Dialogue with Trypho (chapters 1–34)

Dialogue with Trypho

Justin Martyr

c. AD 155–165

A long conversation, written up by Justin about AD 155–160, between himself and a Jewish man named Trypho. Justin begins with the story of his own search through the philosophers and his meeting with an old Christian man by the sea. He then argues from the Old Testament that Jesus is the Messiah, that the old covenant has been replaced by a new one, and that Gentile believers are the true Israel. The surviving manuscript has gaps, including the opening and a stretch in chapter 74.

A note for readers. Justin reads the Old Testament as pointing to Christ at almost every turn, and in doing so he often quotes Scripture in a form that differs from our Bibles, and sometimes accuses Jewish teachers of cutting passages out. Scholars treat many of those charges with caution. The book is also a record of early Christian-Jewish argument, and some of its language about the Jews is harsh. Read it with that history in mind.

Chapter 1

Introduction.

1 One morning I was walking in the colonnades of the Xystus. A man met me with some others and said, “Hello, philosopher!” As soon as he said this, he turned around and walked along with me, and his friends turned with him. I greeted him in return and said, “What is it, exactly?”^[1] 2 He answered, “In Argos I was taught by Corinthus the Socratic that we should not despise or neglect people who wear this kind of dress. We should show them every kindness and talk with them, in case some benefit comes from the conversation, either to that man or to me. It is good for both, even if only one of them is helped. For this reason, whenever I see someone dressed like this, I gladly approach him. For the same reason I was glad to greet you just now, and these men are following me because they too hope to hear something good from you.”

3 “But who are you, best of mortals?” I said this to him in fun. He told me plainly both his name and his family. “I am called Trypho,” he said. “I am a Hebrew of the circumcision. I have escaped the war that has just taken place, and I spend most of my time in Greece and in Corinth.” I said, “And what benefit could you get from philosophy as great as the benefit you get from your own lawgiver and the prophets?” “Why not?” he said. “Don’t the philosophers devote all their discussion to God? Don’t questions about his single rule and his providence come up for them again and again? Isn’t this the very work of philosophy, to inquire about the divine?”^[2] 4 “Yes,” I said, “that is our view too. But most philosophers have not even cared about this question: whether there is one god or several, and whether the gods look after each of us or not. They act as if this knowledge contributed nothing to happiness. They even try to persuade us that God takes care of the whole universe and of its kinds and species, but not of me and you and individual matters. Otherwise we would not be praying to him night and day.”

5 “It is not hard to see where this leads them. Those who hold these opinions have impunity and freedom to do and say whatever they want. They fear no punishment and hope for nothing good from God. And how could they? They say the same things will always happen, and that you and I will live again in the same way, having become neither better nor worse. Others suppose the soul is immortal and without a body. They think that even if they do something evil they will not pay the penalty, since what has no body cannot suffer. And since the soul is immortal, they think they need nothing more from God.”^[3] 6 Trypho smiled pleasantly and said, “And what about you? What do you think about these things? What is your view about God, and what is your philosophy? Tell us.”

Chapter 2

Justin Describes His Studies in Philosophy.

1 “I will tell you what seems right to me,” I said. “Philosophy is truly the greatest possession and the most precious in God’s sight, because it alone leads us to him and commends us to him. Those who have set their minds on philosophy are truly holy. But most people do not realize what philosophy is, or why it was sent down to human beings. If they did, there would be no Platonists, Stoics, Peripatetics, Theoretics or Pythagoreans, since this knowledge is one.”^[4] 2 “I want to tell you why it became many-headed. Those who first took hold of it became famous for that reason. Those who followed them investigated nothing about the truth. They were simply struck by the first philosophers’ endurance and self-control and by the strangeness of their teachings. Each follower considered true whatever he had learned from his own teacher. Then these followers in turn handed down such teachings, and others like them, to those after them. Each school was called by the name of the man who was called the father of its teaching.”

3 “At the beginning I too wanted to meet one of these men, so I gave myself to a certain Stoic. I spent a good while with him, but I gained nothing more about God. He did not know about God himself, and he said this learning was not necessary. So I left him and went to another man, called a Peripatetic, who thought himself shrewd. He put up with me for the first few days, and then asked me to set a fee, so that our time together would not be unprofitable for us. For this reason I left him too, since I did not think he was a philosopher at all.”^[5] 4 While my soul was still eager to hear what was distinctive and choice about philosophy, I went to a very well-regarded Pythagorean, a man who thought highly of his own wisdom. I spoke with him, wanting to become his hearer and companion. He said, “Well? Have you studied music, astronomy and geometry? Or do you expect to see anything that contributes to happiness without first being taught these subjects? They draw the soul away from things perceived by the senses and make it fit for things perceived by the mind, so that it can see the beautiful itself and the good itself.”^[6]

5 He praised these studies at length and called them necessary, and then sent me away, because I admitted to him that I knew nothing of them. I was naturally upset at having lost my hope, all the more because I had thought he really knew something. Then I considered how long I would have to spend on those studies, and I could not bear to put the matter off for so long. 6 I was at a loss, and it seemed good to me to meet with the Platonists as well, for their fame was great too. So I spent as much time as I could with a wise man who had recently come to our city and who held a leading place among the Platonists. I made progress, and every day I improved greatly. The thought of things without bodies captivated me, and the contemplation of the Ideas gave my mind wings. In a short time I supposed I had become wise, and in my foolishness I expected to see God at once, for this is the goal of Plato’s philosophy.^[7]

Chapter 3

Justin Narrates the Manner of His Conversion.

1 While I was in this state of mind, I wanted at one time to have complete quiet and to stay clear of the paths of men. So I walked to a place not far from the sea. When I came near the spot where I meant to be alone with myself, an old man began to follow a little way behind me. He was not someone to look down on, and his manner was gentle and dignified. I turned around to face him, stopped, and looked at him intently. 2 He said, “Do you know me?” I said I did not. “Then why,” he said, “are you looking at me like that?” “I am surprised,” I said, “that you happen to be in the same place as I am. I did not expect to see any man here.” He said, “I am worried about some members of my household. They are away from home, so I have come to look out for them, in case they show up somewhere. But what are you doing here?” “I enjoy this kind of pastime,” I said. “Here my conversation with myself is undisturbed, and places like this are the best for the love of discourse.”^[8]

3 “So you are a lover of words,” he said, “but not at all a lover of work or of truth? Do you not try to be a man of action rather than a clever debater?” “What greater work could anyone do,” I said, “than to show that reason governs all things? Once a person has grasped reason and rides upon it, he can look down on the error of others and on what they pursue. He can see that they do nothing sound or pleasing to God. Without philosophy and right reason no one can have understanding. So every person ought to study philosophy and count it the greatest and most honorable work. The other things come second and third. When they are tied to philosophy, they have modest value and are worth accepting. But when they are cut off from it, and philosophy does not go along with those who pursue them, they are crude and low.”^[9]

4 “Does philosophy then bring happiness?” he said, breaking in. “Certainly,” I said, “and it alone.” “What is philosophy,” he said, “and what is its happiness? Tell me, if nothing prevents you.” “Philosophy,” I said, “is knowledge of what is, and a full recognition of the truth. Happiness is the reward of this knowledge and wisdom.”^[10] 5 “And what do you call God?” he said. “That which always stays the same in the same way, and is the cause of existence for everything else. This is God.” That was how I answered him. He was pleased to hear it, and he questioned me again: “Is ‘knowledge’ not a common name for different things? In all the arts, the person who knows one of them is called skilled, whether in generalship, in steering a ship, or in medicine. But in divine and human matters it is not so. Is there a knowledge that gives an understanding of human and divine things themselves, and then a full recognition of their divinity and righteousness?” “Certainly,” I said.^[11]

