nature
rooster
At a glance
In short
Tarnegol is the ordinary word for a rooster in Mishnaic Hebrew. Gever sometimes means rooster but more often means man or male; the Mishnah's "call of the gever" is understood as the rooster's, and Targum Yonasan renders Etzion Gever as the City of the Rooster. The meaning of sechvi is genuinely open. Chazal take it for a rooster and build the morning berachah on it, but most mefarshim (Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Radak, Rosh and Tur among them) read it as the heart, or at least as also meaning heart, and Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim takes it as the skull. Ziz sadai is a bird of some kind, which Targum renders wild fowl.
Distinctions
Gever (גבר)
Root ג-ב-ר, seemingly a cognate of gevurah. Rabbeinu Efrayim: a rooster is called gever because its voice is distinct among birds as a man's is from a woman's. The Mishnah uses "the call of the gever" three times for daybreak (Yoma 1:8, Sukkah 5:4, Tamid 1:2, and see Yoma 20b), and Targum Yonasan (to Bamidbar 33:35) renders Etzion Gever as the City of the Rooster. The city is one of the stops of the forty years in the wilderness (Bamidbar 33:35-36, Devarim 2:8); Shlomo HaMelech later stationed his navy there (Melachim I 9:26, Divrei HaYamim II 8:17), and Yehoshafat's ships broke down there (Melachim I 22:49, Divrei HaYamim II 20:36).
Abudarham (on Yom Kippur): the custom of using a rooster for kaparos on Erev Yom Kippur is because gever means both rooster and man, which makes the rooster especially fit to stand in for a person.
Why Bilaam called himself a gever (Bamidbar 24:3, 24:15) drew several readings.
- Rabbeinu Efrayim: Berachos 7a says the moment of Divine anger each morning can be identified when the rooster's red crest turns white, and Bilaam likewise knew the moment a curse would take. (A 2021 paper by Dr. Jessica L. Lamont of Yale demonstrates that chickens were particularly associated with curse rituals in ancient Greece.)
- Peirush HaRokeach: the rooster copulates frequently (Berachos 22a), and Bilaam was as single-minded.
- Siddur HaRokeach: the rooster shuts one eye and stands on one foot at that moment, and Bilaam was blind in one eye and lame in one foot.
- Rabbeinu Bachya (to Bamidbar 24:3): the rooster crows seven times (Perek Shirah ch. 4 assigns it seven songs), matching Bilaam's seven oracles.
Peirush HaRokeach also explains Etzion Gever's name from its inhabitants' gift for counsel and for intuiting the hour as a rooster does, and Rabbi Menachem Tziyyoni cites the Mekubalim that some of them commanded an esoteric wisdom called the Knowledge of the Chicken, hinted at in the city's name.
Ziz sadai (זיז שדי)
Twice in Tehillim (50:11, 80:14), plainly a bird. Targum both times renders tarnegol bara, wild chicken. Rabbi Dr. Yehuda Felix points out that tarnegol bara also denotes the duchifas (Vayikra 11:19), commonly identified as the hoopoe (see Gittin 68b).
Tarnegol (תרנגול)
Not in Tanach; ubiquitous in the Mishnah (Terumos 11:9, Maasros 3:7, Shabbos 5:4, 18:2 and 24:3, Pesachim 2:7 and 4:7, Nedarim 5:1, Bava Kamma 2:1, 7:7 and 10:9, Bava Metzia 5:4, Bava Basra 3:5, Eduyos 6:1, Avodah Zarah 1:5, Chullin 3:5 and 12:1, Meilah 3:5, Keilim 8:5, Parah 5:6, Taharos 3:8). The word also turns up in the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QT[c]) in connection with the prohibition on raising chickens in Yerushalayim, a prohibition codified in the Mishnah as well (Bava Kamma 7:7).
Rabbi Dr. Ernest Klein derives tarnegol from the Akkadian tar-lugallu ("cock"), assuming an interchange of nun and lamed. The Akkadian word is itself a compound of the Sumerian tar ("bird," similar to the Hebrew tor, pigeon) and lugal ("king"), perhaps an allusion to the rooster's crest, which resembles a king's crown. Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein adds a further curiosity of his own: Bilaam, who called himself a rooster, had as his patron Balak son of Tzippor, whose father's name means "bird" and who was himself a king.
