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Matthew 26:73

What does matthew 26:73 mean.

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March 9, 2021

Your words reveal your heart

“Your speech betrays you.” Mt 26:73 NKJV

The words you speak will give you away every time. It happened to Peter. On the night Jesus was arrested and all His disciples scattered, Peter stayed close enough to see what was happening—but not close enough to be identified with Him. The Bible says: “Those who stood by came up and said to Peter, ‘Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.’ Then he began to curse and swear, saying, ‘I do not know the Man!’ Immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ So he went out and wept bitterly” (vv. 73-75 NKJV). After that episode nobody accused Peter of being a follower of Jesus! Isn’t it interesting how profanity in any language has a way of making others question the quality of your relationship with Christ? Your words have the power to build people up or tear them down, draw them to Christ or drive them away. With that in mind, here are two Scriptures you need to underscore and think about often: (1) “Let your speech always be with grace…that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Col 4:6 NKJV). (2) “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up…that it may benefit those who listen” (Eph 4:29 NIV). Today, here’s a prayer for you to pray: “Father, may the words I speak this day bring credit to the name of Jesus and draw others to Him. In His name I pray, amen.”

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Colossians 4:6.

by Grant Richison | Dec 10, 1996 | Colossians | 2 comments

“ Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”

“Let your speech always be with grace”

“Grace” in this context means winsomeness or graciousness (Col 3:16). God wants us to carry on a conversation of courtesy appropriate to the particular people involved. This is wise communication (v.5) of pure, bright, and constructive talk.

“Grace” speech does not imply that a Christian is always to be agreeable. The sense here goes beyond that. The word “grace” in secular Greek represented something charming or gracious . Whatever we say, it must be characterized by the grace of Christ (Lk 4:22). A spiritual appeal lives in the person influenced by the grace of Christ.

Speech is a test of a soul influenced by the grace of Christ.

Application:

Speech tests our approach to life. It was said of Peter, “Your speech betrays you.” Speech does not only indicate nationality, but it is an index of character.

God expects us to approach people on their approachable side. Our style of talk can make a difference. This is far more than human charm. It is speech that reflects the grace of Christ in our lives. God wants us to be pleasant but firm in what we say to those without Christ.

Are you easy to live with? Do you antagonize people rather than win them?

This helped me understand this bible verse more

This challenged to always guard my tongue whenever I am involved in a conversation.

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Matthew 26:73

Matthew 26:73 meaning and commentary.

And after a while Mark says, "a little after", ( Mark 14:70 ) , and Luke observes, that it was "about the space of one hour after", ( Luke 22:59 ) : so that here was time to reflect upon what he had been saying, and to guard against another temptation, should he be attacked; but, alas! as yet he was unmindful of his Lord's words, and persists in the denial of him, and that with greater aggravation, than at his first surprise: and indeed his temptation was now more violent: for there

came unto him they that stood by ; the officers and servants of the high priest, his attendants that waited upon him, and who stood by the fire, where Peter was warming himself: before he was attacked by single maidservants, now by a body of men, and one of them the kinsman of the man whose ear he had cut off, and who challenged him, as having seen him in the garden: and another confidently affirmed, and swore to it, that he was with Jesus, and was a Galilean; and all of them agreed in this,

and said to Peter, surely thou also art one of them, for thy speech betrayeth thee : not his spiritual speech, for he had not been speaking in the language of a disciple of Christ, like one that had been with Jesus; nor his swearing neither, for this rather showed him to be one of them; but his country language, the brogue of his speech, the Galilean dialect which he spoke: for in Mark it is said, "thou art a Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereunto", ( Mark 14:70 ) : for though the same language was spoken in Galilee as at Jerusalem, yet it was not so accurate and polite in Galilee, nor so well pronounced; words of different signification were confounded together. Hence the Talmudists say F2 , that

``the men of Judah, who were careful of their language, their law was confirmed in their hands; the men of Galilee, who were not careful of their language, their law was not confirmed in their hands--the men of Galilee, who do not attend to language, what is reported of them? a Galilean went and said to them, ( Naml rma Naml rma ) , they said to him foolish Galilean, ( rmx ) , "Chamor" is to ride upon, or "Chamar" is to drink, or "Hamar" is for clothing, or "Immar" is for hiding for slaughter.''

Matthew 26:73 In-Context

Matthew 26:73

Matthew 26:73 nkjv.

And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.”

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Does Your Speech Betray You?