6 “What then? Is it the same to know man and God as it is to know music, arithmetic, astronomy, or anything like that?” “Not at all,” I said. “Then you have not answered me rightly,” he said. “Some kinds of knowledge come to us through learning or through some practice. Others give us knowledge by seeing. Suppose someone told you that in India there is a creature unlike all the others, but of such and such a kind, of many forms and varied. You would not know it before you saw it. You would not even be able to say anything about it, unless you heard it from someone who had seen it.”^[12] 7 “No, indeed,” I said. “How then,” he said, “could the philosophers think rightly about God, or say anything true, when they have no knowledge of Him and have never seen Him or heard Him?” “But, father,” I said, “the divine is not visible to the eyes, as other living creatures are. It can be grasped by the mind alone, as Plato says, and I believe him.”^[13]

Chapter 4

The Soul of Itself Cannot See God.

1 “Does our mind, then,” he said, “have such great power? Or can it grasp Being when it has not taken it in through the senses? Will a man’s mind ever see God if it is not adorned with the Holy Spirit?” “Plato says,” I replied, “that the eye of the mind is of just this kind, and has been given to us for this purpose: that when it is pure it can see that very Being which is the cause of everything the mind perceives. It has no color, no shape, no size, nothing that the eye sees. It is simply Being itself, Plato says, beyond all essence, neither speakable nor utterable, but alone beautiful and good. It comes suddenly into souls that are naturally gifted, because of their kinship with it and their longing to see it.”^[14] 2 “What kinship, then, do we have with God?” he said. “Is the soul also divine and immortal, and a part of that very royal mind? And just as that mind sees God, can we also grasp the divine with our mind, and so be happy from now on?” “Certainly,” I said. “And do the souls of all living creatures take it in?” he asked. “Or is a man’s soul one kind, and a horse’s or a donkey’s another?” “No, the souls in all of them are the same,” I answered.^[15]

3 “Then will horses and donkeys see God, or have they ever seen Him?” he asked. “No,” I said. “Nor will most people, except anyone who lives justly, purified by righteousness and every other virtue.” “So it is not because of kinship that a person sees God, nor because he has a mind, but because he is self-controlled and just?” “Yes,” I said, “and because he has that by which he perceives God.” “What then? Do goats or sheep wrong anyone?” “Not anyone in any way,” I said. 4 “Then according to your argument these animals will see God too?” he said. “No, for their body, being what it is, is a hindrance to them.” He broke in: “If these animals could speak, be sure that they would have much more reason to abuse our body. But let us leave that now, and let it be granted to you as you say. Now tell me this: does the soul see while it is in the body, or after it is released from it?”

5 “While it is in human form,” I said, “it is possible for it to attain this through the mind. But above all, when it has been released from the body and is alone by itself, it obtains what it had loved all along.” “And does it remember this when it comes to be in a human being again?” “I do not think so,” I said. “Then what is the benefit to those who have seen? What more does the one who has seen have than the one who has not, if he does not even remember that he saw?” 6 “I cannot say,” I said. “And what happens to those souls that are judged unworthy of this sight?” he asked. “They are bound into the bodies of certain wild animals, and this is their punishment.” “Do they know, then, that they are in such bodies for this reason, and that they have sinned in some way?” “I do not think so.”

7 “Then they get no benefit from their punishment, it seems. In fact I would say they are not being punished at all, if they are not aware of the punishment.” “No, indeed.” “So souls neither see God nor pass into other bodies. For they would know that they are punished in this way, and would be afraid to commit even the slightest sin afterward. But that they are able to understand that God exists, and that righteousness and piety are good, I agree too,” he said. “You are right,” I said.

Chapter 5

The Soul is Not in Its Own Nature Immortal.

1 “Then those philosophers know nothing about these matters, for they cannot even say what the soul is.” “It seems not.” “Nor should we call it immortal. If it is immortal, then clearly it is also unbegotten.” “According to some who are called Platonists, it is both unbegotten and immortal.” “Do you also say that the world is unbegotten?” “Some say so, but I do not agree with them.” 2 “You are right not to. What reason is there to think that a body so solid, so resistant, so composite, a body that changes, wastes away and comes into being every day, did not come from some beginning? But if the world has been begotten, the souls must have been begotten too, and perhaps there is a time when they do not exist. For they came into being for the sake of human beings and the other living creatures, if you will say at all that they came into being separately and not together with their own bodies.” “That seems right.” “Then they are not immortal.” “No, since the world has appeared to us to be begotten.”^[16]

3 “But I do not say that all souls die, for that would truly be a windfall for the wicked. What I say is this: the souls of the godly stay in some better place, and those of the unjust and wicked in a worse place, while they wait for the time of judgment. So the souls that have been shown worthy of God no longer die, but the others are punished for as long as God wills them both to exist and to be punished.” 4 “Is what you say like what Plato hints at in the Timaeus about the world? He says that the world is perishable in that it came into being, but that it will not be dissolved or meet the lot of death, because of God’s will. Does it seem to you that the same thing is being said about the soul, and about everything? For everything that exists after God, or will ever exist, has a perishable nature and can be wiped out and cease to be. God alone is unbegotten and imperishable, and that is why he is God. Everything else after him is begotten and perishable.”^[17]

5 “For this reason souls both die and are punished. If they were unbegotten, they would not sin, or be full of folly, or be cowardly at one time and reckless at another. Nor would they ever willingly pass into pigs, snakes and dogs, and it would not be right to force them, if they were unbegotten. For the unbegotten is like the unbegotten, equal to it and the same as it, and neither in power nor in honor could one be put above the other.”^[18] 6 “So there are not many unbegotten things. If there were some difference among them, you would not find the cause of the difference, however much you searched. You would send your thought on without end, and at last, worn out, you would stop at one unbegotten being and say that this is the cause of all.” “Did this escape Plato and Pythagoras,” I said, “those wise men who have become for us like a wall and a support of philosophy?”

Chapter 6

These Things Were Unknown Plato and Other Philosophers.

1 “I do not care at all about Plato or Pythagoras,” he said, “or about anyone at all who holds such opinions. For the truth is this, and you can learn it from what follows. The soul is either life or has life. If it is life, it would make something else live, not itself, just as motion would move something else rather than itself. That the soul lives, no one would deny. But if it lives, it does not live by being life but by sharing in life. And what shares in something is different from that which it shares in. The soul shares in life, since God wills it to live.” 2 “So, in the same way, it will no longer share in life when God does not will it to live. For living is not the soul’s own possession, as it is God’s. A human being does not exist forever, and the body is not always joined to the soul. When this harmony has to be dissolved, the soul leaves the body and the man is no more. In the same way, when the soul has to cease to be, the life-giving spirit departs from it, and the soul is no more. It too goes back to the place from which it was taken.” [Genesis 3:19]

Chapter 7

The Knowledge of Truth to Be Sought from the Prophets Alone.

