Matthew 26:34

Verily. For comment see on ch. 5:18.

This night. See on v. 31. The warning as recorded in John 13:38 was given while Jesus and the Twelve were still in the upper room; here, it is given again on the way to Gethsemane (DA 673). Both the prediction and its fulfillment are recorded in all four Gospels.

Before the cock crow. Mark reads, “before the cock crow twice” (Mark 14:30). “Cockcrowing” was a common designation for the early morning. For example, the Mishnah (Tamid 1. 2, Soncino ed. of the Talmud, p. 2) explains that “anyone who desired to remove the ashes from the Altar used to rise early and bathe before the superintendent came. At what time did the superintendent come? He did not always come at the same time; sometimes he came just at cock-crow, sometimes a little before or a little after.” For the relationship of cockcrowing to the watches of the night see p. 50.