John R. Gibson 05/25/11 - Christian Living

As Peter warmed himself by the fire he was told,  “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you”  (John 18:18, 25; Matthew 27:73). While Peter’s denials of Jesus would make a good study, I want to focus on the idea of our speech betraying us. On more than one occasion Jesus pointed out that one’s words are reflective of his heart, sometimes for good and sometimes for evil (e.g. Matthew 12:34-37; 15:18, 19). What does our speech say about us? Does it betray something about us that, like Peter, we would prefer to deny?

The speech of some betrays the fact that they are committed to lives of immorality. Their jokes, their songs, their daily conversation displays an obsession with the immorality that will keep us from the kingdom of heaven (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; Galatians 5:19-21; et al). Since the Bible condemns all sexual relations outside the lawful marriage of a man and woman (Hebrews 13:5), it is beyond dispute that one’s heart is not right with God when his words are focused on such immorality, but what does it say about those of us who would not speak those same words, yet find the songs, jokes, conversations, etc. entertaining? Could it not be said that the speech we listen to betrays us?

For some, their speech shows that they are focused on self. We are commanded to put away selfish ambition and look out for the interests of others (Philippians 2:3, 4). Jesus told His disciples that the only way to truly save one’s life was to sacrifice it on a cross of self-denial (Luke 9:23, 24; 14:25-27, 33), but do we have the mind of Christ when our speech is filled with the pronouns of self-interest such as “I,” “my,” and “mine?” If we are like the rich fool of Luke 12:16-21 who used “I” and “my” 11 times in 3 verses, then our speech betrays us as those who need a better perspective on self.

Could our speech betray the fact that the things of God do not occupy their rightful position in our lives (Matthew 6:33)? While work and money, food, recreation, and pleasure are important parts of our lives and have a rightful place in our speech, is it ever the case that the amount of speech devoted to these things betrays us? We must work, eat, relax, etc., and have every right to watch some television, play some golf, go to the mall, travel, etc., but if not careful we will become that thorny ground which never brings any fruit to maturity because we are  “choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life”  (Luke 8:14). We can easily lose our proper focus without even being aware of it, but if we will take an honest look at our speech and the things that occupy the biggest proportion of it we may learn the hard truth others have already heard in us, and more importantly what God knows.

Paul wrote,  “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content”  (Philippians 4:11), but the speech of some betrays the fact that they are rarely content. Are you one that continually finds fault with the circumstances of life? Do your words lead others to believe you lack faith in the God who feeds the birds and clothes the lilies of the field (Matthew 6:25-34). Are we truly a people of faith? Do we have that deep, abiding trust in God that allows us to overcome any circumstance because of our faith in Christ (Philippians 4:13; Romans 8:37), or does our speech betray us as those of little faith?

I hope that all who read this will do so with an honest heart, one that is willing to carefully consider what their speech has been saying about them. I suspect few will be able to read these words without some degree of guilt. But whether it is a problem with immorality, or self, or the cares of this life, or too little faith in God’s power and willingness to provide for us, we can do better. We can clean up our speech by cleaning up our hearts.  “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Matthew 12:34b, 35). Let’s set our hearts upon our God, His kingdom and righteousness, our individual sanctification, the salvation of the lost, the edification of our brethren, love for our neigh-bors, growing in the knowledge of God’s word, etc. and soon our speech will lead others to say of us as they said of Peter and John,  “They [have] been with Jesus”  (Acts 4:13).

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A Betrayal Of Words Series

Contributed by dean courtier on nov 4, 2010 (message contributor).

Scripture: Matthew 26:73

Denomination: Pentecostal

Summary: The way we speak and what we say reveals a great deal about our Christian character or lack of Christian character. The tongue is the most powerful influence in the church and it is able to build people up or tear them down.

This evening I want us to look at four words spoken to peter in Matthew 26:73 “your speech betrays you.”

Let me put these words into context for you:

The flames cast eerie shadows over the mixed group crowding in for warmth. The talk was of the man from Galilee who had been arrested by the temple guard for blasphemy.

Who had seen him.

What did they think.

Was he God or was he the devil?

And as they spoke someone pointed to the burly young stranger in the corner.

“You, you were with the one called jesus.”

“No you’re wrong.” He said, “I don’t know the carpenter” but somebody else piped up “sure you do, i’m positive of it”

and this time peter the fisherman

ignoring the fact that he was in mixed company

answered by cursing and swearing.

The group turned away from him and started talking amongst themselves when one broke away from the others and approached the scowling simon peter and said matthew 26:73 “surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.”

“your speech betrays you.”

Now the literal meaning of this statement is that something that Peter said,

or how Peter said it revealed that he was from Galilee.

