The Comet “with Sword and Trumpet” and the Conditionality of the World’s End in Sibylline Oracles 4

Abstract This article demonstrates that the “very great sign with sword and trumpet” described in Sibylline Oracles 4 is the earliest known description of the straight ion tail and curved dust tail of a comet, previously thought to have been first described in the 8th century. Comparison with Greco-Roman scientific literature shows that swords and trumpets were objects used to describe comets, and comparison with Jewish apocalyptic literature shows that unusual astrological sightings were expected to accompany the end of the world. A special feature of these verses is that they make the end of the world conditional upon whether or not people heed the oracle’s admonition to convert and repent. However, literary analysis demonstrates that the comet does not have prognostic or hortatory value to signal this conditionality. The comet will only appear if the conditions for the destruction of the world are met. The text’s Hellenized Jewish author was seeking a universal audience by combining broader Greco-Roman astrological knowledge with Jewish astrological predictions for the end of the world.