1 “Then whom,” I said, “should anyone still use as a teacher? Where could anyone get help, if the truth is not even in these men?” “Long ago,” he said, “long before all these so-called philosophers, there were men who were blessed, righteous and beloved by God. They spoke by the divine Spirit and foretold the things that are now happening. They are called prophets. They alone saw the truth and declared it to people. They did not hold back out of fear or respect for anyone, and they were not ruled by the love of glory. They said only what they had heard and seen, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit. 2 “Their writings still survive. Anyone who reads them, and believes them, can gain very great help about the first principles and the end of things, and about whatever a philosopher ought to know. They did not give their words with proofs, because they stand above all proof, as trustworthy witnesses of the truth. What has happened, and what is happening now, compels you to agree with what was spoken through them.

3 “And yet they also deserved to be believed because of the miracles they performed. They glorified the Maker of all things as God and Father, and they proclaimed his Son, the Christ who comes from him. The false prophets, who are filled with the deceiving and unclean spirit, have never done this and do not do it now. They do dare to work certain miracles to astonish people, and they give praise to the spirits of error and to demons. But above all, pray that the gates of light be opened to you. These things cannot be seen or understood by everyone, but only by the person to whom God and his Christ grant understanding.”

Chapter 8

Justin by His Colloquy is Kindled with Love to Christ.

1 “When he had said these things, and many others which there is no time to tell now, he went away. He urged me to pursue what he had said, and I have not seen him since. But at once a fire was kindled in my soul, and I was seized with a love for the prophets and for those men who are friends of Christ. As I turned his words over in my mind, I found this to be the only philosophy that is safe and profitable. 2 “That is how, and why, I am a philosopher. I wish that everyone would share my resolve and never turn away from the words of the Saviour. They have an awe-inspiring power in them, enough to make those who stray from the right road ashamed. And they bring the sweetest rest to those who practice them diligently. So if you have any care for yourself, if you are striving for salvation, and if you trust in God, then this matter is not foreign to you. You may come to know the Christ of God, become complete, and be happy.”^[19]

3 When I said this, my dear friend, Trypho’s companions burst out laughing. He himself smiled a little and said, “I accept the rest of what you say, and I admire your zeal for divine things. But it would be better for you to still keep to the philosophy of Plato or of someone else, practicing endurance, self-control and moderation, than to be deceived by false teachings and follow men who are worth nothing. If you stayed in that way of philosophy and lived blamelessly, you would still have hope of a better lot. But once you have abandoned God and put your hope in a man, what salvation is left for you?^[20] 4 “So if you want to listen to me too, for I already count you a friend, first be circumcised. Then keep the Sabbath, the feasts and the new moons of God, as the custom is. In short, do everything written in the Law, and then perhaps you will find mercy from God. As for Christ, even if he has been born and is somewhere, he is unknown. He does not yet even know himself, and he has no power, until Elijah comes, anoints him, and makes him known to everyone. But you have accepted an empty rumor, and you have made up a Christ for yourselves. For his sake you are now recklessly destroying yourselves.”^[21]

Chapter 9

The Christians Have Not Believed Groundless Stories.

1 “You are excused, sir,” I said, “and may you be forgiven. You do not know what you are saying. You have been persuaded by teachers who do not understand the Scriptures, and you speak like a fortune-teller, saying whatever comes into your head. But perhaps you are willing to hear an account of this: how we have not been led astray, and how we will not stop confessing him, even if people heap reproaches on us, and even if the most terrible tyrant forces us to deny him. If so, then while you are here I will show you that we have not believed empty myths or unproven stories. We have believed words that are full of the divine Spirit, overflowing with power, and flourishing with grace.” 2 Trypho’s companions laughed again and shouted something rude. I got up and was ready to leave, but he took hold of my cloak and said he would not let go until I had finished what I had promised. “Then do not let your friends make such a racket,” I said, “or behave so badly. If they wish, let them listen quietly. But if some more important business keeps them, let them go. As for us, let us withdraw somewhere, rest, and finish the discussion.”

3 Trypho agreed that we should do this. So we slipped away and went to the middle of the Xystus. Two of his companions mocked us and made fun of our earnestness, and then went off. When we reached the place where there are stone seats on both sides, Trypho’s friends sat down on one side. One of them brought up the war that had taken place in Judaea, and they began to talk about it.^[22]

Chapter 10

Trypho Blames the Christians for This Alone-The Non-Observance of the Law.

1 When they had stopped, I began again and spoke to them like this: “My friends, is there anything else you blame us for, other than this: that we do not live by the law, are not circumcised in the flesh as your forefathers were, and do not keep the Sabbath as you do? Or are our way of life and our character also slandered among you? I mean this: have you too come to believe about us that we eat human beings, and that after the feast we put out the lamps and wallow in unlawful sexual union? Or do you condemn us only for this, that we hold to such teachings, and believe, as you think, a false opinion?”^[23] 2 “This is what we are amazed at,” said Trypho. “As for what the crowd says about you, it does not deserve belief, for it goes far beyond human nature. But I also know that the commands in what you call the Gospel are so marvelous and so great that I suppose no one could keep them. I took the trouble to read them myself.”

3 “But what puzzles us most is this. You claim to be devout and think yourselves better than everyone else, yet you are no different from them. Your way of life does not differ from that of the nations, since you keep neither the feasts nor the Sabbaths and do not practice circumcision. Further, you place your hopes on a man who was crucified, and yet you expect to receive some good from God while not doing his commandments. Have you not read: ‘That soul shall be cut off from its people which is not circumcised on the eighth day’? The same is laid down for foreigners and for slaves bought with money.”^[24] [Genesis 17:14; Genesis 17:12-13] 4 “You, then, have immediately despised this covenant, and you neglect what follows from it. You try to persuade us that you know God, while you do none of the things that those who fear God do. So if you have a defense to offer on these points, and can show in what way you hope for anything at all, even though you do not keep the law, we would be glad to hear it from you above all. After that we can examine the other matters in the same way.”^[25]

Chapter 11

The Law Abrogated; The New Testament Promised and Given by God.

1 I answered him: “Trypho, there will never be another God, nor has there been one from eternity, except the one who made and ordered this whole universe. We do not think that we have one God and you another. He is the very one who brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and an uplifted arm. We have not set our hope on anyone else, for there is no one else. Our hope is in the same God as yours, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But we have not put our hope in him through Moses or through the law. If we had, we would be doing the same as you.” 2 “But now, Trypho, I have read that there would be a final law and a covenant more authoritative than all others, which all people who lay claim to God’s inheritance must now keep. For the law given at Horeb is already old, and belongs to you alone. This new law belongs to all people without exception. A law set against a law has brought the earlier one to an end, and a covenant made later has likewise set aside the former. Christ has been given to us as an eternal and final law, and the covenant is faithful. After it there is no law, no ordinance, no commandment.”^[26]

3 Have you not read what Isaiah says? “Listen to me, listen to me, my people, and you kings, give ear to me, for a law will go out from me, and my judgment will be a light for the nations. My righteousness is drawing near quickly, my salvation will go out, and nations will hope in my arm.” And through Jeremiah he speaks like this about this same new covenant: “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.”^[27] [Isaiah 51:4-5; Jeremiah 31:31-32] 4 So God announced a new covenant that was yet to be established, and announced it as a light for the nations. And we see, and are convinced, that people are coming to God from idols and every other kind of wickedness, through the name of Jesus Christ who was crucified. They hold to their confession even to death and live in godliness. From these deeds, and from the power that goes with them, everyone can understand that he is the new law, the new covenant, and the hope of those from every nation who wait for the good things that come from God.^[28]

5 For we who have been brought to God through this crucified Christ are the true, spiritual Israelite people. We are the race of Judah, Jacob, Isaac and Abraham. God bore witness to Abraham, while he was still uncircumcised, because of his faith. He blessed him and called him father of many nations. This will be shown as our discussion goes on.^[29] [Genesis 17:5; Romans 4:11]

Chapter 12

The Jews Violate the Eternal Law, and Interpret ILL that of Moses.