This is backed up by the way the word speech is translated in some versions as accent - your accent betrays you.

Different groups of people have distinct ways of speaking. Englishmen, scots, the irish, australians, canadians and americans all claim english as their native language and yet they all speak differently.

And so the literal meaning of the passage is that Peter’s Galilean accent gave him away.

There is a very important message in these words

a message that cannot be ignored.

The way we speak and what we say reveals a great deal about our Christian character or lack of Christian character.

The tongue is the most powerful influence in the church and it is able to build people up or tear them down.

A minster was asked the question “Do you pray that your people will get the gift of tongues?”

“No” he replied, “i’m praying they will learn to control the one they’ve got now.”

The tongue is responsible for some of the most destructive sins in the church and in the same breath it can build up believers like nothing else can.

A.B. Simpson, wrote this “I would rather play with forked lightning or take in my hand live wires with their fiery current then to speak a reckless word against any servant of Christ, or idly repeat the slanderous darts which thousands of Christians are hurling at others, to the hurt or their own souls and bodies.”

I have met Christians who are so proud of their holy living, they say things like “I would never touch tobacco or the alcohol - i’ve never played poker, or gone to a cinema even to see Bambi, nor do I even tap my feet to a lively tune.”

And yet those very same people cut other christians to shreds with their tongues and don’t even feel guilty after they’ve committed verbal murder or performed a character assassination.

The truth is there is a lot more in the bible about gossip then there is about drinking, smoking, gambling, movie going and dancing combined.

The bible talks about our need to have our old natures crucified,

well I’ve met many christians that would benefit from having their tongue nailed to a cross,

myself included at times.

The vast majority of our world does not know what james 3:12 says Can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

and yet almost everybody recognises and acknowledges the truth of that verse

Can a fig tree produce olives or a grapevine produce figs? Does fresh water come from a well full of salt water?

Often the truth hurts, and we may not like the truth, but the truth is,

that many of the judgments made both inside the church and outside the church on the depth of your spiritual walk will be made based on what you say and how you say it.

In the book of galatians 5:19-23 says

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Notice how many of these, for example anger, hostility, jealousy, arguing, troublemaking and envy are manifested through speech. That is they are all actions which are expressed, enlarged or revealed through our words.

Related Media

Scriptures: Exodus 14:11 , Exodus 14:12 , Galatians 5:19-23 , Genesis 1 , James 3:12 , Matthew 26:73 , Numbers 13 , Numbers 13:27 , Numbers 13:28 , Numbers 13:33 , Numbers 14:7-8 , Philippians 4:11 , Philippians 4:13 , Philippians 4:8 , Romans 1:8

Sermon Topics: Witness , Disciples , Words , Speech , Betrayal , People In The Gospel

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DOES YOUR SPEECH BETRAY YOU?

Today’s Bible Verse

And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.” Matthew‬ 26:73‬ (NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬)

Does Your Speech Betray You?

After Jesus was arrested and betrayed, Peter was accused of being a follower of Jesus. It was his speech that gave him away.  We become like who we hang around with.  Our speech tells people who we are.  But when Peter became pressured and fearful, he immediately began to change the way he spoke!  Peter denied knowing Jesus, and using profanity he said, “I don’t know the man!”  (Matthew‬ 26:74‬ TPT).‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

How often has the enemy gotten us to change our speech because of tribulation or persecution that arises for the Word’s sake?  The enemy will try to get us to deny who we are in Christ and what we believe by getting us to change the words we speak.

I like the way the Message Bible reads when Jesus confronted the religious leaders of His day‬‬‬‬‬‬:  

You have minds like a snake pit! How do you suppose what you say is worth anything when you are so foul-minded? It’s your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful ; take them seriously . Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation. (Matthew‬ 12:34-37)‬‬

Proverbs says death and life are in the power of the tongue.  Negative circumstances or the pressures of life will try to get us to confess and say the wrong things.

Like Peter, when we are around Jesus or in our secret place, we speak a certain way and we pray and confess the Word but when we leave His presence or our secret place, does our speech or confession change?

One day as I was praying for the business, for finances to come in, I declared, “God meets all my needs! There Is No Lack!  I confessed every scripture I knew and made up a few too…just kidding…

That day, after a meeting I had with one of my clients, he asked me, “How’s business? I said, “Business is Slow.”   As soon as I said it, the Holy Spirit convicted me.  I got into my car and the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He said, “WHAT did you say about your business?”  

“I said it was slow.”  

He said, “That’s not what you said in prayer this morning.”  

I responded, “I Know but, wouldn’t that be like lying to him if I said business was great?”

