cockatrice Summary and Overview

the mediaeval name (a corruption of "crocodile") of a fabulous serpent supposed to be produced from a cock's egg. It is generally supposed to denote the cerastes, or "horned viper," a very poisonous serpent about a foot long. Others think it to be the yellow viper (Daboia xanthina), one of the most dangerous vipers, from its size and its nocturnal habits (Isa. 11:8; 14:29; 59:5; Jer. 8:17; in all which the Revised Version renders the Hebrew "tziph'oni" by "basilisk"). In Prov. 23:32 the Hebrew "tzeph'a" is rendered both in the Authorized Version and the Revised Version by "adder;" margin of Revised Version "basilisk," and of Authorized Version "cockatrice."

[ADDER]

COCKATRICE . Jer 8:17; Isa 11:8; Isa 14:29; Isa 69:5. The word, in the Scriptures, evidently denotes a very venomous reptile. The original signifies a creature that hisses, doubtless some species of serpent. Tristram proposes the great yellow viper, the largest of its kind found in Palestine, and one of the most dangerous. On one occasion he saw one of these vipers spring on a quail which was feeding; "It missed its prey, and the bird fluttered on a few yards, and then fell in the agonies of death. On taking it up I found that the viper had made the slightest possible puncture in the flesh of one of the wings as it snapped at it, and this had caused death in the course of a few seconds." In the passage from Jeremiah above cited allusion is made to the unyielding cruelty of the Chaldean armies under Nebuchadnezzar, who were appointed ministers of divine vengeance on the Jewish nation for their manifold and aggravated sins.

Isaiah 14:29. (See ADDER.)