Where the authorities disagree
What sechvi means (Iyov 38:36, "Who gives understanding to the sechvi"). Three positions.
- Rooster. Chazal report that in a certain foreign place people called a rooster a sechvi; Bavli Rosh Hashanah 26a names Kennesrin in northern Syria, Yerushalmi Berachos 9:1 names Rome, and Vayikra Rabbah 25:5 names Arabia. Berachos 60b builds the morning berachah on this, "Who gave the sechvi understanding to distinguish day from night."
- The heart. The majority of mefarshim, or at least they hold it means this as well: Ibn Janach (Sefer HaShorashim), Rabbeinu Chananel (to Rosh Hashanah 26a), Rashi and Ibn Ezra (to Iyov 38:36), Radak (Sefer HaShorashim and to Tehillim 73:7), Rosh (Berachos 9:23), Tur (Orach Chaim 46), and others. Siddur HaRokeach reads it as the neshamah.
- The skull. Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim traces it to ס-ך, covering or barrier, the root of sukkah (a covered enclosure), nesech (a libation covering a spot with liquid), and sichah (smearing with oil); the sechvi is the skull that covers and shields the brain.
Daas Mikra (to Iyov 38:36) cites other scholars who read the passage in Iyov as concerning types of cloud, so that sechvi means a cloud.
How sechvi and "seeing" connect.
- Rashi ties it to socheh, gazing (compare Targum to Shmuel I 17:42 and Yeshayahu 21:8): the heart is the organ that tries to see an action's future consequences, or else the rooster, which sees far (Abudarham).
- Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg specifies that the seeing is intellectual rather than physical, and groups sechvi with hasket (to listen with the mind) and maskis (arresting figures engraved in stone).
Where the name Nergal points. After the Assyrians conquered the Kingdom of Yisrael they settled Mesopotamian foreigners in the land, each bringing his own deity: the men of Bavel brought Sukkos Benos and the men of Kutha made Nergal (Melachim II 17:30).
- Sanhedrin 63b relates that Sukkos Benos was a hen-shaped idol and Nergal a rooster-shaped one; Rabbeinu Chananel specifies a wild rooster.
- Rabbi Meir HaLevi Abulafia offers two accounts of the name: tarnegol contains the letters of nergal, or nergal is from ragil, frequent, since the rooster is understood to copulate most often.
- The Yerushalmi (Avodah Zarah 3:2) understands Nergal differently, as a foot-shaped idol, from regel, treating the nun as not integral to the core meaning.
- On the strength of the Sanhedrin passage Rabbi Chaim Futernik surmises that sechvi in the sense of rooster is itself related to the name Sukkos Benos.
Also discussed in
- Manגבר / gever (ג-ב-ר)
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
ג-ב-ר
Strength, firmness and victory: to prevail; גְּבוּרָה, might; גִּבּוֹר, a mighty man; גְּבִיר, a lord; and גֶּבֶר, a man, so called for his strength over the woman.
Prevailing
גָּבַר חַסְדּוֹ עַל יְרֵאָיו (Tehillim 103:11), His kindness prevailed over those who fear Him, and וְהַמַּיִם גָּבְרוּ (Bereishis 7:19), the waters prevailed. All of them, he says, are strength, firmness and victory.
Why a man is called גבר
A man is called גֶּבֶר, he says, because he has strength over the woman: וְדֶרֶךְ גֶּבֶר בְּעַלְמָה (Mishlei 30:19), and the way of a man with a maiden. Of the locusts too the pasuk says גֶּבֶר בִּמְסִלָּתוֹ יֵלֵכוּן (Yoel 2:8), each man in his highway they go, because it likens them to men and mighty ones.
Lord and mistress
הֵן גְּבִיר שַׂמְתִּיו לָךְ (Bereishis 27:37), behold, I have made him a גְּבִיר over you, which he glosses as master and head; and the feminine, שָׂרַי גְּבִרְתִּי (Bereishis 16:8), Sarai my mistress, and גְּבֶרֶת מַמְלָכוֹת (Yeshayahu 47:5), mistress of kingdoms.
Two pesukim explained
וַחֲיָלִים יְגַבֵּר (Koheles 10:10), he must put forth more strength, he reads of a blunt axe: if the axe is blunt, the one cleaving with it must add strength and force. טַלְטֵלָה גָּבֶר (Yeshayahu 22:17), a man's tossing about, Chazal explain (Kesubos 28a): the tossing about of a man is harder than the tossing about of a woman.
