Texts in Conversation
2 Enoch and the apocalyptic text 3 Baruch refer to the mythical phoenix as a creature that travels with the sun. Greek and Roman tradition also connects the phoenix with the sun, but neither text includes its death and rebirth, the center of the myth.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
2 Enoch 12:1
Secrets of Enoch
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 I looked and saw other flying elements of the sun, named Phoenixes and Chalkydri, marvelous and wonderful, with feet and tails shaped like a lion and a crocodile's head. Their appearance is tinged with purple, resembling a rainbow; they are nine hundred measures in size, with wings like those of angels, each having twelve. They attend and accompany the sun, carrying heat and dew, as commanded by God. 2 Thus, the sun revolves and travels, rising under the heaven, and its course continues under the earth, with the light of its rays shining unceasingly.
3 Baruch 6:2
Greek Apocalypse of Baruch
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 and he showed me a chariot and four, under which burnt a fire, and in the chariot was sitting a man, wearing a crown of fire, (and) the chariot (was) drawn by forty angels. And behold a bird circling before the sun, about nine 3 cubits away. And I said to the angel, What is this bird? And he said to me, This is the 4 guardian of the earth. And I said, Lord, how is he the guardian of the earth? Teach me. And the angel said to me, This bird flies alongside of the sun, and expanding his wings receives its fiery 5 rays. For if he were not receiving them, the human race would not be preserved, nor any other 6 living creature. But God appointed this bird thereto. And he expanded his wings, and I saw on his right wing very large letters, as large as the space of a threshing-floor, the size of about four 7 thousand modii; and the letters were of gold. And the angel said to me, Read them. And I read 8 and they ran thus: Neither earth nor heaven bring me forth, but wings of fire bring me forth. And I said, Lord, what is this bird, and what is his name? And the angel said to me, His name is called 9 Phoenix. (And I said), And what does he eat? And he said to me, The manna of heaven and
Tags:
Search:
Notes and References
“... 2. Early Jewish Phoenix. So called “phoenixes and chalkydri” (in plural; in fact, according to some mss of 2 Enoch (ms R = NLB 321) they are just “like phoenixes and chalkydri”) accompany the sun in 2 Enoch. [...] The Sun Bird of 3 Baruch is “Phoenix” only in name. It bears the Greek name, but lacks the main features of the phoenix of Hellenistic and Christian traditions. [...] 3 Baruch, as well as “phoenixes” of 2 Enoch, may instead represent the superficial Hellenization (or pure intercultural translation) of an image belonging to the Jewish lore that underlies both apocalyptic and Rabbinic sources. ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,