1 I went on to point out that elsewhere, too, Isaiah cries out: “Hear my words, and your soul will live, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the faithful holy things of David. Behold, I have given him as a witness to the nations. Nations that do not know you will call on you, peoples who do not understand you will flee to you for refuge, because of your God, the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you.”^[30] [Isaiah 55:3-5] 2 You have dishonored this very law, and you have treated his new holy covenant with contempt. Even now you neither accept it nor repent of your evil deeds. For your ears are still stopped up, your eyes are blinded, and your heart has grown thick. Jeremiah cried out, and even so you do not listen. The Lawgiver is here, and you do not see him. The poor have good news preached to them, the blind see, and you do not understand.^[31] [Isaiah 6:10; Matthew 11:5]

3 Now a second circumcision is needed, yet you take great pride in the flesh. The new law wants you to keep the sabbath always. You rest for one day and think you are godly, not understanding why it was commanded you. And if you eat unleavened bread, you say you have fulfilled God’s will. The Lord our God does not take pleasure in these things. If any among you is a perjurer or a thief, let him stop. If any is an adulterer, let him repent. Then he has kept the delightful and true sabbaths of God. If anyone does not have clean hands, let him wash, and he is clean.^[32] [Joshua 5:2; Isaiah 1:16]

Chapter 13

Isaiah Teaches that Sins are Forgiven Through Christ's Blood.

1 For Isaiah was certainly not sending you to a bathhouse to wash away murder and your other sins there. Not even all the water of the sea would be enough to cleanse them. No, as one would expect, the saving bath he spoke of was this one, even long ago: the bath for those who repent. They are no longer cleansed by the blood of goats and sheep, or the ashes of a heifer, or offerings of fine flour. They are cleansed by faith, through the blood of Christ and his death. He died for this very reason, as Isaiah himself said when he spoke like this:^[33] [Hebrews 9:13] 2 “The Lord will uncover his holy arm before all the nations, and all the nations and the ends of the earth will see the salvation that comes from God. Depart, depart, depart! Go out from there and touch nothing unclean. Go out from the midst of her. Be set apart, you who carry the vessels of the Lord, for you do not go out in confusion. For the Lord will go before you, and the one who gathers you together is the Lord, the God of Israel. Behold, my servant will understand, and he will be lifted up and greatly glorified.”^[34] [Isaiah 52:10-13]

3 “Just as many will be astonished at you, so your appearance and your glory will be without honor among men. In the same way many nations will marvel at him, and kings will shut their mouths. For those who were told nothing about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand. Lord, who believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We made our announcement before him like a child, like a root in thirsty ground.” [Isaiah 52:14-15; Isaiah 53:1-2] 4 He has no form or glory. We saw him, and he had no form or beauty. His appearance was without honor, falling short of the sons of men. He is a man struck down, who knows how to bear sickness, because his face is turned away. He was dishonored and not esteemed. This is the one who bears our sins and suffers pain for us, and we considered him to be in toil, under a blow, and in ill-treatment.^[35] [Isaiah 53:2-4]

5 But he was wounded because of our sins and made sick because of our lawless acts. The discipline that brings our peace was upon him, and by his bruise we were healed. All of us have gone astray like sheep; each person has gone astray in his own way. And the Lord handed him over for our sins, and because he has been ill-treated he does not open his mouth. He was led like a sheep to slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth.^[36] [Isaiah 53:5-7] 6 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away. Who will describe his generation? For his life is taken from the earth; because of the lawless acts of my people he has come to death. And I will give the wicked in place of his burial, and the rich in place of his death, because he did no lawless act, and no deceit was found in his mouth. And the Lord wills to cleanse him of the blow. If you give an offering for sin, your soul will see a long-lived offspring.^[37] [Isaiah 53:8-10]

7 And the Lord wills to lift the toil from his soul, to show him light, to form him with understanding, and to justify the righteous one who serves many well. And he himself will bear our sins. Therefore he will inherit many, and he will divide the spoils of the strong, because his soul was handed over to death and he was counted among the lawless. He himself bore the sins of many, and he was handed over because of their lawless acts. [Isaiah 53:10-12] 8 Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; break out and shout, you who are not in labor, for the children of the desolate woman are more than those of the woman who has a husband. For the Lord said: Enlarge the place of your tent and of your curtains. Fix them in place, do not hold back. Lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. Spread out to the right and to the left. Your offspring will inherit nations, and you will fill the desolate cities with people.^[38] [Isaiah 54:1-3]

9 Do not be afraid because you were put to shame, and do not be dismayed because you were reproached. For you will forget your everlasting shame, and you will not remember the reproach of your widowhood. For the Lord made a name for himself, and he who rescued you, the God of Israel himself, will be called so throughout all the earth. The Lord has called you like a woman who has been abandoned and is faint of spirit, like a woman hated from her youth. [Isaiah 54:4-6]

Chapter 14

Righteousness is Not Placed in Jewish Rites, But in the Conversion of the Heart Given in Baptism by Christ.

1 So we have believed through the washing of repentance and of the knowledge of God. As Isaiah cries out, this washing came about because of the lawlessness of the peoples of God. We know that this is the very baptism he foretold, the only one able to cleanse those who have repented. This is the water of life. But the cisterns you dug for yourselves are broken and of no use to you. For what good is that baptism which makes bright only the flesh and the body?^[39] [Isaiah 53:8; Jeremiah 2:13] 2 Be baptized in the soul from anger, from greed, from envy, from hatred, and see, the body is clean. For this is the symbol of the unleavened bread: that you not practice the old works of the evil leaven. But you have understood everything in a fleshly way, and you think it is godliness if you do such things while your souls are full of deceit and, in a word, every kind of wickedness. [1 Corinthians 5:7-8]

3 This is also why, after the seven days of eating unleavened bread, God commanded them to knead new leaven for themselves. That means doing other works, and not imitating the old and worthless ones. And to show that this is what this new Lawgiver asks of you, I will go over again the words I quoted before, together with others I left out. Isaiah says them like this:^[40] 4 “Listen to me, and your soul will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the holy and sure blessings of David. See, I have given him as a witness to the nations, a ruler and commander of nations. Nations that do not know you will call on you, and peoples who do not know you will flee to you for refuge, for the sake of your God, the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you.^[41] [Isaiah 55:3-5] 5 “Seek God, and when you find him, call on him while he is near you. Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the lawless man his plans. Let him turn back to the Lord, and he will receive mercy, because he will abundantly forgive your sins. For my plans are not like your plans, and my ways are not like your ways. As far as heaven is from the earth, so far is my way from your way, and your thoughts from my mind.^[42] [Isaiah 55:6-9]

6 “For as the snow or rain comes down from heaven and does not return until it has soaked the earth, and made it bring forth and sprout, and given seed to the sower and bread to eat, so will my word be that goes out of my mouth. It will not return until everything I wanted is accomplished, and I will make my commands succeed. [Isaiah 55:10-11] 7 “For you will go out with joy and be taught with gladness. The mountains and hills will leap up to welcome you, and all the trees of the fields will clap their branches. Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, and instead of the weed the myrtle will come up. And the Lord will be for a name and an everlasting sign, and it will never fail.”^[43] [Isaiah 55:12-13] 8 Trypho, I said, some of these words and others like them, spoken by the prophets, refer to the first coming of Christ. In it he was proclaimed as one who would appear without honor, without beauty, and mortal. Others refer to his second coming, when he will be present in glory above the clouds. Then your people will see and recognize the one whom they pierced, as Hosea, one of the twelve prophets, and Daniel foretold.^[44] [Isaiah 53:2-3; Zechariah 12:10; Daniel 7:13]

Chapter 15

In What the True Fasting Consists.

