Hen

ορνις, 2 Esdras 50:30; Mat 23:37; Luk 13:34. In these last two passages our Saviour exclaims, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” The metaphor here used is a very beautiful one. When the hen sees a bird of prey coming, she makes a noise to assemble her chickens, that she may cover them with her wings from the danger. The Roman eagle was about to fall upon the Jewish state; our Lord invited them to himself in order to guard them from threatened calamities: they disregarded his invitations and warnings, and fell a prey to their adversaries. The affection of a hen to her brood is so strong as to have become proverbial. There is a beautiful Greek epigram in the Anthologia, which affords a very fine illustration of the affection of this bird in another view. It has been thus translated:—

“Beneath her fostering wing the hen defends Her darling offspring, while the snow descends; And through the winter’s day unmoved defies The chilling fleeces and inclement skies;

Till vanquish’d by the cold and piercing blast, True to her charge she perishes at last.”

Plutarch, in his book De Philostorgia, represents this parental attachment and care in a very pleasing manner: “Do we not daily observe with what care the hen protects her chickens; giving some shelter under her wings, supporting others upon her back, calling them around her, and picking out their food; and if any animal approaches that terrifies them, driving it away with a courage and strength truly wonderful?

The care of a hen to protect her brood from hawks, etc., illustrates the Savior’s tender care of his people when exposed to the swoop of the Roman eagle, as in all similar perils, Mat 23:37 ; 24:22. The common barn-door fowl is not often mentioned in Scripture, Mar 13:35 ; 14:30; Luk 22:34 ; but at the present day they and their eggs are more used in Syria than any other food not vegetable.\par

Hen. (rest).

1. Probably, a son of Zephaniah, and apparently, the same who is called Josiah, in Zec 6:10.

2. The hen is nowhere noticed in the Bible except in Mat 23:37; Luk 13:34. That a bird so common in Palestine should receive such slight notice is certainly peculiar.

Zec 6:14 ("favor"), the same person as Josiah ("God founds or supports"), Zec 6:10.

Son of Zephaniah. Zec 6:14. By comparing verse 14 with verse 10 Hen (really Chen) appears to be another name of Josiah. Some treat the word Hen not as a proper name, and translate ’for the favour of the son of Zephaniah.’

In Mat 23:37; Luk 13:34 the domestic fowl is alluded to, and her well-known care for her chickens, in illustration of how the Lord would have gathered the Jews under His almighty and loving protection; but, alas, they would not!

HEN.—See Animals, p. 64^a.

By: Emil G. Hirsch, I. M. Casanowicz

There is no mention of the hen in the Old Testament, though "barburim abusim" (I Kings v. 3) is taken in B. M. 86b for "fattened hens." Many of the Talmudic references to the hen ("tarnegolet"; "gabrit"; "paḥya") are quoted under Cock in Jew. Encyc. iv. 138 et seq. The Talmud mentions that the hen perches for sleep on elevated places (Shab. 35b). As such places are often over chimneys, the lower eyelid of the hen overlaps the upper one in sleeping, in order to protect its eyes against the smoke (ib. 77b). The egg of the hen takes ten days to mature (Ber. 8a). A cock and a hen, on account of the fecundity of the latter, were carried before the bridal couple on the wedding-day (Giṭ. 57a). The skins of grapes on account of their fattening properties were a favorite food for hens (B. M. 86b). The employment of hens in thrashing is mentioned in B. M. 91b.

HEN.—In Zec 6:14 ‘Hen the son of Zephaniah’ is mentioned amongst those whose memory was to be perpetuated by the crowns laid up in the Temple (so AV [Note: Authorized Version.] , RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). Some would substitute for ‘Hen’ the name ‘Joshua’ [Josiah] found in Zec 6:10.

Favor: grace

hen (חן, ḥēn, “favor”). In Zec 6:14, English Versions of the Bible reads, “And the crowns shall be to Helem ... and to Hen the son of Zephaniah.” But as this person is called Josiah in Zec 6:10, the Revised Version, margin “and for the kindness of the son of Zephaniah” is probably right, but the text is uncertain. See JOSIAH.

Mat 23:37 (a) This is a type of the tender care and protection which the Lord JESUS offered Israel. CHRIST Himself is compared to the mother hen and the chickens represent the Israelites and the Christians of today.

Luk 13:34 (a) In His early ministry, the Lord JESUS compared Himself to a mother hen calling her brood (the whole nation of Israel) to come to Him and trust Him. Quite sometime later in His ministry, He repeats the same verse in Mat 23:37, but He changed one word. Instead of calling the "brood," He called the "chickens" - the individual persons of Israel. The events which transpired between these two passages reveal that Israel as a nation had rejected CHRIST, therefore at the end of His journey, He made His appeal for individuals rather than for the whole nation.

See Fowl

A hen is an adult female chicken. Hens were kept as domestic birds for their eggs and meat. Jesus used the picture of a hen gathering her chicks under her wings to describe his desire to protect the people of Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34)

See also Fowl.

Aquifer Open Bible Dictionary © 2026 Mission Mutual, an adaptation of the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.