to describe Jehovah’s action toward the sins of his people, wiping their transgressions out “just as with a cloud.” (Isa. 44:22) Conversely, he blocks the approach of those who are rebellious as with a cloud mass that their prayer may not pass through.—Lam. 3:44.

Transitoriness, unreliableness

The misty morning clouds that quickly vanish away are used metaphorically for the fickle, short-lived loving-kindness of Ephraim and Judah toward God, as well as for the short-livedness Ephraim would experience for turning to false worship. (Hos. 6:4; 13:3) The man who boasts about giving, but who never does so, is as disappointing as a cloud with no rain. (Prov. 25:14) Those who apostatize from Christianity and those who are professed Christians but who carry on immorality, practicing corruption and contaminating the congregation, are likened, in their avid following of fleshly desires, to unstable clouds, mists, tossed by the wind and waterless, unfruitful, unprofitable and deserving only of extinction.—Jude 12; 2 Pet. 2:17.

Christians are reminded to take Jehovah into account in all their plans, not bragging about what they will do, but remembering the transitoriness and uncertainty of life in the present system of things, that they are like a mist that quickly disappears.—Jas. 4:14.

CNIDUS

(Cniʹdus).

A city situated on a peninsula extending out from the SW corner of Asia Minor into the Aegean Sea, between the islands of Rhodes and Cos. Part of the city was built on a small island connected to the mainland by a causeway and bridge. According to Greek geographer Strabo (of the first century C.E.), the waters on each side of the causeway served the city as twin harbors, and this made Cnidus’ location of great commercial importance, a fact further indicated by impressive ruins found there in the last century.

Though Cnidus is not named on either occasion, the apostle Paul likely passed the city when returning from his second missionary journey, in the spring of 52 C.E. (Acts 18:21, 22), and again toward the close of his third trip, in 56 C.E., when his ship came to Rhodes and Cos. (Acts 21:1) However, it is specifically mentioned in Acts chapter 27 in connection with Paul’s voyage in 58 C.E. to appear before Emperor Nero in Rome. Leaving Myra (vss. 5, 6), the ship on which Paul and other prisoners were traveling came to Cnidus (vs. 7). With favorable winds this trip of about 130 geographical miles (209.2 kilometers) might be only a day’s voyage, but the adverse wind mentioned in the account explains why “quite a number of days” were involved for that particular run. The “boat from Alexandria” on which they were sailing was a grain boat (vs. 38), perhaps one of many that regularly brought agricultural products from Egypt to Rome and which may have ordinarily sailed on a more direct route from Alexandria across the Mediterranean Sea to Rome. However, the strong wind mentioned in verses four and seven may have obliged this boat to alter course and put in at Myra. A large unwieldy craft loaded with grain would make slow progress against the wind and, understandably, would finally arrive at Cnidus “with difficulty.”

After referring to the arrival at Cnidus the record states that “because the wind did not let us get on, we sailed under the shelter of Crete at Salmone.” (Vs. 7) Some have understood this to mean that the wind did not allow the boat to make harbor and anchor at one of Cnidus’ well-equipped harbors, obliging them to continue on. However, the meaning may rather be that they could not “get on” with their proposed route of crossing the Aegean Sea past the southern tip of Greece and then on to Rome, being forced by the adverse winds to take a southerly route to Crete and sail under lee of its shores. At any rate, as verse nine shows, it was the fall of the year and those in charge of the vessel doubtless felt the need of urgency to make as much progress as possible before seasonal conditions made sailing even more hazardous.

Cnidus was, like Chios, a free city in Paul’s day. Jewish settlers are said to have been there in the second century B.C.E.

COAT OF MAIL

See ARMS, ARMOR.

COBRA

[Heb., peʹthen].

An extremely poisonous snake of Asia and Africa. The cobra mentioned in six passages of the Bible is undoubtedly the Egyptian cobra or asp, one commonly used in snake charming, both in Bible times and today. Like the common cobra of India and the Asiatic king cobra, the Egyptian cobra inflates its neck when angered. In fact, this species is known for being a quick and irritable serpent, and it will rear and hiss when even slightly disturbed. The Egyptian cobra has a misleading name, since it has a wide range outside Egypt; in fact, it has the widest range of any cobra in Africa. It is not limited to Africa, however; and Raymond Ditmars in his book Reptiles of the World says that this cobra is common not only in countries bordering the Sahara Desert but also in Arabia. The Egyptian cobra, however, is now extremely rare in southern Palestine.

