Texts in Conversation
In the apocalyptic text 3 Baruch, the phoenix flies beside the sun and spreads its wings to catch its fiery rays. In the Physiologus, an early Christian handbook of animal lore, a giant bird called the gryphon catches the rising sun's rays the same way.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
3 Baruch 6:5
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 for this purpose. 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
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.
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Notes and 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. ...”
* 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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