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About this book

Physiologus

About this book

The Gryphon

Chapter 47

1 The Gryphon is the largest bird of all the birds of heaven. It lives in the far East in an inlet of the ocean-stream. And, when the sun rises over the water-depths and lights the world with its beams, the Gryphon spreads out its wings and receives the rays of the sun.⁠ And another rises with it, and the two fly together toward the sunset, as it is written: "Spread your wings, dispenser of light; give the world light."⁠ 2 In the same way the two Gryphons stand for the Godhead, that is, for the Archangel Michael and the Holy Mother of God, and they receive your spirit, so that it may not be said: "I do not know you." 3 Physiologus spoke well about the Gryphon.

Texts in conversation

Compare 3 Baruch 6:14 and Physiologus 47:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Early Christian

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Summary

In the Jewish apocalyptic text 3 Baruch, a voice at sunrise calls on the light giver to light the world, and the phoenix responds. In the Physiologus, an early Christian book of animal lore, the same call is given as the gryphon rises with the sun.

Passages

3 Baruch 6:14

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Greek Apocalypse of Baruch
12 And I said, Does the bird excrete? And he said to me, He excretes a worm, and the excrement of the worm is cinnamon, which kings and princes use. But wait and you will see the glory of God. 13 And while he was talking with me, there was a sound like a thunderclap, and the place where we were standing shook. And I asked the angel, My Lord, what is this sound? And the angel said to me, The angels are now opening the three hundred and sixty-five gates of heaven, and the light is being separated from the darkness. 14 And a voice came which said, Light giver, give radiance to the world. 15 And when I heard the noise of the bird, I said, Lord, what is this noise? 16 And he said, This is the bird who wakes the roosters on earth from sleep. For just as people communicate with their mouths, the rooster too signals to those in the world in his own language. For the sun is made ready by the angels, and the rooster crows.
1–200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 3 Baruch

Physiologus 47:1

Early Christian
1 The Gryphon is the largest bird of all the birds of heaven. It lives in the far East in an inlet of the ocean-stream. And, when the sun rises over the water-depths and lights the world with its beams, the Gryphon spreads out its wings and receives the rays of the sun. And another rises with it, and the two fly together toward the sunset, as it is written: "Spread your wings, dispenser of light; give the world light." 2 In the same way the two Gryphons stand for the Godhead, that is, for the Archangel Michael and the Holy Mother of God, and they receive your spirit, so that it may not be said: "I do not know you." 3 Physiologus spoke well about the Gryphon.
150–350 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Physiologus

References

“... Similar traditions are preserved in texts posterior to 3 Baruch, of which at least some may be dependent on it (Laevius, Pterigion Phoenicis; Byzantine Physiologus; Disputatio Panagiotae). In some of these sources magic birds also moderate the sun’s radiation (see James, “Baruch,” lxiv; Ryssel, “Baruch,” 452; Broek 261f; 287–297). Griffin of Byzantine Physiologus (52) shares also the unique motif of the inscription on the bird’s wings (3 Bar. 6:7–8). Moreover, these words are almost identical to 3 Bar. 6:14: “O Light giver, give light to the world!” (Harlow, Baruch, 137; cf. also in Slavonic versions of Physiologus; Belova, Bestiarij, 92; 283). ...”
Alexander Kulik, Baruch: Greek-Slavonic Apocalypse of Baruch (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2010), 238–239.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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3 Baruch 6:14 and Physiologus 47:1

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