גָּבַר חַסְדּוֹ עַל־יְרֵאָֽיו (תהלים קג, יא), בִּרְכֹת אָבִיךָ גָּֽבְרוּ (בראשית מט, כו), וְהַמַּיִם גָּֽבְרוּ (בראשית ז, יט), מֵֽאֲרָיוֹת גָּבֵֽרוּ (שמואל ב' א, כג), בצרי בעבור ההפסק, כִּי־לֹא בְכֹחַ יִגְבַּר־אִֽישׁ (שמואל א' ב, ט), כִּי יְהוּדָה גָּבַר בְּאֶחָיו (דברי הימים א' ה, ב), גַּם־גָּבְרוּ חָֽיִל (איוב כא, ז), פירוש גם גברו בחיל. וההתפעל וְאֶל־שַׁדַּי יִתְגַּבָּֽר (איוב טו, כה), וּפִשְׁעֵיהֶם כִּי יִתְגַּבָּֽרוּ (איוב לו, ט). והשם קוֹל עֲנוֹת גְּבוּרָה (שמות לב, יח), והקבוץ וְאִם בִּגְבוּרֹת שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה (תהלים צ, י), אַיֵּה קִנְאָֽתְךָ וּגְבוּרֹתֶךָ (ישעיה סג, טו). והפעל הכבד [פִּעֵל] העובר וְגִבַּרְתִּי אֶת־בֵּית יְהוּדָה (זכריה י, ו), וַֽחֲיָלִים יְגַבֵּר (קהלת י, י), וְגִבַּרְתִּים בַּֽי"י (זכריה י, יב). ופירוש וַֽחֲיָלִים יְגַבֵּר אם הקרדום קהה צריך הבוקע בו להוסיף כח וחיל. וכבד אחר [הִפְעִיל] וְהִגְבִּיר בְּרִית לָֽרַבִּים (דניאל ט, כז), לִלְשֹׁנֵנוּ נַגְבִּיר (תהלים יב, ה), כלם לשון חוזק ואומץ ונצוח. והתאר הוּא הֵחֵל לִהְיוֹת גִּבֹּר בָּאָֽרֶץ (בראשית י, ח), גִבֹּרִים הֵמָּה (שמואל ב' יז, ח). ותאר אחר הֵן גְּבִיר שַׂמְתִּיו לָךְ (בראשית כז, לז), פירוש אדון וראש. ולנקבה אֱמֹר לַמֶּלֶךְ וְלַגְּבִירָה הַשְׁפִּילוּ שֵׁבוּ (ירמיה יג, יח), לְעוֹלָם אֶהְיֶה גְבָרֶת (ישעיה מז, ז), גְּבֶרֶת מַמְלָכֽוֹת (ישעיה מז, ה), שָׂרַי גְּבִרְתִּי (בראשית טז, ח). ונקרא האיש גֶּבֶר לפי שיש לו גבורה על האשה. וְדֶרֶךְ גֶּבֶר בְּעַלְמָֽה (משלי ל, יט), גֶּבֶר לֹֽא־יִצְלַח בְּיָמָיו (ירמיה כב, ל), בשש נקדות. וכן אמר בארבה גֶּבֶר בִּמְסִלָּתוֹ יֵֽלֵכוּן (יואל ב, ח), לפי שהמשילם לאנשים וגבורים. טַלְטֵלָה גָּבֶר (ישעיה כב, יז), פירשו בו רבותינו (כתובות כח, ע"א) לפי שטלטול האיש קשה מטלטול האשה. ועוד נכתבנו בשרש טיל. והקבוץ הַגְּבָרִים לְבַד מִטָּֽף (שמות יב, לז). ומשקל אחר עִם־גְּבַר תָּמִים (תהלים יח, כו). ומשקל אחר עִם־גִּבּוֹר תָּמִים (שמואל ב' כב, כו).
ז-י-ז
זִיז, by its place like זיו, radiance; some say it is a beast of the field, others a name for every beast of the field; in Vayikra Rabbah, a great bird.
