Charles Ellicott Commentary John 21:18

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." — John 21:18 (ASV)

Truly, truly, I say to you. This phrase is peculiar to Saint John. (Compare to the note on John 1:51.) The remainder of the verse contains three pairs of sentences that correspond to each other:

You were young, — you shall be old;
You girded yourself, — you shall stretch forth your hands, and another shall gird you;
And walked where you would, — and carry you where you would not.

You were young. Literally, you were younger (than you are now). Peter must have been at this time in middle age.

You shall stretch forth your hands, and another shall gird you. Do these words refer to the crucifixion of Peter? Tradition, from Tertullian onward (Scorp. xv.; De Praescr. xxxv.), states that he was crucified. Interpreting this prophecy by the event, tradition asserts that these words do indeed refer to it. Tertullian himself understood them this way, for he says, “Then Peter is girded by another when he is bound to the cross.”

But on the other hand:

1. The girding (with chains) would precede, not follow, the crucifixion.
2. It would be more natural to speak of another stretching forth his hands if the nailing of them to the cross is intended.
3. The last clause, “and carry you where you would not,” could not follow the stretching of the hands on the transverse beam of the cross.

It seems impossible, therefore, to adopt the traditional reference to crucifixion. We must take the words “stretch forth your hands” as symbolically expressing the personal surrender before being girded by another.

The context does not specify the exact form of death. Thus, we have a complete parallelism in the second pair of sentences, as in the first and third. The stretching forth of the hands is part of the girding by another, and the whole contrasts with “You girded yourself.”