The Israelites were thus well acquainted with this snake, not only while they were in Egypt, but also during their wandering through the wilderness. Moses, in addressing the Israelites in the wilderness, referred to the cobra’s venom, “the cruel poison of cobras.” (Deut. 32:33) The term “cruel” aptly describes the effect of the cobra’s venom, concerning which H. W. Parker says in his book Snakes (p. 133): “The symptoms immediately following a bite are pain out of all proportion to the damage caused merely by the wounds, followed at once by much local swelling with blood and serum oozing from the fang punctures. These symptoms, produced by the tissue-destroying and anti-coagulant substances, may appear within thirty seconds, and they spread as the venom disperses through the body, with haemorrhages developing at other points. Simultaneously the nerve poisons begin to take effect; weakness of the legs, drooping of the head and eyelids, paralysis of the tongue, lips and throat . . . nausea and increasing difficulty in breathing follow in succession with, though not inevitably, death from respiratory and heart failure.”

The cobra’s poison acts on the nerves and causes a paralysis of the respiratory system and is frequently fatal to man, unless antivenom is promptly given. Zophar speaks of “the gall of cobras” and “the venom of cobras.”—Job 20:14, 16.

The cobra strikes with a forward sweep of its raised body accompanied by a sharp hiss. When biting, the cobra’s jaw grasps the object tenaciously and then begins a peculiar chewing motion; that is necessary because the fangs are relatively short and a larger amount of poison can enter the wound with the longer contact. Because of this biting habit and the extreme toxicity of the venom, cobras are among the most dangerous of all creatures. Thus the psalmist, using figurative speech, links the cobra with the lion and says concerning those who have made Jehovah their trust: “Upon the young lion and the cobra you will tread; you will trample down the maned young lion and the big snake.” (Ps. 91:13) Isaiah, in speaking of the regathering of Jehovah’s people, prophesies of changed conditions for them, describing a time when “the sucking child will certainly play upon the hole of the cobra; and upon the light aperture of a poisonous snake will a weaned child actually put his own hand.”—Isa. 11:8, 11, 12.

The Bible refers to the cobra’s ear and alludes to the cobra’s ability to “listen to the voice of charmers.” (Ps. 58:4, 5) Though some naturalists claim snakes cannot hear, the Bible is in harmony with the latest findings that demonstrate that snakes have an internal sound mechanism and that they can hear fairly well. Thus the New York Times of January 10, 1954 (Sec. 4, p. 9), reported under the heading “Are Snakes ‘Charmed’ by Music?”:

“Dr. David I. Macht, research pharmacologist of the Mount Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, is one of the world’s leading authorities on cobra snake venom. . . . Dr. Macht reported that in working with cobras and cobra venom he became acquainted with a number of Hindu physicians, well educated, and from different parts of India. All agreed that cobras respond to some musical tones, from musical pipes or fifes. Some forms of music excite the animals more than other forms, the physicians reported. Indian children, playing in the dark in the countryside, are even warned not to sing lest their sounds attract cobras, he said. Dr. Macht commented that Shakespeare, who repeatedly referred to serpents as deaf . . . merely repeated a common misunderstanding. On the other hand, Dr. Macht said, the psalmist was right who implied conversely, in Psalm 58, Verse 5, that serpents can hear: . . . Contrary to the claims of some naturalists, Dr. Macht said, snakes are ‘charmed’ by sounds, not by movements of the charmer. Revise the textbooks, the physicians recommended.”

The snake can best hear a vibration on the ground or notes of high pitch. Some of its most common preys make high-pitched sounds; these high-pitched notes produce great uneasiness and alarm in the snake. Thus notes produced by flutes only signify food or danger to the snake and do not meet with an appreciation of the music played. When a snake charmer starts playing on his flute, this immediately gets a reaction from the snake and it lifts itself erect, alert to danger. Recognizing the sound as coming from the flute, it will naturally fix its attention on that object and the one playing it. If the charmer moves or sways back and forth, the snake will do the same. If he moves around the snake in a circle, the snake will, of course, turn to keep its eyes on the source of the sound.

Pharaoh Tutankhamen, whose tomb was discovered in 1922, used the Egyptian cobra (Naja haje) as his imperial symbol.

Some cobras, such as the black-necked or spitting cobra of Africa, can spit or spray venom a distance of six to twelve feet (1.8 to 3.7 meters). The spitting cobras aim at the eyes of the victim and seldom miss their target. Spitting cobras appear to be able to eject their venom in rapid-fire salvos. One observer reports that in Tanganyika a black-necked cobra sprayed venom between a dozen and twenty times—in rapid succession.