He took me to Romans 4:17: “(as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.”

The Holy Spirit was teaching me about my faith and confession.  God calls those things that don’t exist as though they do exist.  We call Abraham “father” not because he got God’s attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn’t that what we’ve always read in Scripture? God saying to Abraham, “I set you up as father of many peoples”? 

Abraham was first named “Father” before he became a “Father” because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do—raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not based on what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do.

He was showing me how spiritual things work, by the words we speak. We cannot speak one way in prayer and another way when we leave the prayer closet.

I love what Charles Capps said, “Faith-filled words will put you over; fear-filled words will defeat you.” (Pastor Henry Acevedo)

Change My Story

Faith is released by the words that come out of our mouths.  Fear is also released by the words that come out of our mouths.  Have our words been faith-filled or fear-filled?  What we confess will control our lives.  Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to help us with our speech.  Let’s start today, watching the words we speak.

Today’s Declaration

Today, I allow You, Holy Spirit, to help me with my speech. Correct me and instruct me by Your Word.  I let no corrupt communication come out of my mouth, but that which is good for edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearer.  I will not grieve the Holy Spirit Who has sealed me unto the day of redemption.

Today’s Bible Reading

• Old Testament: Judges 20-21; Psalms 91
• New Testament: Mark 8:22-30; 1 Corinthians 14:26-40

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Matthew 26:73–75

73  After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for t your accent betrays you.” 74  Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75  And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, u “ Before the rooster crows , you will v deny me three times .” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Read more Explain verse Share Copy

Matthew 26:73–75 — The New International Version (NIV)

Immediately a rooster crowed. 75  Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “ Before the rooster crows , you will disown me three times .” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Matthew 26:73–75 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

73  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. 74  Then began he to curse and to swear, saying , I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. 75  And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

Matthew 26:73–75 — New Living Translation (NLT)

75  Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “ Before the rooster crows , you will deny three times that you even know me .” And he went away, weeping bitterly.

Matthew 26:73–75 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

Immediately a rooster crowed. 75  And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “ Before the rooster crows , you will deny Me three times .” So he went out and wept bitterly.

Matthew 26:73–75 — New Century Version (NCV)

74  Then Peter began to place a curse on himself and swear, “I don’t know the man.” At once, a rooster crowed. 75  And Peter remembered what Jesus had told him: “Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” Then Peter went outside and cried painfully.

Matthew 26:73–75 — American Standard Version (ASV)

73  And after a little while they that stood by came and said to Peter, Of a truth thou also art one of them; for thy speech maketh thee known. 74  Then began he to curse and to swear, I know not the man. And straightway the cock crew. 75  And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, Before the cock crow , thou shalt deny me thrice . And he went out, and wept bitterly.

Matthew 26:73–75 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

73  And after a little, those who stood there , coming to him , said to Peter, Truly thou too art of them, for also thy speech makes thee manifest. 74  Then he began to curse and to swear, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. 75  And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, who had said to him , Before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went forth without, and wept bitterly.

Matthew 26:73–75 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

74  Then Peter began to curse and swear with an oath, “I don’t know the man!” Just then a rooster crowed. 75  Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before a rooster crows, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” Then Peter went outside and cried bitterly. 

Matthew 26:73–75 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

74  Then he started to curse and to swear with an oath, “I do not know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed, 75  and Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken, “ Before the rooster crows , you will deny Me three times .” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Matthew 26:73–75 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

73  After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74  Then he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment the cock crowed. 75  Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Matthew 26:73–75 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

73  And after a little while those who were standing there came up and said to Peter, “You really are one of them also, because even your accent reveals who you are.” 74  Then he began to curse and to swear with an oath, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. 75  And Peter remembered the statement Jesus had said, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times,” and he went outside and wept bitterly.

Matthew 26:73–75 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

Right away a rooster crowed. 75  Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said. “The rooster will crow,” Jesus had told him. “Before it does, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” Peter went outside. He broke down and sobbed.

Matthew 26:73–75 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

75  And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said , “ Before a rooster crows , you will deny Me three times .” And he went out and wept bitterly .

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Peter Denies Jesus (Mark 14:66-72)

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• 66 And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest: 67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.
• 68 But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew. 69 And a maid saw him again and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.
• 70 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. 71 But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.
• 72 And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.
• Compare : Matthew 26:69-75; Luke 22:55-62; John 18:15-18, 25-27

Peter’s Denials

As Jesus predicted, Peter denies his association with him. Jesus also predicted the same for all his other disciples, but Mark doesn’t narrate their betrayals. Peter’s is interwoven with Jesus’ trial, thus contrasting true confessions with false ones. Peter’s actions are first described at the beginning of the trial, making this a “sandwich” narrative technique employed so often by Mark .

