ἀλέκτωρ, a well known domestic fowl. Some derive the Greek name
from α, and λέκτρον, _a bed_, because the crowing of cocks rouses men
from their beds; but Mr. Parkhurst asks, “May not this name be as
properly deduced from the Hebrew אור הלכת, _the coming of the light_, of
which this ‘bird of dawning,’ as Shakspeare calls him, gives such
remarkable notice, and for doing which he was, among the Heathen, sacred
to the sun, who in Homer is himself called ἀλέκτωρ?” In Matt. xxvi, 34,
our Lord is represented as saying, that before cock-crow Peter should
deny him thrice; so Luke xxii, 34, and John xiii, 39. But according to
Mark xiv, 30, he says, “Before the cock crow _twice_ thou shalt deny me
thrice.” These texts may be very satisfactorily reconciled, by
observing, that ancient authors, both Greek and Latin, mention two
cock-crowings, the one of which was soon after midnight, the other about
three o’clock in the morning; and this latter being most noticed by men
as the signal of their approaching labours, was called by way of
eminence, the cock-crowing; and to this alone, Matthew, giving the
general sense of our Saviour’s warning to Peter, refers; but Mark,
recording his very words, mentions the two cock-crowings.
The rabbies tell us that cocks were not permitted to be kept in
Jerusalem on account of the holiness of the place; and that for this
reason some modern Jews cavil against this declaration of the
Evangelists; but the cock is not among the birds prohibited in the law
of Moses. If there was any restraint in the use and domestication of the
animal, it must have been an arbitrary practice of the Jews, and could
not have been binding on foreigners, of whom many resided at Jerusalem
as officers or traders. Strangers would not be willing to forego an
innocent kind of food in compliance with a conquered people; and the
trafficking spirit of the Jews would induce them to supply aliens, if it
did not expressly contradict the letter of their law. This is sufficient
to account for fowl of this kind being there, even admitting a customary
restraint. The celebrated Reland admits that it was not allowed to breed
cocks in the city, but that the Jews were not prohibited from buying
them to eat, and that therefore the cock mentioned in the Gospel might
be in the house of a Jew who designed to kill it for his own table; or
may have been kept in the precincts of Pilate, or of a Roman officer or
soldier.
During the time of our Saviour, the night was divided into four watches,
a fourth watch having been introduced among the Jews from the Romans,
who derived it from the Greeks. The second and third watches are
mentioned in Luke xii, 38; the fourth, in Matthew xiv, 25; and the four
are all distinctly mentioned in Mark xiii, 35: “Watch, therefore; for ye
know not when the master of the house cometh; at _even_,” ὀψὲ, or the
late watch, “or at _midnight_,” μεσονυκτίου, “or at the _cock-crowing_,”
ἀλεκτοροφωνίας, “or in the _morning_,” ϖρωΐ, the early watch. Here, the
first watch was at even, and continued from six till nine; the second
commenced at nine, and ended at twelve, or midnight; the third watch,
called by the Romans _gallicinium_, lasted from twelve to three; and the
morning watch closed at six.
from α, and λέκτρον, _a bed_, because the crowing of cocks rouses men
from their beds; but Mr. Parkhurst asks, “May not this name be as
properly deduced from the Hebrew אור הלכת, _the coming of the light_, of
which this ‘bird of dawning,’ as Shakspeare calls him, gives such
remarkable notice, and for doing which he was, among the Heathen, sacred
to the sun, who in Homer is himself called ἀλέκτωρ?” In Matt. xxvi, 34,
our Lord is represented as saying, that before cock-crow Peter should
deny him thrice; so Luke xxii, 34, and John xiii, 39. But according to
Mark xiv, 30, he says, “Before the cock crow _twice_ thou shalt deny me
thrice.” These texts may be very satisfactorily reconciled, by
observing, that ancient authors, both Greek and Latin, mention two
cock-crowings, the one of which was soon after midnight, the other about
three o’clock in the morning; and this latter being most noticed by men
as the signal of their approaching labours, was called by way of
eminence, the cock-crowing; and to this alone, Matthew, giving the
general sense of our Saviour’s warning to Peter, refers; but Mark,
recording his very words, mentions the two cock-crowings.
The rabbies tell us that cocks were not permitted to be kept in
Jerusalem on account of the holiness of the place; and that for this
reason some modern Jews cavil against this declaration of the
Evangelists; but the cock is not among the birds prohibited in the law
of Moses. If there was any restraint in the use and domestication of the
animal, it must have been an arbitrary practice of the Jews, and could
not have been binding on foreigners, of whom many resided at Jerusalem
as officers or traders. Strangers would not be willing to forego an
innocent kind of food in compliance with a conquered people; and the
trafficking spirit of the Jews would induce them to supply aliens, if it
did not expressly contradict the letter of their law. This is sufficient
to account for fowl of this kind being there, even admitting a customary
restraint. The celebrated Reland admits that it was not allowed to breed
cocks in the city, but that the Jews were not prohibited from buying
them to eat, and that therefore the cock mentioned in the Gospel might
be in the house of a Jew who designed to kill it for his own table; or
may have been kept in the precincts of Pilate, or of a Roman officer or
soldier.
During the time of our Saviour, the night was divided into four watches,
a fourth watch having been introduced among the Jews from the Romans,
who derived it from the Greeks. The second and third watches are
mentioned in Luke xii, 38; the fourth, in Matthew xiv, 25; and the four
are all distinctly mentioned in Mark xiii, 35: “Watch, therefore; for ye
know not when the master of the house cometh; at _even_,” ὀψὲ, or the
late watch, “or at _midnight_,” μεσονυκτίου, “or at the _cock-crowing_,”
ἀλεκτοροφωνίας, “or in the _morning_,” ϖρωΐ, the early watch. Here, the
first watch was at even, and continued from six till nine; the second
commenced at nine, and ended at twelve, or midnight; the third watch,
called by the Romans _gallicinium_, lasted from twelve to three; and the
morning watch closed at six.