1 So learn to keep the true fast of God, as Isaiah says, so that you may please God. 2 Isaiah cried out this way: “Shout aloud with strength and do not hold back. Lift up your voice like a trumpet and announce to my people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their lawless acts. They seek me day after day and long to know my ways, like a people that has done righteousness and has not abandoned the judgment of God. [Isaiah 58:1-2] 3 “They now ask me for righteous judgment and long to draw near to God. They say, ‘Why have we fasted, and you did not see? Why have we humbled our souls, and you did not notice?’ For on the days of your fasting you find your own pleasure, and you drive hard all those under your control. Look, you fast for lawsuits and fights, and you strike the lowly with your fists. Why do you fast for me up to this day, so that your voice is heard in a shout? [Isaiah 58:2-4]

4 “This is not the fast I chose, a day when a man humbles his soul. Even if you bend your neck like a hoop and spread sackcloth and ashes under you, you still will not call that a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord. This is not the fast I chose, says the Lord. Instead, loosen every bond of injustice, untie the knots of violent dealings, set free those who are crushed, and tear up every unjust contract. [Isaiah 58:5-6] 5 “Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house. If you see someone naked, clothe him, and do not turn away from your own relatives. Then your light will break forth early, and your garments will quickly spring up. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of God will surround you. Then you will cry out, and God will listen to you. While you are still speaking he will say, ‘Look, I am here.’^[45] [Isaiah 58:7-9]

6 “If you take away from yourself the chain, the raised hand, and the word of grumbling, and give your bread to the hungry from your heart, and satisfy the humbled soul, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your darkness will be like noon. Your God will be with you always, and you will be filled just as your soul desires. Your bones will grow fat, and you will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring of water, or like a land where water never fails.”^[46] [Isaiah 58:9-11] 7 So circumcise the foreskin of your heart, as the words of God demand in all these sayings.^[47] [Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4]

Chapter 16

Circumcision Given as a Sign, that the Jews Might Be Driven Away for Their Evil Deeds Done to Christ and the Christians.

1 God himself also cried out through Moses, saying: “Circumcise the hardness of your hearts, and do not stiffen your necks any longer. For the Lord your God is Lord of lords, a great, mighty and fearful God, who shows no partiality and takes no bribe.” And in Leviticus: “Because they transgressed and looked down on me, and because they walked crookedly against me, I also walked crookedly with them, and I will destroy them in the land of their enemies. Then their uncircumcised heart will be put to shame.”^[48] [Deuteronomy 10:16-17; Leviticus 26:40-41] 2 For the circumcision of the flesh, which comes from Abraham, was given as a sign. It was so that you would be set apart from the other nations and from us. It was so that you alone would suffer what you are now suffering, and justly: that your lands would be desolate and your cities burned with fire, that strangers would eat your crops in front of you, and that none of you would set foot in Jerusalem.^[49] [Isaiah 1:7]

3 For you are not distinguished from other people by anything except the circumcision in your flesh. None of you, I think, will dare to say that God did not foresee, and does not foresee, what is going to happen, or that he does not prepare in advance what each person deserves. So these things have come upon you rightly and justly. 4 For you killed the Righteous One, and before him his prophets. And now you reject those who hope in him, and the one who sent him, God the Almighty and Maker of all things. As far as it depends on you, you dishonor them, cursing in your synagogues those who believe in Christ. You do not have the authority to kill us with your own hands, because of those who now hold power. But as often as you have been able, you have done even this.^[50] [1 Thessalonians 2:15] 5 This is why God cries out to you through Isaiah, saying: “See how the righteous man has perished, and no one understands. For the righteous man has been taken away from before the face of injustice. He will be in peace; his burial has been taken out of the midst. Come here, you lawless sons, offspring of adulterers and children of a prostitute. Whom were you mocking? Against whom did you open your mouth? Against whom did you let loose your tongue?”^[51] [Isaiah 57:1-4]

Chapter 17

The Jews Sent Persons Through the Whole Earth to Spread Calumnies on Christians.

1 The other nations are not guilty of this injustice against us and against Christ to the extent that you are. You are the ones who caused them to hold this wicked prejudice against the Righteous One and against us who belong to him. You crucified him, the only blameless and righteous man, through whose wounds there is healing for those who come to the Father through him. Afterward, even though you knew that he had risen from the dead and gone up into heaven, as the prophets had foretold, you did not repent of the evil you had done. Instead, you chose men from Jerusalem and sent them out into all the earth. They said that a godless sect of Christians had appeared, and they spread the same stories that all who do not know us repeat against us. So you are to blame not only for your own wrongdoing but for that of all other people as well.^[52] [Isaiah 53:5]

2 And Isaiah rightly cries out: “Because of you my name is blasphemed among the nations.” And: “Woe to their soul, for they have planned an evil plan against themselves, saying, ‘Let us bind the righteous man, because he is troublesome to us.’ So they will eat the fruits of their own deeds. Woe to the lawless man; evil will happen to him according to the works of his hands.” And again, in another place: “Woe to those who drag their sins along as with a long rope, and their lawless acts as with the strap of a heifer’s yoke, who say, ‘Let his speed come near, and let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so that we may know it.’ Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who make light darkness and darkness light, who make bitter sweet and sweet bitter.”^[53] [Isaiah 52:5; Isaiah 3:9-11; Isaiah 5:18-20] 3 So against the only blameless and righteous Light, sent to men by God, you were eager to have bitter, dark and unjust things spread through all the earth. For he seemed troublesome to you when he cried out among you: “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.’” And he overturned the tables of the money-changers in the temple.^[54] [Matthew 21:12-13; Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11]

4 And he cried out, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You tithe mint and rue, but you do not take to heart the love of God and justice. You are whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside but inside full of dead men’s bones.” And to the scribes he said, “Woe to you, scribes! You hold the keys, and you do not go in yourselves, and you stop those who are going in. You blind guides!”^[55] [Luke 11:42; Matthew 23:27; Luke 11:52; Matthew 23:24]

Chapter 18

Christians Would Observe the Law, If They Did Not Know Why It Was Instituted.

