GREEK · G219
ἀλεκτοροφωνία
alektorophōnia — crowing
ἀλεκτοροφωνία, -ας, ἡ (ἀλέκτωρ, φωνή), cock-crowing, i.e. the third watch in the night: Mrk.13:35.† (AS)
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Cock-crowing
Original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek connected to this term
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
Historical dictionary entry
In our Lord’s time the Jews had adopted the Greek and Roman division of the night into four watches, each consisting of three hours, the first beginning at six o’clock in the evening (Luke 12:38; Matt. 14:25; Mark 6:48). But the ancient division, known as the first and second cock-crowing, was still retained. The cock usually crows several times soon after midnight (this is the first crowing), and again at the dawn of day (and this is the second crowing). Mark mentions (14:30) the two cock-crowings. Matthew (26:34) alludes to that only which was emphatically the cock-crowing, viz, the second.
Scripture references
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.