A Hen Gathering Her Chicks

Jesus painted a touching word picture, likening his concern for the people of Jerusalem to the protectiveness of a hen that is sheltering her young with her wings. This illustration, as well as Jesus’ reference to a son who asks his father for an egg (Lu 11:11, 12), indicates that the domestic hen was common in first-century Israel. Though the Greek word orʹnis, used at Mt 23:37 and Lu 13:34, could refer to any bird, wild or domesticated, in this context it is understood to refer to a hen, the most common and useful of the domestic fowl.