Luke 22:32

ἐδεήθην περὶ σοῦ. ‘I made supplication concerning thee,’ shewing that Peter, the most confident, was at that moment the most imperilled, though Jesus had prayed for them all (John 17:9; John 17:11).

μὴ ἐκλίπῃ. The aor. points to this special crisis. Some MSS. read ἐκλείπῃ which would imply a continuous failure of faith. The verb ἐκλείπω means ‘fail utterly, or finally.’

σύ ποτε ἐπιστρέψας στήρισον τοὺς�. ‘When once thou hast turned again stablish thy brethren.’ John 21:4-17. For στηρίζω see Romans 1:2; 1 Peter 5:10. In the latter verse it is accompanied by σθενόω ‘strengthen.’ Comp. Psalms 51:13. The very word for ‘strengthen’ sank into his heart, and is repeated in his Epistle, 1 Peter 5:10. Ἐπιστρέψας does not here imply conversion in the technical sense—but ‘when thou hast turned again.’ It means more, however, than merely vicissim, ‘in turn.’ Comp. 1 Peter 2:25; 2 Peter 2:21-22; Matthew 13:15, &c.