[B-Greek] question about chickens in the NT

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun Mar 21 08:09:44 EST 2004


At 3:48 AM -0800 3/21/04, Jonathan Walther wrote:
>My KJV uses the word hen twice (Mt23:37, Lu13:34), and the word cock
>eleven times (Mt26:34, Mt26:74, Mt26:75, Mk14:30, Mk14:68, Mk14:72, Lu22:34,
>Lu22:60, Lu22:61, Jn13:38, Jn18:27)
>
>Do the Greek words in those verses definately refer to chickens as we
>know them today, or could they refer to any member of the order
>Galliformes, such as turkeys, pheasants, and quail?
>
>I'm trying to find out if the ancient category of "quail" could have
>included todays galliformes.  So far, the only birds I can find
>confirmed as clean are doves (including pigeons) and quail.  Today
>chickens are classed in the same order as quail, but I am interested in
>how the ancient Hebrews saw the relationship.

It would appear that you haven't bothered looking at the Greek words in
these passages but are asking a question arising from reading and/or
word-search in the KJV. In fact the word translated "hen" in Mt 23:37 and
Lk 13:34 is ORNIS, which is just about the most generic word existing in
Greek for a brood hen of any species of bird whatsoever--and which in the
masculine is the generic Greek word for "bird." The species of the bird in
these two forms of the Jesus-saying is wholly irrelevant to its point about
maternal concern of mother for brood.

The other word that is translated "cock" is ALEKTWR, which in older Greek
was a poetic equivalent of the the more standard prose word ALEKTRUWN. I
don't think much is to be gained from etymological tracing: the word may or
may not be an agent-noun from the verb ALEKW, "defend," "protect." Without
affirming or denying that this is the rooster of the familiar domestic
chicken, I would tentatively ask, is there another barnyard animal that
screams out a greeting at daybreak?
-- 

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/



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