Is the "cock that crows" in Luke 22:34 not an actual rooster but a man that calls for prayer?

Question

Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” Luke 22:34 NIV

https://news.ag.org/Features/Sometimes-a-Rooster-is-Not-a-Rooster

This article from the Assemblies of God relates how ancient Jewish phrases in the Bible can be taken too literally and not understood by today's culture. It claims that the "cock that crows" is an ancient term used to describe the man who blows the shofar early in the morning to wake up everyone to prayer.

What evidence is there for this claim, that the "cock" was a person not an animal?

Answer 1

This is a VERY interesting and plausible suggestion, provided some evidence can be provided. My search revealed none. In fact the referenced article contains some factual errors, namely:

• Chickens were not permitted in Jerusalem. This is obviously false as chickens were being sold in the temple and had to be purged by Jesus on at least one (possibly two) occasions
• The word for rooster is "alektor" can also mean "man or husband". I could find no lexicon or dictionary that offers that meaning for "alektor" (eg, BDAG gives rooster as the sole meaning and nothing more from non-Biblical literature)
• If "rooster crowing" did actually mean the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn), I could find no reference to such in the Torah.
• I could find no reference to the shofar being used around Passover time in the Torah

Such a tradition may have developed later (well after the Torah or even after the OT was complete) and this would be interesting to know.

Another site makes similar claims that are a slight modification of the above: https://www.randomgroovybiblefacts.com/peters-denial-and-the-cocks-crow.html

This second reference suggests that it is in the Aramaic that "rooster" and "man" are NOT the same word but very similar. However, it also suggests that the Aramaic was the original language of the New Testament. It is the vast majority view that Greek was the original language of the NT by almost every NT scholar. Further, the earliest Aramaic translation of the NT (incomplete) appeared, probably in the 2nd century and the whole of the NT was completed by the 5th century.

In any case, the word for man and rooster, while very close (in Aramaic) are still distinct and all the Gospels uniformly use the word for rooster, "alektor", which in Greek, is unambiguous.

Answer 2

The answer to your question is found in the Holy Scriptures: Mark 13:35. Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh; at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning.

The Roman custom of night watches could be heard at night in Jerusalem. Each watch was announced by a trumpet blast, with a different tune at each watch. (This is much like our modern Winchester chime clocks that have a different chime.) At the third watch, cock-crow, Peter was to have betrayed Jesus.

We don't have to go outside the Bible to Jewish customs, or barnyard speculation, or "town crier" imagery for an understanding of this event.

HISTORY The ancient Jews had three watches of the night: (1) Beginning of the watch-Lam. 2:19 (sunset to 10 am), (2) middle watch-Jud. 7:19 (10 pm to 2 am), (3) morning watch-Exod. 14:24 (2 am to sunrise).

When the Romans conquered Judea, their night watch was implemented, using 4 watches (See Mark 13:35 above). It was to the 3rd watch, the cock-crowing that Jesus referred to when confronting Peter about his humanity.