1 Trypho, you have read what our Saviour taught, as you yourself admitted. So I do not think it out of place that I have also recalled a few of his sayings alongside those of the prophets.^[56] 2 So wash yourselves even now, and become clean, and remove the wickedness from your souls. God commands you to wash in this washing, and to be circumcised with the true circumcision. For we too would simply keep this circumcision of the flesh, and the Sabbaths, and all the feasts, if we did not know why they were commanded to you. It was because of your lawless deeds and your hardness of heart.^[57] [Isaiah 1:16] 3 We patiently endure everything that wicked men and demons work against us, even unspeakable things, death and tortures. We pray that those who treat us this way may find mercy, and we do not want to pay anyone back even in the smallest way, as the new Lawgiver commanded us. So how would we not also keep the things that do us no harm? I mean fleshly circumcision, the Sabbaths, and the feasts.

Chapter 19

Circumcision Unknown Before Abraham. The Law Was Given by Moses on Account of the Hardness of Their Hearts.

1 Then Trypho said, “This is what is worth wondering about. You endure such things, yet you do not keep all the other things we are now inquiring about.” 2 This circumcision is not necessary for everyone, but for you alone, so that, as I said before, you may suffer what you now justly suffer. Nor do we accept that useless baptism of the cisterns. It has nothing to do with this baptism of life. That is why God has cried out, “You have forsaken him, the living spring, and dug for yourselves broken cisterns, which will not be able to hold water.”^[58] [Jeremiah 2:13] 3 You who are circumcised in the flesh need our circumcision. But we who have this one need nothing of that kind. If circumcision were necessary, as you suppose, God would not have formed Adam uncircumcised. He would not have looked with favor on the gifts of Abel, who offered sacrifices in uncircumcised flesh. Enoch would not have pleased God while uncircumcised, and “he was not found, because God took him.”^[59] [Genesis 4:4; Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5]

4 Lot, uncircumcised, was saved from Sodom, when those same angels and the Lord sent him on his way. Noah, the beginning of another race, went into the ark uncircumcised, together with his children. Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High, was uncircumcised. Abraham, the first to receive circumcision in the flesh, gave him tithes as offerings, and Melchizedek blessed him. God made known through David that he would appoint the eternal priest after Melchizedek’s order.^[60] [Genesis 14:18-20] 5 So this circumcision was necessary for you alone, so that the people would be no people and the nation no nation, as Hosea, one of the twelve prophets, says. For all the righteous men I named earlier pleased God without keeping the Sabbath. After them came Abraham and all his sons down to Moses. In Moses’ time your people proved unjust and ungrateful toward God, making a calf in the wilderness.^[61] [Hosea 1:9] 6 For this reason God adapted himself to that people and commanded them to bring sacrifices as if to his name, so that you would not practice idolatry. But you did not keep even that command. You even sacrificed your children to demons. He also commanded you to keep the Sabbath, so that you would remember God. His word shows this when it says, “that you may know that I am God, who redeemed you.”^[62] [Ezekiel 20:12]

Chapter 20

Why Choice of Meats Was Prescribed.

1 He also commanded you to abstain from certain foods, so that even in eating and drinking you would keep God before your eyes. You were prone to fall away, and quick to turn from the knowledge of him. As Moses says, “The people ate and drank, and rose up to play.” And again: “Jacob ate and was filled, and grew fat, and the beloved one kicked. He grew fat, he grew thick, he grew broad, and he forsook God who made him.” God had allowed Noah, who was righteous, to eat every living creature except flesh with its blood, which is carrion. Moses told you this in the book of Genesis.^[63] [Exodus 32:6; Deuteronomy 32:15; Genesis 9:3-4] 2 When Trypho was about to say, “as the green herbs,” I spoke first: Will you not hear the words “as the green herbs” the way God said them? God made the herbs as food for man, and in the same way he gave the animals for eating meat. But you say that a distinction was then laid down for Noah, because we do not eat certain herbs.^[64] [Genesis 9:3]

3 It should not be believed the way you explain it. First, I will not spend time on this point, though I could say and maintain that every green plant is food and can be eaten. But even if we do tell plants apart and do not eat them all, we do not avoid some because they are common or unclean. We avoid them because they are bitter, or deadly, or thorny. But all that are sweet, very nourishing and good, whether from the sea or from the land, we seek out and eat. [Acts 10:14] 4 In the same way God told you through Moses to abstain from unclean, unjust and lawless things. For even while you were eating manna in the desert and seeing all the wonders God did for you, you made a golden calf and worshipped it. So he rightly cries out all the time, “Foolish sons, in whom there is no faith.”^[65] [Deuteronomy 32:20]

Chapter 21

Sabbaths Were Instituted on Account of the People's Sins, and Not for a Work of Righteousness.

1 Further, God commanded you to keep the Sabbath as a sign, as I said before, and gave you the other commands too, because of your wrongdoing and that of your fathers. He also shows that it was because of the nations, so that his name would not be profaned among them, that he let some of you stay alive at all. His own words can prove this to you. 2 They were spoken through Ezekiel like this: “I am the Lord your God. Walk in my commands, keep my ordinances, do not mingle with the practices of Egypt, and make my Sabbaths holy. They will be a sign between me and you, so that you may know that I am the Lord your God. But you provoked me to bitterness, and your children did not walk in my commands and did not keep my ordinances to do them. A man who does these things shall live by them. But they profaned my Sabbaths.”^[66] [Ezekiel 20:19-21]

3 “And I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the desert, to finish my anger against them. But I did not do it, so that my name would not be profaned at all before the nations. I brought them out before their eyes. And I lifted up my hand over them in the desert, to scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the lands, because they did not do my ordinances, they rejected my commands, they profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes followed the devices of their fathers.”^[67] [Ezekiel 20:21-24] 4 “And I gave them commands that were not good, and ordinances by which they will not live. And I will defile them in their houses, when I pass through all that opens the womb, so that I may destroy.”^[68] [Ezekiel 20:25-26]

Chapter 22

So Also Were Sacrifices and Oblations.

1 He likewise commanded these things because of the sins of your people and their idolatries, not because he needed such offerings. Hear how he speaks about them through Amos, one of the twelve, who cries out:^[69] 2 “Woe to those who long for the day of the Lord. What is this day of the Lord to you? It is darkness and not light. It is as when a man escapes from the face of a lion and a bear meets him, and he runs into his house and rests his hands on the wall, and a snake bites him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness and not light, a gloom with no brightness in it? I hate and reject your feasts, and I will not smell anything at your festivals.”^[70] [Amos 5:18-21] 3 “Even if you bring me your whole burnt offerings and your sacrifices, I will not accept them, and I will not look on your peace offerings. Take away from me the noise of your songs and psalms. I will not listen to your instruments. Let justice roll like water, and righteousness like a torrent that cannot be crossed. Did you bring me slaughtered animals and sacrifices in the desert, house of Israel? says the Lord. And you took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Raphan, the images you made for yourselves.”^[71] [Amos 5:22-26]

4 “And I will send you into exile beyond Damascus, says the Lord; the God Almighty is his name. Woe to those who live in luxury in Zion, and to those who trust in the mountain of Samaria. Those who are named among the leaders have harvested the first of the nations; the house of Israel has gone in for itself. Cross over, all of you, to Calneh and see. From there go to Hamath the great, and from there go down to Gath of the foreigners. These are the strongest of all these kingdoms. Is their territory larger than your territory?”^[72] [Amos 5:27; Amos 6:1-2] 5 “You who are coming to an evil day, who draw near and lay hold of false sabbaths; who sleep on ivory beds and live in reckless luxury on their couches; who eat lambs from the flocks and suckling calves from the midst of the herds; who clap along to the sound of instruments, and counted these things as lasting and not as passing away; who drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with the finest ointments, and felt no pain over the ruin of Joseph. Therefore they will now be captives, first among the powerful men who are being deported. The house of the evildoers will be overturned, and the neighing of horses will be taken away from Ephraim.”^[73] [Amos 6:3-7]

