chicken / rooster / chick

There is considerable doubt about the meaning of the word sekwi. However, the rendering “cock” or “rooster” has support from the Vulgate and one of the Targums, as well as the majority of commentaries. In the context of Job 38:36 the reference seems to be to the way in which the ibis is able to announce the flooding of the Nile, and the rooster is able to announce the coming of the dawn. Both of these abilities are mentioned quite often in Egyptian literature.

The word zarzir is probably related to a word meaning “narrow waisted,” but most commentaries and translations interpret this as a reference to the rooster.

The Greek word ornis and the Latin word gallina mean “hen,” and the Greek words nossia and nossion mean “chick,” that is, a baby fowl.

All modern domestic fowls are descended from the jungle fowl of India, Southeast Asia, and China. These were domesticated very early in the history of that region, almost as soon as the farming of rice and other grains began. According to the Talmud, it was forbidden to keep domestic poultry in Jerusalem, but there is evidence from ancient Hebrew seals that chickens were known in the land as early as 600 B.C. The reference to the cock crowing on the night of the crucifixion would indicate that chickens were kept near, if not in, Jerusalem.

Ancient domestic fowls would still have looked very much like the Jungle Fowl Gallus gallus from which they were descended. Jungle fowl roosters are dark, brownish red, with orange-red neck hackles, a smallish red comb on the top of their heads, and red lappets on each side under the beak. They have a white spot on their backs near the base of their long glossy black and green tails. The hens are a lighter brownish red, have no white spot or long tail, and have a smaller comb on their heads.

Domestic fowl had connotations of fertility to the Egyptians and Persians. This seems to have been adopted later in Judaism, since it became the practice to carry a cock and a hen in front of the bride and groom at a wedding. However, their significance in the Bible seems related to the fact that cocks crow very early in the morning, thus announcing the coming dawn before humans are aware of it.

Domestic fowl have now spread around the world and are well-known, apart from some areas of the tundra region.

The words sekwi, zarzir, alektruōn, and alektōr are probably best translated as “rooster,” ornis as “hen,” and nossion and nossia as “chickens.” In some languages where roosters and hens are not normally differentiated, it may not be necessary to do so in the gospel passages, since the verb “crow” will usually be sufficient context to make the meaning clear. However, in the Job and Proverbs passages it may still be necessary in some languages to say something like “male chicken.”

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

See also rooster.

rooster

The Greek that is translated in English as “rooster crowed” or “cock crowed” is translated in North Alaskan Inupiatun as “the bird called.” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)

See also chicken / rooster / chick.

Mark 14:66-72 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 14:66-72 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

In the house of the high priest, where the judges, chief priests and others had gathered to judge Jesus, Peter was standing in the courtyard, warming himself by the fire. A woman, the high priest’s servant, passed by. As she passed by, she looked at Peter, looked closely and said:

— Yes, that’s right, you were with Jesus of Nazareth. It’s you.

Peter said, “No, no. I do not know him.” And he went away to another place. At that moment the rooster crowed for the first time. Peter went away to the side, but the same servant girl, passing by, saw him and began to say to everyone, “Look, this is he, this man was with Jesus.” Peter said, “No, no!!!” And he went away again to another place. And the people who had gathered there, seeing Peter, said, “Yes, indeed, it was you who was with Jesus, for you speak like a man from Galilee.”

Peter said, “No, it’s not me. I’m honest to God, I don’t know who Jesus is, no.” And at that moment the rooster crowed a second time. Peter, hearing the rooster, remembered Jesus telling him, “By the time the rooster crows twice, you will have already denied me three times!” Peter remembered these words and began to worry and cry very much.

Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):

В доме первосвященника, где собрались судьи, первосвященники и другие люди, чтобы судить Иисуса, там во дворе Петр стоял, грелся у костра. Там проходила женщина, служанка первосвященника. Когда она проходила мимо, она посмотрела на Петра, присмотрелась и сказала:

– Да, точно, ты был с Иисусом из Назарета. Это ты.

Петр сказал: «Нет, нет. Я не знаю его». И отошел в другое место. В это время петух прокричал первый раз. Петр отошел в сторону, но эта же служанка, проходя мимо, увидела его и стала всем говорить: «Вот, это он, этот человек был вместе с Иисусом». Петр сказал: «Нет же, нет!!!» И он опять отошел в другое место. И люди, которые там собрались, увидев Петра, сказали: «Да, точно, это ты был вместе с Иисусом, потому что ты говоришь, как человек из Галилеи».

Петр сказал: «Нет, это не я. Я честен перед Богом, я не знаю, кто такой Иисус, нет». И в это время прокричал петух второй раз. Петр, услышав петуха, вспомнил, как Иисус сказал ему: «К тому времени, когда петух дважды прокричит, ты уже трижды от меня отречешься!» Петр вспомнил эти слова и начал очень сильно переживать и плакать.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

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Mark 15:1-15 in Russian Sign Language >>

Peter denies Jesus (image)

He Qi © 2021 All Rights Reserved.

Image taken from He Qi Art . For purchasing prints of this and other artworks by He Qi go to heqiart.com .

For other images of He Qi art works in TIPs, see here.

Following is an painting by Wang Suda 王肅達 (1910-1963):

Copyright by the Catholic University Peking, China

Text under painting translated from Literary Chinese into English:
The Second Commandment
Peter swears he doesn’t know the Lord

Image taken from Chinese Christian Posters . For more information on the “Ars Sacra Pekinensis” school of art, see this article , for other artworks of that school in TIPs, see here.