In order to emphasize the faithlessness of Peter, the nature of his three denials increases in intensity each time. First, he gives a simple denial to a single maid who claims that he was “with” Jesus. Second, he denies to the maid and a group of bystanders that he was “one of them.” Finally, he denies with a vehement oath to a group of bystanders that he was “one of them.”

It is worth remembering that according to Mark, Peter was the first disciple called to Jesus’ side (1:16-20) and the first who confessed that Jesus was the Messiah (8:29). Nevertheless, his denials of Jesus may be the most vehement of all. This is the last we see of Peter in Mark’s gospel and it’s unclear whether Peter’s weeping is a sign of repentance, contrition, or prayer.

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Whales Have an Alphabet

Until the 1960s, it was uncertain whether whales made any sounds at all..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

From “The New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.”

Today, ever since the discovery that whales produce songs, scientists have been trying to find a way to decipher their lyrics. After 60 years, they may have finally done it. My colleague, Carl Zimmer, explains.

It’s Friday, May 24.

I have to say, after many years of working with you on everything from the pandemic to —

— CRISPR DNA technology, that it turns out your interests are even more varied than I had thought, and they include whales.

They do indeed.

And why? What is it about the whale that captures your imagination?

I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody who is not fascinated by whales. I mean, these are mammals like us, and they’re swimming around in the water. They have brains that are much bigger than ours. They can live maybe 200 years. These are incredible animals, and animals that we still don’t really understand.

Right. Well, it is this majestic creature that brings us together today, Carl, because you have been reporting on a big breakthrough in our understanding of how it is that whales communicate. But I think in order for that breakthrough to make sense, I think we’re going to have to start with what we have known up until now about how whales interact. So tell us about that.

Well, people knew that whales and dolphins traveled together in groups, but up until the 1960s, we didn’t really know that whales actually made any sounds at all. It was actually sort of an accident that we came across it. The American military was developing sophisticated microphones to put underwater. They wanted to listen for Russian submarines.

As one does. But there was an engineer in Bermuda, and he started hearing some weird stuff.

[WHALE SOUNDS]

And he wondered maybe if he was actually listening to whales.

What made him wonder if it was whales, of all things?

Well, this sound did not sound like something geological.

It didn’t sound like some underwater landslide or something like that. This sounded like a living animal making some kind of call. It has these incredible deep tones that rise up into these strange, almost falsetto type notes.

It was incredibly loud. And so it would have to be some really big animal. And so with humpback whales swimming around Bermuda, this engineer thought, well, maybe these are humpback whales.

And so he gets in touch with a husband and wife team of whale biologists, Roger and Katy Payne, and plays these recordings to them. And they’re pretty convinced that they’re hearing whales, too. And then they go on to go out and confirm that by putting microphones in the water, chasing after groups of whales and confirming, yes, indeed, that these sounds are coming from these humpback whales.

So once these scientists confirm in their minds that these are the sounds of a whale, what happens with this discovery?

Well, Roger and Katy Payne and their colleagues are astonished that this species of whale is swimming around singing all the time for hours on end. And it’s so inspirational to them that they actually help to produce a record that they release “The Song of the Humpback Whale” in 1970.

And so this is being sold in record stores, you know, along with Jimi Hendrix and Rolling Stones. And it is a huge hit.

Yeah, it sells like two million copies.

Well, at the time, it was a huge cultural event. This record, this became almost like an anthem of the environmental movement. And it led, for whales in particular, to a lot of protections for them because now people could appreciate that whales were a lot more marvelous and mysterious than they maybe had appreciated before.

And so you have legislation, like the Marine Mammal Act. The United States just agrees just to stop killing whales. It stops its whaling industry. And so you could argue that the discovery of these whale songs in Bermuda led to at least some species of whales escaping extinction.

Well, beyond the cultural impact of this discovery, which is quite meaningful, I wonder whether scientists and marine biologists are figuring out what these whale songs are actually communicating.

So the Paynes create a whole branch of science, the study of whale songs. It turns out that pretty much every species of whale that we know of sings in some way or another. And it turns out that within a species, different groups of whales in different parts of the world may sing with a different dialect. But the big question of what these whales are singing, what do these songs mean, that remains elusive into the 21st century. And things don’t really change until scientists decide to take a new look at the problem in a new way.

And what is that new way?

