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Compare 3 Baruch 6:5 and Physiologus 47:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Early Christian

Summary

In the Jewish apocalyptic text 3 Baruch, the phoenix flies near the sun and spreads its wings to catch its fiery rays. In the Physiologus, an early Christian text, a giant bird called the gryphon catches the rising sun's rays the same way.

Passages

3 Baruch 6:5

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Greek Apocalypse of Baruch

2 And he showed me a chariot with four horses, with a fire burning underneath, and a man was sitting in the chariot, wearing a crown of fire, (and) the chariot (was) drawn by forty angels. And look, a bird was circling in front of the sun, about nine cubits away. 3 And I said to the angel, What is this bird? And he said to me, This is the guardian of the earth. 4 And I said, Lord, how is he the guardian of the earth? Teach me. 5 And the angel said to me, This bird flies alongside the sun and spreads his wings to catch its fiery rays. 6 For if he did not catch them, the human race would not survive, nor would any other living creature. But God appointed this bird for this purpose. 7 And he spread his wings, and I saw on his right wing very large letters, as large as a threshing floor, the size of about four thousand modii; and the letters were of gold. 8 And the angel said to me, Read them. And I read and this is what they said: Neither earth nor heaven gave me birth, but wings of fire gave me birth. 9 And I said, Lord, what is this bird, and what is his name? 10 And the angel said to me, His name is Phoenix. 11 (And I said), And what does he eat? And he said to me, The manna of heaven and the dew of earth.

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). [...] As in 3 Baruch the Bird’s main function – like the ozone layer in modern conception – is to protect all the living from solar radiation. ...”

Alexander Kulik, Baruch: Greek-Slavonic Apocalypse of Baruch (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2010), 238–239, 241.

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

The Gryphon

Physiologus67 chapters

Compare 3 Baruch 6:5 and Physiologus 47:1

Summary

Passages

3 Baruch 6:5

Physiologus 47:1

References

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