed at Peter, others joined in, and each Gospel records part of the outcry. In Mark the same girl (the Greek has hē paidiskē, ‘the maid’) began telling the bystanders “This is one of them” (Mark 14:69); in Matthew “another maid” said the same to “them that were there” (Matthew 26:71); in Luke a man put the charge to Peter himself, and Peter answered “Man, I am not” (Luke 22:58); John simply says “They said therefore unto him” (John 18:25). None of the Gospels says that only one person spoke. Barnes reads it this way: a maid made the charge and a man repeated it, and both accounts are true.

The third challenge came about an hour later (Luke 22:59). Matthew and Mark say the bystanders pressed him, because his Galilean speech betrayed him (Matthew 26:73; Mark 14:70). Luke singles out the man who was most insistent, and John the one whose evidence was most dangerous: a relative of Malchus, who said “Did not I see thee in the garden with him?” (John 18:26). Several voices at each stage, reported by different witnesses, is what we would expect in such a scene. All four Gospels agree on what matters: there were three denials, and the last was followed at once by the cock crowing.

From the classic commentators

The truth probably is that both were done. When he first went out, "a maid" charged him with being a follower of Jesus. He was probably there a considerable time. To this charge he might have been silent, thinking, perhaps, that he was concealedAlbert Barnes, Notes on the Bible, on Matthew 26:71 (1832)

Who challenged Peter at each of his three denials?

The passages

The objection

The answer

Other answers Christians give

More than three denials

From the classic commentators

Sources

Further reading