{17} Now Peter {h} sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.

(17) Peter by the wonderful providence of God, in being appointed to be a witness of all these things, is prepared to be an example of outstanding faithfulness through this experience of unbelief.

(h) That is, outside the place where the bishop sat, but not outside of the house, for afterward he went from there into the porch.

People's New Testament

26:69 Now Peter sat without in the palace. While the preliminary examinations were being held before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, Peter and John entered the court of the palace. This court was an open square, enclosed by the palace which was built in a quadrangle all around it. From it doors and windows opened into the rooms built around it, so that Peter was without the palace, yet in the interior court, where he could see and hear through the open door the proceedings in the hall. Oriental houses are still built with this interior court.

And a maid came to him, saying. John speaks of her as the damsel that kept the door (Joh 18:17) of the porch, or passage into the court. We are not told why she suspected him. He was at this time in the interior court, and is said by Luke to have been standing among them (Lu 22:55) by the fire that had been kindled in the courtyard on account of the chilliness of the night.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

26:69-75 Peter's sin is truly related, for the Scriptures deal faithfully. Bad company leads to sin: those who needlessly thrust themselves into it, may expect to be tempted and insnared, as Peter. They scarcely can come out of such company without guilt or grief, or both. It is a great fault to be shy of Christ; and to dissemble our knowledge of him, when we are called to own him, is, in effect, to deny him. Peter's sin was aggravated; but he fell into the sin by surprise, not as Judas, with design. But conscience should be to us as the crowing of the cock, to put us in mind of the sins we had forgotten. Peter was thus left to fall, to abate his self-confidence, and render him more modest, humble, compassionate, and useful to others. The event has taught believers many things ever since, and if infidels, Pharisees, and hypocrites stumble at it or abuse it, it is at their peril. Little do we know how we should act in very difficult situations, if we were left to ourselves. Let him, therefore, that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall; let us all distrust our own hearts, and rely wholly on the Lord. Peter wept bitterly. Sorrow for sin must not be slight, but great and deep. Peter, who wept so bitterly for denying Christ, never denied him again, but confessed him often in the face of danger. True repentance for any sin will be shown by the contrary grace and duty; that is a sign of our sorrowing not only bitterly, but sincerely.