So in 2020, a group of whale biologists, including Roger Payne, come together with computer scientists from MIT. Instead of humpback whales, which were the whales where whale songs are first discovered, these scientists decide to study sperm whales in the Caribbean. And humpback whales and sperm whales have very, very different songs. So if you’re used to humpback whales with their crazy high and low singing voices —

Right, those best-selling sounds.

— those are rockin’ tunes of the humpback whales, that’s not what sperm whales do. Sperm whales have a totally different way of communicating with each other. And I actually have some recordings that were provided by the scientists who have been doing this research. And so we can take a listen to some of them.

Wow, It’s like a rhythmic clicking.

These are a group of sperm whales swimming together, communicating.

So whale biologists knew already that there was some structure to this sound. Those clicks that you hear, they come in little pulses. And each of those pulses is known as a coda. And whale biologists had given names to these different codas. So, for example, they call one coda, one plus one plus three —

— which is basically click, click, click, click, click, or four plus three, where you have four clicks in a row and a pause and then three clicks in a row.

Right. And the question would seem to be, is this decipherable communication, or is this just whale gibberish?

Well, this is where the computer scientists were able to come in and to help out. The whale biologists who were listening to the codas from the sperm whales in the Caribbean, they had identified about 21 types. And then that would seem to be about it.

But then, an MIT computer science graduate student named Prajusha Sharma was given the job of listening to them again.

And what does she hear?

In a way, it’s not so much what she heard, but what she saw.

Because when scientists record whale songs, you can look at it kind of like if you’re looking at an audio of a recording of your podcast, you will see the little squiggles of your voice.

And so whale biologists would just look at that ticker of whale songs going across the screen and try to compare them. And Sharma said, I don’t like this. I just — this is not how I look at data. And so what she decided to do is she decided to kind of just visualize the data differently. And essentially, she just kind of flipped these images on their side and saw something totally new.

And what she saw was that sperm whales were singing a whole bunch of things that nobody had actually been hearing.

One thing that she discovered was that you could have a whale that was producing a coda over and over and over again, but it was actually playing with it. It was actually stretching out the coda,

[CLICKING] So to get a little bit longer and a little bit longer, a little bit longer.

And then get shorter and shorter and shorter again. They could play with their codas in a way that nobody knew before. And she also started to see that a whale might throw in an extra click at the end of a coda. So it would be repeating a coda over and over again and then boom, add an extra one right at the end. What they would call an ornamentation. So now, you have yet another signal that these whales are using.

And if we just look at what the sperm whales are capable of producing in terms of different codas, we go from just 21 types that they had found in the Caribbean before to 156. So what the scientists are saying is that what we might be looking at is what they call a sperm whale phonetic alphabet.

Yeah, that’s a pretty big deal because the only species that we know of for sure that has a phonetic alphabet —

— is us, exactly. So the reason that we can use language is because we can make a huge range of sounds by just doing little things with our mouths. A little change in our lips can change a bah to a dah. And so we are able to produce a set of phonetic sounds. And we put those sounds together to make words.

So now, we have sperm whales, which have at least 150 of these different versions of sounds that they make just by making little adjustments to the existing way that they make sounds. And so you can make a chart of their phonetic alphabet, just like you make a chart of the human phonetic alphabet.

So then, that raises the question, do they combine their phonetic alphabet into words? Do they combine their words into sentences? In other words, do sperm whales have a language of their own?

Right. Are they talking to each other, really talking to each other?

If we could really show that whales had language on par with humans, that would be like finding intelligent life on another planet.

We’ll be right back.

So, Carl, how should we think about this phonetic alphabet and whether sperm whales are actually using it to talk to each other?

The scientists on this project are really careful to say that these results do not definitively prove what these sperm whale sounds are. There are a handful of possibilities here in terms of what this study could mean. And one of them is that the whales really are using full-blown language.

What they might be talking about, we don’t know. I mean, perhaps they like to talk about their travels over hundreds and thousands of miles. Maybe they’re talking about, you know, the giant squid that they caught last night. Maybe they’re gossiping about each other.

And you have to remember, sperm whales are incredibly social animals. They have relationships that last for decades. And they live in groups that are in clans of thousands of whales. I mean, imagine the opportunities for gossip.

These are all at least imaginable now. But it’s also possible that they are communicating with each other, but in a way that isn’t language as we know it. You know, maybe these sounds that they’re producing don’t add up to sentences. There’s no verb there. There’s no noun. There’s no structure to it in terms of how we think of language.

But maybe they’re still conveying information to each other. Maybe they’re somehow giving out who they are and what group they belong to. But it’s not in the form of language that we think of.

