Texts in Conversation
In 2 Enoch, phoenixes sing at sunrise as the giver of light arrives, and the apocalyptic text 3 Baruch gives a similar cry to its phoenix. These follow the Greek and Roman tradition preserved by Pliny the Elder, where the phoenix is sacred to the sun.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
2 Enoch 15:2
Secrets of Enoch
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 Then the elements of the sun, called Phoenixes and Chalkydri break into song, therefore every bird flutters with its wings, rejoicing at the giver of light, and they broke into song at the command of the Lord. 2 The giver of light comes to give brightness to the whole world, and the morning guard takes shape, which is the rays of the sun, and the sun of the earth goes out, and receives its brightness to light up the whole face of the earth, 3 and they showed me this calculation of the sun's course. And the gates it enters are the great gates used to calculate the hours of the year;
Date: 1–100 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
3 Baruch 6:14
Greek Apocalypse of Baruch
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
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.
Date: Late 1st–2nd century CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... Many parallels to the sun and moon chariots of 3 Baruch are found in 2 En: [...] Phoenixes and chalkydri sing: “The light-giver is coming to give radiance to the whole world” (2 En. (J) 15:2; as in 3 Baruch 6:14). [...] When the sun rises, they greet it (as in 3 Bar. 6:14S): the elements of the sun, called phoenixes and chalkydri break into song, herefore every bird flutters with its wings, rejoicing at the giver of light, and they broke into song at the command of the Lord. (2 En. (J) 15:1) In 2 En. (J) 15:2 they also pronounce, “The Light giver is coming to give radiance to the whole world” (as in 3 Bar. 6:14S). ...”
* 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.
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