Matthew 26:74

At that he began to curse, and he swore with an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment a rooster crowed. ¹ 

Jud 17:2; Jud 21:18; 1Sa 14:24-28; Mt 10:28,32,33; Mt 27:25; Mr 14:30,68,72; Mr 14:71; Lu 22:60; Joh 18:27; Joh 21:15-17; Ac 23:12-14; Ro 9:3; 1Co 16:22; Re 3:19

¹ tn It seems most likely that this refers to a real rooster crowing, although a number of scholars have suggested that “cockcrow” is a technical term referring to the trumpet call which ended the third watch of the night (from midnight to 3 a.m.). This would then be a reference to the Roman gallicinium (ἀλεκτοροφωνία, alektorofwnia; the term is used in Mark 13:35 and is found in some mss [Ì^37vid,45 ˹] in Matt 26:34) which would have been sounded at 3 a.m.; in this case Jesus would have prophesied a precise time by which the denials would have taken place. For more details see J. H. Bernard, St. John (ICC), 2:604. However, in light of the fact that Mark mentions the rooster crowing twice (Mark 14:72) and in Luke 22:60 the words are reversed (ἐφώνησεν ἀλέκτωρ, efwnhsen alektwr), it is more probable that a real rooster is in view. In any event natural cockcrow would have occurred at approximately 3 a.m. in Palestine at this time of year (March-April) anyway.