Following is a 1973 painting of the JESUS MAFA project, a response to New Testament readings from the Lectionary by a Christian community in Cameroon, Africa. Each of the readings was selected and adapted to dramatic interpretation by the community members. Photographs of their interpretations were made, and these were then transcribed to paintings:
From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Image retrieved March 23, 2026. Original source: librairie-emmanuel.fr.
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 22:59:
Noongar: “After, another man said again and again, ‘I truly know. This man accompanied Jesus, because he also is from Galilee!'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “About an hour from there, someone also said: ‘Definitely he is really his companion, because he is also a Galilea person!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “After about an hour had gone by another one also noticed Petros and said, ‘I know for sure that this person is also one of his companions. For he is from Jalil.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And a little while later there was another person who recognized Peter and he said, ‘It’s really true what you are a companion of that one that was arrested, because it can be recognized that you also are a Galilean.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “After an hour went by, there was again a man who insisted, ‘It is emphatically true that this is one of Jesus’ companions, because he is emphatically from-Galilea also.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “About one hour passed, then someone insisted saying, ‘This fellow really is indeed his companion, for he’s a taga Galilea.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 22:54-65:
Peter kept his distance after Jesus was arrested
and led away to the house of the high priest.
Some people were sitting around a fire
in the courtyard of the house, and Peter joined them.
“This man was with Jesus!” blurted out a servant girl.
“I don’t even know the guy!” insisted Peter.
“You’re one of them!” someone said with a smirk.
“Not me!” denied Peter.
An hour or so later, another man swore,
“This man was with Jesus—they’re both from Galilee.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
came Peter’s denial.
At that very moment, while Peter was still speaking,
he heard the sound of a rooster crowing.
The Lord looked in Peter’s direction,
and Peter remembered those solemn words,
“Before a rooster crows tomorrow morning,
you’ll say three times you don’t even know me.”
Peter left and wept bitterly.
Meanwhile, the guards insulted and struck Jesus.
They put a blindfold on him and sneered as they said,
“Tell us who hit you?”
And this was not the worst they did to him.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
diastasēs hōsei hōras mias lit. ‘when about one hour had passed,’ genitive absolute.
diistamai (also 24.51) ‘to go away,’ ‘to part,’ here ‘to pass,’ of time.
allos tis ‘somebody else,’ synonymous with heteros in v. 57.
diischurizeto legōn ‘affirmed strongly, or confidently, saying.’ legōn is used to introduce direct speech.
diischurizomai ‘to affirm strongly.’ It does not imply a reference to a previous statement.
ep’ alētheias ‘verily,’ ‘without doubt,’ cf. on 4.25.
kai houtos met’ autou ēn ‘this man was with him too,’ cf. on v. 56.
kai gar Galilaios estin ‘for he is a Galilean,’ best understood as an additional indication that Peter belonged to Jesus, cf. The Four Gospels – a New Translation.
Translation:
After an interval of about one hour, or, ‘about an hour later.’ Hour refers here to 1/12 of the period of daylight, but the exact duration is not to be pressed. Toraja-Sa’dan uses ‘one betel chewing,’ an idiomatic expression for an unspecified period of time which in actual fact is rather shorter than an hour.
Still another, or, ‘another (or, a second) man’; cf. on v. 58.
Insisted, or, ‘made himself strong’ (Uab Meto), ‘spoke emphatically/heavily’ (Ekari, Trukese); or simply, ‘said,’ since the idea of strong affirmation is sufficiently expressed in the following direct discourse.
Certainly, or, more adapted to the present context, “of course” (New English Bible), “there isn’t any doubt that” (Good News Translation), ‘right indeed’ (Bahasa Indonesia KB); and cf. references on “truly” in 4.24.
He is a Galilean, or, ‘he is a Galilee-man, or, one-who-hails-from Galilee’ (Balinese, here and in 23.6 respectively), ‘he is from Galilee,’ ‘Galilee is his (native) country.’ The statement probably is a deduction from what the man heard, i.e. Peter’s Galilean accent (cf. Mt. 26.73); this is of importance where one has to decide which evidential aspect is to be used (cf. on v. 56).
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.
About an hour later: The phrase About an hour later refers to the time after the second person recognized him. Other ways to translate it are:
When another hour had passed -or-
About an hour after ⌊he said this⌋
In some languages it may be appropriate to use a more general way to refer to the time. For example:
Then a while later
Use a natural phrase in your language.
another man: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as another refers to someone else, probably to another man. Some other ways to translate it are:
another person -or-
someone else (Revised English Bible)
insisted: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as insisted means “to declare firmly, to assert.” It indicates here that this third person was certain that his statement about Peter was true: Peter was with Jesus. Here is another way to translate this:
asserted (New International Version)
22:59b
Certainly: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Certainly is literally “of a truth.” Translate in a way that indicates that a person is sure about what he saying. For example:
There isn’t any doubt (Good News Translation) -or-
It’s obvious (God’s Word) -or-
Of course (Revised English Bible)
this man was with Him: Here the speaker spoke to the other people there. He did not speak directly to Peter. He was talking about Peter and Jesus. Here is another way to translate this:
this man was with Jesus (Good News Translation)
22:59c
for he too is a Galilean: This clause gives the reason why the speaker was so confident that Peter was with Jesus. He was sure of this, because Peter and Jesus both came from Galilee District. The speaker probably knew this because Peter and Jesus spoke with a Galilean accent, which was different from the way the people of Judea spoke. Matthew 26:73 makes this explicit.
In Greek the clause for he too is a Galilean includes a word meaning too or “also,” as in 22:56c and 22:58b. Some other ways to translate the clause are:
…because he also is a Galilean! (Good News Translation) -or-
They both come from Galilee. (Contemporary English Version)
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