Bible Dictionaries
Cock, Hen

Cock, Hen — Domestic poultry are not mentioned till after the Babylonian captivity is what some believe but others understand the "seal of Jaazaniah" from the ruins of the biblical Judean kingdom at Mizpah, with the inscription of "belonging to Jaazaniah, servant to the king"^[5][6] to carry the insignia of a rooster "in fighting stance" for spiritual purposes based on Proverbs 30, with similar illustrations of "cocks in fighting stance"^[7] found within the Vivian Bible. In Jesus' time domestic poultry, introduced from India through Persia, had become common, and their well-known habits gave rise to familiar expressions, and afforded good and easy illustrations (Mark 13:35; 14:30, etc.). Jesus Christ compared His care for Jerusalem to that of a hen for her brood, or more accurately an ornis (ὄρνις) - Strongs: G3733, a bird, specifically a rooster or hen. The three times the word 'cock' appears in the D.V. it is owing to a misinterpretation of the primitive text, according to some, but to others in the context of a religious instilling vessel of "a girt one of the loins" (Young's Literal Translation) that which is "stately in his stride" and "move with stately bearing" within the Book of Proverbs 30:29–31, Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon (Saadia Gaon) identifies the definitive trait of "a cock girded about the loins" within Proverbs 30:31(DV) as "the honesty of their behavior and their success",^[9] identifying a spiritual purpose of a religious vessel within that religious and spiritual instilling schema.

1. Job 38:36, the word sékhwi (שֶׂכְוִי - Strongs: H7907) means soul, heart: "Who hath put wisdom in the heart of man? and who gave his soul understanding?", but also "Sekvi means 'rooster' according to the Sages"^[10] and hence "Who hath put wisdom in the heart of man? or who gave the cock understanding?"(DV).
2. Proverbs 30:31, zãrzîr (זַרְזִיר - Strongs: H2223) should be translated as "hero" according to some, but to others as "a cock girded about the loins" or "a girt one of the loins"(Young's Literal Translation), "which most of the old translations and Rabbis understood to be a fighting cock".^[11]
3. Isaiah 22:17, where the word gébhér (גֶּבֶר - Strongs: H1397), great, strong man, has been rendered according to some rabbinical conceptions, but also the Hebrew word gever was used to mean a "rooster" in addition to the meaning of "man, strong man".

Verses:

• Proverbs 30:31
• Matthew 23:37
• Matthew 26:34
• Matthew 26:74
• Matthew 26:75
• Mark 13:35
• Mark 14:30
• Mark 14:68
• Mark 14:72
• Luke 13:34
• Luke 22:34
• Luke 22:60
• Luke 22:61
• John 13:38
• John 18:27