6 And again through Jeremiah: “Gather your meats and your sacrifices and eat them. For I gave your fathers no command about sacrifices or drink offerings on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.”^[74] [Jeremiah 7:21-22] 7 And again through David, in the forty-ninth psalm, he spoke in this way: “The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken, and has called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. From Zion comes the splendor of his beauty. God will come openly, our God, and he will not keep silent. Fire will burn before him, and a violent storm will rage all around him. He will summon the heaven above and the earth, so that he may judge his people. Gather to him his holy ones, who make a covenant with him by sacrifices. And the heavens will declare his righteousness, for God is judge.”^[75]

8 “Hear, my people, and I will speak to you, Israel, and I will bear witness against you. I am God, your God. I will not rebuke you over your sacrifices; your burnt offerings are always before me. I will not accept calves from your house, or goats from your flocks. For all the wild animals of the field are mine, the cattle on the mountains and the oxen. I know all the birds of the sky, and the beauty of the field is with me.” 9 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine and everything in it. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call on me in the day of affliction, and I will deliver you, and you will glorify me. But to the sinner God said: Why do you recite my statutes and take my covenant into your mouth? You have hated discipline, and you have thrown my words behind you.”

10 “If you saw a thief, you ran along with him, and you took your share with an adulterer. Your mouth overflowed with evil, and your tongue wove deceit together. You sat and spoke against your brother, and you set a stumbling block against your mother’s son. You did these things, and I stayed silent. In your lawlessness you supposed that I would be like you. I will rebuke you and set your sins before your face. Understand this, you who forget God, or he will seize you and there will be no one to rescue you. A sacrifice of praise will glorify me, and there is the way in which I will show him my salvation.” 11 So God does not take sacrifices from you, and he did not command them in the beginning as though he were in need. He commanded them because of your sins. The same is true of the temple in Jerusalem, which was called by his name. He did not acknowledge it as his house or court because he was in need. He did so in order that, by paying attention to him in this way too, you would not practice idolatry. And that this is so, Isaiah says: “What kind of house have you built for me? says the Lord. Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool of my feet.”^[76] [Isaiah 66:1]

Chapter 23

The Opinion of the Jews Regarding the Law Does an Injury to God.

1 But if we do not acknowledge these things, we will fall into absurd ideas. It would be as if the God of Enoch and all the others were not the same God. They had no circumcision in the flesh, and they did not keep sabbaths or the other practices, since it was Moses who commanded these things. Or it would be as if God had not always wanted every race of people to practice the same righteous things. To admit such things plainly appears ridiculous and foolish. 2 We must confess that God, who is always the same, commanded these and similar things because of sinful men. In this way we show him to be loving toward people, foreknowing, in need of nothing, just and good. If this is not how things stand, answer me, gentlemen: what do you think about these questions we are looking into?^[77] 3 No one answered anything. So I went on: “For these reasons, Trypho, I will proclaim to you, and to any who want to become proselytes, a divine message that I heard from that man. You see that the elements of nature are never idle and keep no Sabbath. Stay as you were born. For if there was no need of circumcision before Abraham, nor of Sabbath-keeping, feasts and offerings before Moses, then there is no need of them now either, after Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born by God’s plan of the virgin Mary, who was of the family of Abraham.^[78]

4 For Abraham himself was justified and blessed while he was still uncircumcised, because of the faith he put in God, as the Scripture shows. He received circumcision as a sign, not for righteousness. Both the Scriptures and the facts themselves force us to admit this. So it was rightly said about that people that the soul which is not circumcised on the eighth day will be cut off from its people.^[79] [Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:10-11; Genesis 17:14] 5 The fact that the female sex cannot receive circumcision in the flesh shows that this circumcision was given as a sign and not as a work of righteousness. For God made women just as able as men to keep everything that is just and virtuous. We do see that the bodily form of male and female has been made different. Yet we know that neither is righteous or unrighteous because of that, but because of godliness and righteousness.

Chapter 24

The Christians' Circumcision Far More Excellent.

1 “We could also show this, gentlemen,” I said: “that through these things God was announcing some mystery in the eighth day, more than in the seventh. But so that I do not seem to be turning aside to other topics now, understand what I cry out: the blood of that circumcision has been done away, and we have put our faith in saving blood. There is now another covenant, and another law has gone out from Zion.^[80] [Isaiah 2:3] 2 Jesus Christ circumcises all who are willing, as was proclaimed long ago, with knives of stone. The purpose is that they become a righteous nation, a people that keeps faith, holds to the truth and keeps peace.^[81] [Joshua 5:2; Isaiah 26:2-3] 3 “Come with me, all you who fear God, who want to see the good things of Jerusalem. Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord, for he has forsaken his people, the house of Jacob. Come, all nations, let us gather to Jerusalem, which is no longer attacked because of the lawless deeds of the peoples. ‘For I became visible to those who did not seek me; I was found by those who did not ask for me,’ he cries through Isaiah.^[82] [Isaiah 2:5-6; Isaiah 65:1]

4 ‘I said, Here I am, to nations that did not call on my name. I spread out my hands all day long to a disobedient and contradicting people, to those who walk in a way that is not good, but after their own sins. They are a people who provoke me to my face.’ [Isaiah 65:1-3]

Chapter 25

The Jews Boast in Vain that They are Sons of Abraham.

1 “Those who justify themselves and say they are children of Abraham will want to inherit even a small place along with us, as the Holy Spirit cries out through Isaiah, speaking as if in their person: 2 ‘Turn back from heaven and look down from your holy and glorious house. Where is your zeal and your strength? Where is the abundance of your mercy, that you have held it back from us, Lord? For you are our Father, since Abraham did not know us, and Israel did not recognize us. But you, Lord, our Father, rescue us; from the beginning your name has been upon us. Why, Lord, have you led us astray from your way and hardened our heart so that we do not fear you?^[83] [Isaiah 63:15-17] 3 Turn back for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes of your inheritance, so that we may inherit a little of your holy mountain. We have become as we were from the beginning, when you did not rule over us and your name was not called upon us. If you open the heavens, trembling will seize the mountains before you, and they will melt as wax melts before fire. Fire will burn up the adversaries, and your name will be made known among the adversaries; the nations will be thrown into confusion at your presence. [Isaiah 63:17-19; Isaiah 64:1-2]

4 When you do glorious things, trembling will seize the mountains before you. From of old we have not heard, and our eyes have not seen, any God but you and your works. He will show mercy to those who repent. He will meet those who do what is right, and they will remember your ways. Look, you were angry, and we sinned. Because of this we went astray, and we all became unclean. All our righteousness is like the rag of a woman who sits apart. We have dropped off like leaves because of our lawless deeds, and so the wind will carry us away.^[84] [Isaiah 64:3-6] 5 No one calls on your name or thinks to take hold of you, because you have turned your face away from us and handed us over because of our sins. Now turn back, Lord, for we are all your people. Your holy city has become a desert. Zion has become like a desert, and Jerusalem a curse. The house, our holy place, and the glory which our fathers blessed, has been burned with fire, and all the glorious nations have fallen together. After all this you held back, Lord, and kept silent, and humbled us severely.’”^[85] [Isaiah 64:7-12]

6 Then Trypho said, “What do you mean by this? Do you mean that none of us will inherit anything on God’s holy mountain?”