Radiance
וְהִתְעַנַּגְתֶּם מִזִּיז כְּבוֹדָֽהּ (Yeshayahu 66:11), and you will delight in the radiance of her glory, where by its place the sense is like זיו, radiance. So too Yonasan renders it מַחֲמַד יְקָרָהּ, the delight of her glory.
A beast of the field
Some say it is the name of a beast of the field, as וְזִיז שָׂדַי עִמָּדִֽי (Tehillim 50:11), and the beast of the field is with Me, and וְזִיז שָׂדַי יִרְעֶֽנָּה (Tehillim 80:14), and the beast of the field grazes on it; and some say זיז is a general name for every beast of the field.
In Vayikra Rabbah
On וְזִיז שָׂדַי עִמָּדִֽי, Rabbi Yehudah beRabbi Simon said (Vayikra Rabbah 22) that the זיז is a great bird, and when it spreads its wings it darkens the disc of the sun, as it is written המבינתך יאבר נץ יפרוש כנפיו לתימן, is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south. There too: why is it called זיז? Because it has in it every kind of taste, מזה ומזה, of this and of that.
וְהִתְעַנַּגְתֶּם מִזִּיז כְּבוֹדָֽהּ (ישעיה סו, יא), ענינו לפי מקומו כמו זיו. וכן תרגם יונתן מַחֲמַד יְקָרָהּ. ויש אומרים שהוא שם חיה מחית השדה כמו וְזִיז שָׂדַי עִמָּדִֽי (תהלים נ, יא), וכן וְזִיז שָׂדַי יִרְעֶֽנָּה (תהלים פ, יד). ויש אומרים כי זיז שם כלל לכל חית השדה. ובויקרא רבה (פרשה כב, דף קצא) וזיז שֹדי עמדי אמר רבי יהודה ברבי סימון הזיז הזה עוף גדול הוא ובשעה שהוא פורש כנפיו מכהה גלגל חמה הדא הוא דכתיב המבינתך יאבר נץ יפרוש כנפיו לתימן. ולמה נקרא שמו זיז? שיש בו מכל מיני טעמים מזה ומזה.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Welcome to Rooster City," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 10 July 2021.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Welcome to Rooster City," What's in a Word? Synonyms in the Hebrew Language (book manuscript).
Cited in the essay: Bamidbar 24:3 with Rabbeinu Bachya, 24:15, and 33:35-36 with Targum Yonasan; Vayikra 11:19; Devarim 2:8; Shmuel I 17:42 and Yeshayahu 21:8 with Targum; Melachim I 9:26, 22:49; Melachim II 17:30; Tehillim 50:11 and 80:14 with Targum, and 73:7 with Radak; Iyov 38:36 with Rashi, Ibn Ezra and Daas Mikra; Divrei HaYamim II 8:17, 20:36; Berachos 7a, 22a, 60b; Rosh Hashanah 26a with Rabbeinu Chananel; Yoma 20b; Gittin 68b; Sanhedrin 63b; Yerushalmi Berachos 9:1 and Avodah Zarah 3:2; Vayikra Rabbah 25:5; Mishnah Yoma 1:8, Sukkah 5:4, Tamid 1:2, Terumos 11:9, Maasros 3:7, Shabbos 5:4, 18:2, 24:3, Pesachim 2:7, 4:7, Nedarim 5:1, Bava Kamma 2:1, 7:7, 10:9, Bava Metzia 5:4, Bava Basra 3:5, Eduyos 6:1, Avodah Zarah 1:5, Chullin 3:5, 12:1, Meilah 3:5, Keilim 8:5, Parah 5:6, Taharos 3:8; Rosh to Berachos 9:23; Tur Orach Chaim 46; Perek Shirah ch. 4; Rabbeinu Efrayim; Peirush HaRokeach; Siddur HaRokeach; Rabbi Menachem Tziyyoni; Ibn Janach and Radak, Sefer HaShorashim; Abudarham; Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg, HaKsav VeHaKabbalah to Shemos 33:22; Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim, Cheshek Shlomo s.v. סך; Rabbi Meir HaLevi Abulafia; Rabbi Chaim Futernik; Rabbi Dr. Yehuda Felix; Rabbi Dr. Ernest Klein; the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QT[c]); Dr. Jessica L. Lamont, 2021 paper on chickens in Greek curse ritual; Abudarham, Yom Kippur.