Mark 14:66 - 72 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 14:66-72 into Mexican Sign Language with back-translations into Spanish and English underneath:


© La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)

Afuera en la plaza Pedro se estaba calientando las manos al fuego, y una mujer, sierva del sumo sacerdote caminó (hacia él) y lo vio y dijo: “Jesús es del pueblo de Nazaret, y tú siempre ibas de lugar a lugar con él.”

Pedro (dijo): “No lo conozco”, y caminó hacia la puerta y oyó el galló gritando.

Otra vez la sierva lo vio y dijo: “Este hombre estaba junto con Jesús, pero Pedro lo negó.”

Después las personas dijeron: “Sentimos seguros que este hombre estaba con Jesús, lo conocemos, él también es de Galilea.”

Pedro (dijo): “Este hombre Jesús, no lo conozco, de verás, en serio, si miento Dios me castigue.”

En este instante el gallo gritó por segunda vez, y Pedro lo oyó y se acordó de que Jesús recientemente lo había dicho: “Tú me negarás tres veces y después el gallo gritará por segunda vez.”

Pedro tuvo un cambio de corazón y lloró y lloró.


Outside in the square Peter was warming his hands by the fire and a woman, servant of the high priest, walked up (to him) and saw him and said: “Jesus is from the village of Nazareth and you were always traveling around with him.”

Peter (said): “I don’t know him” and he walked to the door and heard the rooster crow.

Again the servant woman saw him and said: “This man was with Jesus, but Peter denied it.”

Afterwards the people said: “We feel sure that this man was with Jesus, we know him, he is also from Galilee.”

Peter (said): “This man Jesus, I don’t know him, really, seriously, if I lie God may punish me.”

At that moment the rooster crowed for the second time, and Peter heard it and remembered what Jesus had told him just before: “You will deny me three times and then the rooster will crow for the second time.”

Peter had a change of heart and cried and cried.

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

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Mark 15:1-5 in Mexican Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 14:68)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 14:68:

  • Uma: “But Petrus denied it, he said: ‘I don’t know him, and I don’t understand what you (sing.) are saying!’ From there he moved off going close to the door of the fence. A chicken crowed.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But Petros argued/denied, he said, ‘I don’t know and I don’t understand as to what you are saying there.’ And immediately he left towards the gate. Then the cock crowed.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But Peter denied it and said, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about; neither do I understand what you are trying to say.’ And Peter went out toward the gate of the yard. Then the chicken crowed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But he denied it saying, ‘Oh come on now! I emphatically don’t know what you (sing.) are saying and neither do I understand.’ Then he went to the edge of the yard by the gate. And a rooster crowed.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But Pedro denied it, saying, ‘Expletive, no! I don’t-know, I certainly don’t know and don’t understand what you are saying.’ Pedro moved to the gateway. And then a rooster crowed.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Mark 14:68

Text:

At the end of the verse kai alektōr ephōnēsen ‘and a cock crowed’ is included by the great majority of editions of the Greek text; it is omitted, however, by Nestle, Westcott and Hort (and Revised Standard Version), on the not inconsiderable witness of codices Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, other uncial manuscripts, and some early versions. Internal evidence also favors the omission of the phrase.

Exegesis:

ērnēsato (14.70; cf. aparneomai 8.34) ‘he denied,’ here, as for aparneomai in v. 30, the meaning is ‘repudiate,’ ‘disown.’ Translator’s New Testament understands the verb to have reference to Jesus, translating, ‘But he disowned Him….’

oute oida oute epistamai ‘I neither know nor understand’: it is to be doubted whether any distinction is to be made between the two verbs, oida (cf. 4.13) ‘I know,’ the verb commonly used in Mark, and epistamai ‘I understand,’ used only here in Mark (cf. Lagrange). Some commentators suggest the meaning to be ‘I neither know him, nor understand what you mean’: while this makes good sense it requires reading into the verse the personal pronoun ‘him’ which is not there, nor is necessarily implied. Some translations (Moffatt, Montgomery, The Modern Speech New Testament) divide the words into two separate affirmations, ‘I do not know. I do not understand….’

oute … oute (cf. 12.25) ‘neither … nor.’

su ti legeis ‘what you are saying,’ ‘what you mean.’ In the margin of their text Westcott and Hort suggest this may be taken as a separate question, ‘What are you saying?’ ‘What do you mean?,’ a suggestion Moffatt and The Modern Speech New Testament have incorporated into their translations (cf. also Rawlinson). Black supports Torrey’s conjecture that instead of ti ‘what’ the correct rendering of the underlying Aramaic di would have been tis ‘who,’ i.e. ‘I neither know nor am I acquainted with him of whom you speak.’ This conjecture, however, has been contested on the ground that the Greek text as it stands, vividly reflects the uncertainty and confusion of the apostle.

exēlthen exo eis to proaulion ‘he went out (of the courtyard) into the passageway (leading to the gate).’

proaulion (only here in the N.T.) is the ‘forecourt’ or ‘passageway’ leading from the gateway (pulōn) to the courtyard (aulē).

[kai alektōr ephōnēsen ‘and a cock crowed’: cf. v. 30.]

Translation:

Denied it must refer to the immediately preceding statement made by the maid. In some languages the proper equivalent is merely ‘he said, No.’ In others one may translate ‘he said that was not true.’

Know and understand what you mean may be variously translated, depending primarily upon one’s exegesis of the passage in question (see above). What you mean may be ‘what you are saying’ or ‘what you are trying to say,’ depending upon receptor language usage.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .