Aurora Borealis in Ancient Jewish Texts: The Talmud and Zohar’s Mysterious “Green Line Around the World”

The aurora — also known as the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) or Southern Lights (Aurora Australis), is a breathtaking display of colored light that appears in the night sky, usually near the Earth’s poles.

Scientifically, the aurora is caused by charged gas particles from the Sun that collide with Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere, producing glowing light in shades of green, pink, and red.

Modern science understood this phenomenon only in the 20th century, after the rise of space research and satellite imaging.

Scientific Facts About the Aurora

1. The Color of the Aurora
Green is the most common and dominant color of auroras, created by oxygen atoms high in the atmosphere interacting with solar particles.

2. The Aurora Seen from Space
Images from NASA satellites in the 2000s show a green ring of light surrounding the Earth — concentrated around the north and south poles. From space, this appears as a luminous green halo encircling the planet.

Ancient Sources That Already Knew

Could this information that became known to science only in recent decades, have been recorded thousands of years ago?

Astonishingly, yes. In the Talmud, written about 1,500–2,000 years ago, it is stated: “A green line… that encircles the entire world.”
(Talmud, Chagigah 12a)

In the Zohar, written nearly 1,900 years ago, it says: “A green line… that encircles the entire world.” (Zohar, Bamidbar II, Shemot Shelach)

Both sources describe precisely what modern science has observed: a green light that surrounds the globe.

Ancient Knowledge Beyond Human Reach

Thousands of years before satellite technology or astrophysics, these ancient texts described a feature of the Earth that could not possibly have been seen by human eyes — a glowing green ring encircling the planet.

Such knowledge, the text suggests, could not have originated from human observation or speculation. It reflects an awareness beyond human limits — the knowledge of the Creator Himself.

Adapted from the book “Interwoven Worlds (עולמות משתלבים)” by a Technion graduate (B.Sc. in Physics, with honors).