Right. Maybe it’s more kind of caveman like as in whale to whale, look, there, food.

It’s possible. But, you know, other species have evolved in other directions. And so you have to put yourself in the place of a sperm whale. You know, so think about this. They are communicating in the water. And actually, like sending sounds through water is a completely different experience than through the air like we do.

So a sperm whale might be communicating to the whale right next to it a few yards away, but it might be communicating with whales miles away, hundreds of miles away. They’re in the dark a lot of the time, so they don’t even see the whales right next to them. So it’s just this constant sound that they’re making because they’re in this dark water.

So we might want to imagine that such a species would talk the way we do, but there are just so many reasons to expect that whatever they’re communicating might be just profoundly different, so different that it’s actually hard for us to imagine. And so we need to really, you know, let ourselves be open to lots of possibilities.

And one possibility that some scientists have raised is that maybe language is just the wrong model to think about. Maybe we need to think about music. You know, maybe this strange typewriter, clickety clack is actually not like a Morse code message, but is actually a real song. It’s a kind of music that doesn’t necessarily convey information the way conversation does, but it brings the whales together.

In humans, like, when we humans sing together in choruses, it can be a very emotional experience. It’s a socially bonding experience, but it’s not really like the specific words that we’re singing that bring us together when we’re singing. It’s sharing the music together.

But at a certain point, we stop singing in the chorus, and we start asking each other questions like, hey, what are you doing for dinner? How are you going to get home? There’s a lot of traffic on the BQE. So we are really drawn to the possibility that whales are communicating in that same kind of a mode.

We’re exchanging information. We’re seeking out each other’s well-being and emotional state. And we’re building something together.

And I think that happens because, I mean, language is so fundamental to us as human beings. I mean, it’s like every moment of our waking life depends on language. We are talking to ourselves if we’re not talking to other people.

In our sleep, we dream, and there are words in our dreams. And we’re just stewing in language. And so it’s really, really hard for us to understand how other species might have a really complex communication system with hundreds of different little units of sound that they can use and they can deploy. And to think anything other than, well, they must be talking about traffic on the BQE. Like —

— we’re very human-centric. And we have to resist that.

So what we end up having here is a genuine breakthrough in our understanding of how whales interact. And that seems worth celebrating in and of itself. But it really kind of doubles as a lesson in humility for us humans when it comes to appreciating the idea that there are lots of non-human ways in which language can exist.

That’s right. Humility is always a good idea when we’re thinking about other animals.

So what now happens in this realm of research? And how is it that these scientists, these marine biologists and these computer scientists are going to try to figure out what exactly this alphabet amounts to and how it’s being used?

So what’s going to happen now is a real sea change in gathering data from whales.

So to speak.

So these scientists are now deploying a new generation of undersea microphones. They’re using drones to follow these whales. And what they want to do is they want to be recording sounds from the ocean where these whales live 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And so the hope is that instead of getting, say, a few 100 codas each year on recording, these scientists want to get several hundred million every year, maybe billions of codas every year.

And once you get that much data from whales, then you can start to do some really amazing stuff with artificial intelligence. So these scientists hope that they can use the same kind of artificial intelligence that is behind things like ChatGPT or these artificial intelligence systems that are able to take recordings of people talking and transcribing them into text. They want to use that on the whale communication.

They want to just grind through vast amounts of data, and maybe they will discover more phonetic letters in this alphabet. Who knows? Maybe they will actually find bigger structures, structures that could correspond to language.

If you go really far down this route of possibilities, the hope is that you would understand what sperm whales are saying to each other so well that you could actually create artificial sperm whale communication, and you could play it underwater. You could talk to the sperm whales. And they would talk back. They would react somehow in a way that you had predicted. If that happens, then maybe, indeed, sperm whales have something like language as we understand it.

And the only way we’re going to figure that out is if we figure out not just how they talk to themselves, but how we can perhaps talk to them, which, given everything we’ve been talking about here, Carl, is a little bit ironic because it’s pretty human-centric.

That’s right. This experiment could fail. It’s possible that sperm whales don’t do anything like language as we know it. Maybe they’re doing something that we can’t even imagine yet. But if sperm whales really are using codas in something like language, we are going to have to enter the conversation to really understand it.

Well, Carl, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Thank you. Sorry. Can I say that again? My voice got really high all of a sudden.

A little bit like a whale’s. Ooh.

Yeah, exactly. Woot. Woot.

Thank yoooo. No. Thank you.

Here’s what else you need to know today.

We allege that Live Nation has illegally monopolized markets across the live concert industry in the United States for far too long. It is time to break it up.

