Texts in Conversation
1 Enoch describes cut branches that stay alive and in bloom, from a tree at the center of the earth. In the Shepherd of Hermas, an angel similarly cuts branches from a great willow for believers, and Hermas is amazed that the tree stays whole.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Enoch 26:1
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 And I went from there to the middle of the earth, and I saw a blessed place where trees with branches were abiding and blooming [from a dismembered tree]. 2 And there I saw a holy mountain, and beneath the mountain to the east there was a stream that flowed towards the south. 3 And I saw towards the east another mountain higher than this, and between them a deep and narrow ravine: in it also a stream ran beneath the mountain. 4 And to the west of this was another mountain, lower than the former and of small elevation, and a deep and dry ravine between them: and another deep and dry ravine was at the extremities of the three mountains. 5 And all the ravines were deep and narrow, (being formed) of hard rock, and no trees were planted upon them. 6 And I marveled at the rocks, and I marveled at the ravine, yes, I marveled very much.
Shepherd of Hermas 67:3
Early Christian
1 He showed me a great willow, overshadowing plains and mountains, and all who are called by the name of the Lord have come under the shadow of the willow. 2 By the willow stood an angel of the Lord, glorious and very tall, holding a large sickle, and he was cutting branches from the willow, and giving them to the people who found shelter beneath the willow; and he gave them small rods about a cubit long. 3 After everyone had taken the rods, the angel laid the sickle aside, and the tree was left intact, just as I had seen it. 4 Then I wondered, saying to myself, “How is the tree intact after so many branches have been lopped off?” The shepherd said to me, “Do not be amazed that the tree remained intact after so many branches were cut off, but wait until you see all things, and what it means will be shown to you.”
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Notes and References
“... The willow is a cosmic tree, covering not only plains and mountains, but the whole earth (3.2). [...] The tree also possesses a miraculous integrity: though the angel keeps pruning branches, its fullness remains (v. 3). [...] Compare 1 Enoch 26.1, where a tree at the center of the earth gives shade through branches that are cut yet live and bloom. [...] Cirillo ("Erma e il problema," 18) calls attention to 1 Enoch 24-26, where unusual trees and Michael are brought together. An intriguing parallel, certainly, though there the first tree is noteworthy for its wonderful fragrance, not its size, and from the second, living, blooming branches are cut and provide shade. ...”
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