Another question of semantics - was the cock's crow which Jesus prophesied Peter would hear before he betrayed Him thrice, the crow of a rooster or a trumpet blast which happened every 3 hours, or so.
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This is a good question because the Mishnah (m.Bava Kamma 7:7) states that:
The reason for this is not the dung directly (dung is not actually ritually unclean). But there is a concern that the chickens may contaminate the sacrifices with the unclean creatures they might drag out of the dungheaps. (Remember, some sacrifices were eaten anywhere in Jerusalem, not just the Temple courts.) "Cock's crow" is a technical term in Jewish law: kri'at hagever (קריאת הגבר). It is a time of day prior to dawn that marks the end of night. The Mishnah (m.Yoma 1:8) describes how the removal of the ashes form the altar in the Temple was performed:
In the Gemara (b.Yoma 20b) there is a disagreement as to whether the term kri'at hagever literally means "call of the man" or "call of the rooster":
The Gemara continues by explaining that they are both right. In the Temple precinct, there was a Temple crier who called out to begin the service. Everywhere else, the time would be determined by an actual rooster crowing.
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A cock's crow can be heard from a long distance, depending on various factors, so there is no reason to assume the bird was within the temple. Given that it is perfectly likely that it was simply a literal cock's crow, the seems to be no logic searching for another more complicated explanation, which would need to be backed up by strong historical evidence to have any credibility in my view |
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