On Thursday, the Justice Department sued the concert giant Live Nation Entertainment, which owns Ticketmaster, for violating federal antitrust laws and sought to break up the $23 billion conglomerate. During a news conference, Attorney General Merrick Garland said that Live Nation’s monopolistic tactics had hurt the entire industry of live events.

The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices.

In a statement, Live Nation called the lawsuit baseless and vowed to fight it in court.

A reminder — tomorrow, we’ll be sharing the latest episode of our colleagues’ new show, “The Interview.” This week on “The Interview,” Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with Ted Sarandos, the CEO of Netflix, about his plans to make the world’s largest streaming service even bigger.

I don’t agree with the premise that quantity and quality are somehow in conflict with each other. I think our content and our movie programming has been great, but it’s just not all for you.

Today’s episode was produced by Alex Stern, Stella Tan, Sydney Harper, and Nina Feldman. It was edited by MJ Davis, contains original music by Pat McCusker, Dan Powell, Elisheba Ittoop, Marion Lozano, and Sophia Lanman, and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

Special thanks to Project SETI for sharing their whale recordings.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you on Tuesday after the holiday.

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Hosted by Michael Barbaro

Featuring Carl Zimmer

Produced by Alex Stern ,  Stella Tan ,  Sydney Harper and Nina Feldman

Edited by MJ Davis Lin

Original music by Elisheba Ittoop ,  Dan Powell ,  Marion Lozano ,  Sophia Lanman and Pat McCusker

Engineered by Alyssa Moxley

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube

Ever since the discovery of whale songs almost 60 years ago, scientists have been trying to decipher the lyrics.

But sperm whales don’t produce the eerie melodies sung by humpback whales, sounds that became a sensation in the 1960s. Instead, sperm whales rattle off clicks that sound like a cross between Morse code and a creaking door. Carl Zimmer, a science reporter, explains why it’s possible that the whales are communicating in a complex language.

On today’s episode

Carl Zimmer , a science reporter for The New York Times who also writes the Origins column .

Background reading

Scientists find an “alphabet” in whale songs.

These whales still use their vocal cords. But how?

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Carl Zimmer covers news about science for The Times and writes the Origins column . More about Carl Zimmer

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Peter Denies Jesus

69  Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. "You also were with Jesus of Galilee," she said. 70  But he denied it before them all. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said. 71  Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, "This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth." 72  He denied it again, with an oath: "I don't know the man!" 73  After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, "Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away." 74  Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, "I don't know the man!" Immediately a rooster crowed.

Other Translations of Matthew 26:69-74

King james version.

69  Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. 70  But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. 71  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. 72  And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. 73  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. 74  Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

English Standard Version

69  Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, "You also were with Jesus the Galilean." 70  But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you mean." 71  And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." 72  And again he denied it with an oath: "I do not know the man." 73  After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you." 74  Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately the rooster crowed.

The Message

69  All this time, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard. One servant girl came up to him and said, "You were with Jesus the Galilean." 70  In front of everybody there, he denied it. "I don't know what you're talking about." 71  As he moved over toward the gate, someone else said to the people there, "This man was with Jesus the Nazarene." 72  Again he denied it, salting his denial with an oath: "I swear, I never laid eyes on the man." 73  Shortly after that, some bystanders approached Peter. "You've got to be one of them. Your accent gives you away." 74  Then he got really nervous and swore. "I don't know the man!"

New King James Version

69  Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, "You also were with Jesus of Galilee." 70  But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you are saying." 71  And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth." 72  But again he denied with an oath, "I do not know the Man!" 73  And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, "Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you." 74  Then he began to curse and swear, saying, "I do not know the Man!" Immediately a rooster crowed.

New Living Translation

69  Meanwhile, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl came over and said to him, "You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean." 70  But Peter denied it in front of everyone. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said. 71  Later, out by the gate, another servant girl noticed him and said to those standing around, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth. " 72  Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. "I don't even know the man," he said. 73  A little later some of the other bystanders came over to Peter and said, "You must be one of them; we can tell by your Galilean accent." 74  Peter swore, "A curse on me if I'm lying-I don't know the man!" And immediately the rooster crowed.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Matthew 26:69-74

Commentary on matthew 26:69-75.

(Read Matthew 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.

More Commentaries for Matthew 26

• John Darby’s Synopsis
• McGarvey and Pendleton
• The Geneva Study Bible
• John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
• Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown
• B. W. Johnson’s Bible Commentary
• John Lightfoot’s Bible Commentary
• Matthew Henry Bible Commentary (complete)
• Wesley’s Explanatory Notes

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