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 Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.
And he denied it again. In Luke, "Man, I am not." But worst of all in Matthew - "And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man." (Matthew 26:72). This was the Second Denial, more vehement, alas! than the first.
And a little after ["about the space of one hour after" (Luke 22:59 )], they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto - "bewrayeth (or 'discovereth') thee" (Matthew 26:73). In Luke it is "Another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this [fellow] also was with him; for he is a Galilean." The Galilean dialect had a more Syrian cast than that of Judea. If Peter had held his peace, this peculiarity would not have been observed; but hoping, probably, to put them off the scent by joining in the fireside-talk, he only thus discovered himself! The Fourth Gospel is particularly interesting here: "One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman (or kinsman to him) whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with Him?" (John 18:26). No doubt his relationship to Malchus drew his attention to the man who had struck him, and this enabled him to identify Peter. 'Sad reprisals!' exclaims Bengel. Thus, everything tended to identify him as a disciple of the Prisoner-his being introduced into the interior by one who was known to be a disciple, as the maid who kept the gate could testify; the recognition of him by the girl at the fire, as one whom she had seen in His company; his broad guttural Galilean dialect; and there being one present who recognized him as the man who, at the moment of the prisoner's apprehension, struck a blow with his sword at a relative of his own. Poor Peter! Thou art caught in thine own toils; but like a wild bull in a net, thou wilt toss and rage, filling up the measure of thy terrible declension by one more denial of thy Lord, and that the foulest of all.