A cock or male fowl
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Alektor names a rooster, and in the New Testament it appears in the Gospel accounts of Peter's denial. Jesus tells Peter that the rooster will crow before Peter denies Him, and each Gospel uses the crowing as a time marker and memory signal when the denial occurs.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀλέκτωρ (G220) · Open the biblical lexicon
Alektor names a rooster, and in the New Testament it appears in the Gospel accounts of Peter's denial. Jesus tells Peter that the rooster will crow before Peter denies Him, and each Gospel uses the crowing as a time marker and memory signal when the denial occurs.
The BSB source-word alignment has 12 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [the] rooster (8), a rooster (2), the rooster (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 26:34. Its strongest book concentrations include Mark (4), Luke (3), Matthew (3), John (2).
Alektor names a rooster, and in the New Testament it appears in the Gospel accounts of Peter's denial. Jesus tells Peter that the rooster will crow before Peter denies Him, and each Gospel uses the crowing as a time marker and memory signal when the denial occurs. The word is ordinary, but the narrative weight is serious: Jesus' word proves true, Peter's confidence collapses, and grief opens the way for restoration by grace.
Mark's account includes the twice-crowing detail, while Matthew, Luke, and John emphasize the predicted denial and its fulfillment. Alektor should not be treated as an omen or superstition. It is a created creature whose cry becomes a providential reminder of the Lord's truthful word.
Alektor names the rooster in Peter's denial narratives. Its crowing marks the fulfillment of Jesus' warning and awakens memory, grief, and the need for restoring grace.
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus declared, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”
Jesus warns Peter that before the rooster crows, Peter will deny Him three times.
Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Peter remembers Jesus' word when the rooster crows after his denial.
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.”
Mark records Jesus' warning that the rooster will crow twice before Peter's three denials.
And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
Mark narrates the second crowing and Peter's broken response.
And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word that the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.”
Luke places the rooster's crowing with the Lord's look and Peter's memory of Jesus' word.
Peter denied it once more, and immediately a rooster crowed.
John records Peter's final denial and the immediate crowing of the rooster.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. A rooster whose crow marks Peter's threefold denial of Jesus in all four gospels.
A rooster whose crow marks Peter's threefold denial of Jesus in all four gospels.
(poët. form of ἀλεκτρυών; see MM, VGT, see word), [in LXX: Pro.30:31) (זַרְזִיר; BDB, Lex., 267)* ;] a cock: Mat.26:34, Mrk.14:30, 68 14:72 Luk.22:34, 60-61, Jhn.13:38 18:27.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
12 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a cock, rooster
Read versea cock, rooster
Read versea cock, rooster
Read versea cock, rooster
Read versea cock, rooster
Read versea cock, rooster
Read versea cock, rooster
Read versea cock, rooster
Read versea cock, rooster
Read versea cock, rooster
Read versea cock, rooster
Read versea cock, rooster
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 2 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 12 lexical occurrence verses.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Alektor is ordinary vocabulary carrying extraordinary narrative force because Jesus has already spoken. The rooster does not reveal hidden fate. It marks the moment when Peter's confidence is exposed and the Lord's warning is proven true. Across the Gospels, the crowing turns Peter from denial to memory, and Luke intensifies the moment with the Lord's look. This word helps teachers speak honestly about spiritual overconfidence, public fear, and grievous failure without ending in despair.
Peter's tears are not the last word in the Gospel story. The same Lord who foretold the denial also goes to the cross and later restores His servant. Alektor therefore serves repentance: it sounds like judgment on self-trust, but it also stands within a larger story of mercy.
Luke.22.61
Alektor is a concrete noun for a rooster or cock. In the Gospels its importance comes not from lexical range but from its repeated role in the denial chronology.
Scripture often uses ordinary sounds or signs to awaken memory and expose truth. In the Gospels, the rooster's cry is bound specifically to Jesus' prediction and Peter's denial, not to a broad symbolic system.