COCK

[Gr., a·leʹktor; Lat., gallus].

A rooster or male chicken. Due to the widespread domestication of the chicken, the jaunty figure of the cock with its bright-colored plumage, long tail feathers arched over its back, and red wavy fleshlike comb topping its head, with two similar appendages hanging beneath the beak and throat, is a generally familiar sight. From early times it appears to have been prominent in India, Persia and Babylon, and is mentioned by Greek writers of the classical period.

The cock is not mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures and appears in the Christian Greek Scriptures only in connection with its crowing (Gr., a·le·kto·ro·pho·niʹa), as at Mark 13:35, where Jesus shows “cock-crowing” to have marked a definite period of the night. The most frequent references, however, relate to Jesus’ prophecy concerning Peter’s denials of him, fulfilled on the night prior to Jesus’ death and recounted by all four writers of the Gospel accounts. (Matt. 26:34, 74, 75; Mark 14:30, 72; Luke 22:34, 60, 61; John 13:38; 18:27) For a full consideration of these reports see COCKCROW.

While the Jewish Mishnah contains a prohibition against the keeping of domestic fowl by the Jews, due to the probability of their causing ceremonial defilement, Rabbinical sources indicate that they were kept as much by the Jews as by the Romans. An onyx seal bearing the figure of a cock was found near Mizpah and contains the inscription “belonging to Jaazaniah, servant of the king.” If, as some suggest, this Jaazaniah is the one mentioned at 2 Kings 25:23 and Jeremiah 40:8-10, this would indicate the keeping of cocks in Palestine back in the seventh century B.C.E. The figure of a cock has also been found on a sherd of a cooking pot excavated at ancient Gibeon.

The cock was a symbol of watchfulness and may have been used as such on the above-mentioned seal. The Greek name for it is similar to the Greek word aʹle·ktros, meaning “one without a bed” or “the sleepless one.” Among the Romans the third watch of the night was called the gallicinium or “cockcrowing.” Some claim that the prime purpose for keeping such cocks in ancient times was not to provide food but, rather, for their service as natural alarm clocks, rousing men for the day’s activities. The cruel “sport” of cockfighting, however, was popular among the Greeks and Romans for centuries before the Common Era, though nothing indicates its practice in Palestine.

Both the hen, with its chicks, and the egg are used by Jesus in his illustrations, indicating that the domestic fowl was well known by his listeners.—Matt. 23:37; Luke 11:12; 13:34; see HEN, II.

COCKCROW

(Greek: a·le·kto·ro·pho·niʹa).

This was the name given to the third watch period of the night, according to the Grecian and the Roman division. (Mark 13:35) It corresponded to the time from midnight to three o’clock in the morning.

There has been some discussion of the subject of cockcrowing owing to Jesus’ reference to it in connection with his prediction of Peter’s denying him on three occasions. (Matt. 26:34, 74, 75; Mark 14:30, 72; Luke 22:34; John 13:38) On the basis of statements made in the Jewish Mishnah, some argue that cocks were not bred in Jerusalem, since they caused ceremonial uncleanness by their scratching up the ground. They say that the cockcrowing mentioned by Jesus actually refers to the Roman gallicinium, a time signal said to be made with bugles by the Roman guard stationed on the ramparts of the castle of Antonia in Jerusalem that sounded out at the close of the third night watch.

However, the Jewish Talmud contains definite indications that cocks were bred in Jerusalem in those times. Further indication is that Jesus, when mourning over the city of Jerusalem, chose the simile of a ‘mother hen gathering her chicks under her wings’ to express the desire he had held toward it. (Matt. 23:37) His choice of illustrations was always such as would be readily appreciated by his listeners. So, in his statement to Peter, there seems to be no good reason for assuming that Jesus meant anything other than a literal cockcrowing.

Others point out an apparent contradiction in the four accounts, since Matthew, Luke and John mention only one cockcrowing, while Mark quotes Jesus as saying: “Truly I say to you, You today, yes, this night, before a cock crows twice, even you will disown me three times.” He repeats this statement in relating what happened later.—Mark 14:30, 72.

This is evidently a matter of one writer giving a more detailed account than the others rather than a contradiction. The incident involves Peter, and since Mark was his close companion over a period of time and doubtless wrote his Gospel account with Peter’s aid or on the basis of his testimony, it is reasonable that Mark’s account would be the more explicit one. (At other times Matthew gave the more detailed description of certain events, as seen by a comparison of Matthew 8:28 with Mark 5:2 and