Chol (Hebrew:חוֹלḥōl) is a word mentioned in Job 29:18 in the Masoretic text of theHebrew Bible, traditionally understood as the Hebrew word for "phoenix".
TheLeningrad Codex reads:
אֹמַר עִם־קִנִּ֣י אֶגְוָ֑ע וְ֝כַח֗וֹל אַרְבֶּ֥ה יָמִֽים׃
’omar ‘im-qinni ’egva‘; vekhachol, ’arbeh yamim.
The GreekSeptuagint (circa 200 BCE) used theAncient Greek expression στέλεχος φοίνικος (stélechos phoínikos, "stem/trunk of a palm tree") when rendering Hebrewḥōl in Job 29,[1] which the LatinVulgate (circa 400 CE) interpreted aspalma (Latin for "palm tree").[2] The Greek term φοῖνιξ ambiguously denotes both the palm tree and the phoenix, the former being a far more common term.
Roelof Van den Broek (1971) believed that "sand" was the most appropriate interpretation of the termḥōl in Job 29:18, following the common meaning ofḥōl in Hebrew. On his interpretation, "multiply my days like the sand" must be a metaphor for a long life.[3] On the other hand,Mitchell Dahood (1974) argued in favor of the interpretation "phoenix" on the basis of parallels between Job andUgaritic texts.[4] In particular, the Ugaritic lineḥl rḥb mknpt "phoenix broad of wingspread" strongly points to an Ugaritic nounḥl "phoenix", as "sand" does not fit this context. Ugariticḥl "phoenix" is cognate to Hebrewḥōl.
The Rabbis preserved the original understanding of the wordḥōl as referring to the phoenix. The school of R. Jannai said: "[theḥōl] lives a thousand years and at the end of thousand years a fire issues from its nest and burns it until as much as an egg is left of it. Then it grows limbs again and lives." R. Judan b. Simon said: "it lives a thousand years and at the end of thousand years its body is consumed and its wings crumble to pieces until as much as an egg of it is left. Then it grows limbs again and lives."[5]