“The Wood of the Cross” and the date of the physiologus: A new proposal

Many proposals for the date of the Physiologus have been put forward. The origins of this intriguing treatise ranged from the second to the fourth or even fifth century. While the arguments for a late date are valid, they are not decisive. In this brief article, however, we want to present another argument for dating the Physiologus at least in the third century and, more likely, in the fourth. The main argument is that the Greek expression “wood of the cross” only appears in the fourth century, except for Origen’s commentary on the Psalms. Moreover, the same expression in Latin is found chiefly in fourth and fifth-century Christian literature. Consequently, the Physiologus terminus post quem should be in the late third or fourth centuries.