Chapter 26

No Salvation to the Jews Except Through Christ.

1 I said, “I do not mean that. I mean that those who persecuted Christ, and still persecute him, and do not repent will inherit nothing on the holy mountain. But the Gentiles who believed in him and repented of the sins they committed will inherit it. They will share it with the patriarchs, the prophets, and all the righteous who are descended from Jacob. This is true even though they do not keep the Sabbath, are not circumcised, and do not observe the feasts. They will most certainly inherit God’s holy inheritance. 2 For God speaks through Isaiah like this: ‘I, the Lord God, called you in righteousness. I will take hold of your hand and strengthen you. I have given you as a covenant of a people, as a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out of bonds those who are shackled, and out of the prison house those who sit in darkness.’^[86] [Isaiah 42:6-7]

3 And again: ‘Raise a signal for the nations. For look, the Lord has made it heard to the end of the earth. Say to the daughters of Zion: See, your Saviour has come, holding his own reward, and his work before his face. And he will call them a holy people, redeemed by the Lord. And you will be called a city that is sought after and not forsaken.’ ‘Who is this coming from Edom, with the redness of his garments from Bozrah? Who is this, splendid in his robe, coming up with force and might?’ ‘I am the one who speaks righteousness and the judgment of salvation.’^[87] [Isaiah 62:10-12; Isaiah 63:1] 4 ‘Why are your garments red, and your clothes like those of a man who has trodden the winepress?’ ‘I am covered with trampled grapes. I trod the winepress completely alone. Of the nations there was no man with me. I trampled them in my anger, crushed them like earth, and brought their blood down to the ground. For the day of repayment has come upon them, and the year of redemption is here. I looked, and there was no helper. I took notice, and no one took hold to help. So my arm brought deliverance, and my wrath arose. I trampled them in my anger, and brought their blood down to the ground.’^[88] [Isaiah 63:2-6]

Chapter 27

Why God Taught the Same Things by the Prophets as by Moses.

1 Trypho said, “Why do you pick out whatever you like from the words of the prophets, and then fail to mention the passages that plainly command us to keep the Sabbath? For Isaiah says this: ‘If you turn your foot away from the Sabbaths, so as not to do your own pleasure on the holy day, and call the Sabbaths delightful and holy to your God, and do not lift your foot to work or speak a word from your own mouth, then you will trust in the Lord. He will lift you up to the good things of the land and feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken this.’”^[89] [Isaiah 58:13-14] 2 I said, “My friends, I did not leave out such prophecies because they oppose me. I left them out because you have understood, and still understand, this: God commands you through all the prophets to do the same things he commanded through Moses, and he keeps crying out the same things because you are hard-hearted and ungrateful toward him. His aim is that, even so, you might repent at last and please him. Then you would no longer sacrifice your children to demons, or be partners with thieves, or love bribes and chase after payment. You would not refuse justice to orphans or ignore the widow’s case, and you would not have hands full of blood.”^[90] [Isaiah 1:23; Isaiah 1:15]

3 “For the daughters of Zion walked with their necks held high, winking their eyes as they played, and dragging their long robes.” And he cries out: “All have turned aside, all together have become useless. There is no one who understands, not even one. With their tongues they practised deceit. Their throat is an open grave. The poison of asps is under their lips. Ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known.”^[91] [Isaiah 3:16; Romans 3:12-17; Isaiah 59:7-8] 4 So just as these commands were given in the beginning because of your wickedness, in the same way, because you have persevered in these evils, or rather have grown worse in them, he calls you through the same commands to remember him and to know him. But you are a hard-hearted people, without understanding, blind and lame, “sons in whom there is no faith,” as he himself says. You honor him only with your lips, while your heart is far from him, and you teach your own teachings and not his.^[92] [Deuteronomy 32:20; Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:8-9]

5 Tell me, did God want the high priests to sin on the Sabbaths when they offered the sacrifices? Or did he want those to sin who are circumcised, and who circumcise, on the Sabbath day? For he commanded that newborn boys be circumcised on the eighth day without exception, even if it falls on the Sabbath. Could he not have had the newborn circumcised one day before the Sabbath or one day after it, if he knew that it was evil to do so on the Sabbaths? And what about those who lived before Moses and Abraham, who were called righteous and were pleasing to him, though they were not circumcised and did not keep the Sabbaths? Why did he not teach them to do these things?^[93] [Matthew 12:5; John 7:22-23; Leviticus 12:3]

Chapter 28

True Righteousness is Obtained by Christ.

1 Trypho said: “We have heard you raise this point before, and we stopped to consider it. To tell the truth, it deserves consideration. But it does not seem right to me to say, as most people do, that ‘it seemed good to him.’ That is always the excuse of people who cannot answer the question being asked.” 2 I said: Since I base my proofs and my discussions on the Scriptures and on the facts, do not put it off or hesitate to believe me, even though I am uncircumcised. The time left to you to become proselytes is short. If Christ comes before you have done so, you will repent in vain and weep in vain, for he will not listen to you. Jeremiah cried out to the people: “Plow new ground for yourselves, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and circumcise the foreskin of your heart.”^[94] [Jeremiah 4:3-4]

3 So do not sow among thorns and in unplowed ground, where you can have no fruit. Know Christ, and see: a good field, good and rich, is in your hearts. For “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will visit all who are circumcised in their foreskin: Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the sons of Moab. For all the nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”^[95] [Jeremiah 9:25-26] 4 You see that God does not want this circumcision, which was given as a sign. For it is of no use to the Egyptians, or to the sons of Moab, or to the sons of Edom. But even if someone is a Scythian or a Persian, if he knows God and his Christ and keeps the eternal righteous requirements, he has received the good and beneficial circumcision. He is a friend of God, and God rejoices in his gifts and offerings.^[96]

5 My friends, I will give you the very words of God, spoken to the people through Malachi, one of the twelve prophets. They are these: “I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord, and I will not accept your sacrifices from your hands. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name has been glorified among the nations, and in every place a sacrifice is offered to my name, a pure sacrifice. For my name is honored among the nations, says the Lord, but you profane it.”^[97] [Malachi 1:10-12] 6 And through David he said: “A people whom I did not know served me; at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me.”^[98]

Chapter 29

Christ is Useless to Those Who Observe the Law.

1 Let us glorify God, we nations gathered together, because he has visited us also. Let us glorify him through the King of glory, through the Lord of hosts. For he has shown his favor to the nations also, and he receives sacrifices from us more gladly than from you. What further need have I of circumcision, when God himself has given testimony to me? What need have I of that baptism, when I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit?^[99] 2 I think that by saying this I can persuade even those of little understanding. These words were not put together by me, nor dressed up by any human skill. David sang them, Isaiah announced them as good news, Zechariah proclaimed them, and Moses wrote them down. Do you recognize them, Trypho? They are stored up in your writings, or rather, not yours but ours. For we obey them, but you read them and do not grasp the meaning in them.^[100]

3 So do not be vexed, and do not reproach us for the foreskin of our bodies, which God himself formed. And do not think it a terrible thing that we drink hot water on the Sabbaths. For God carries on the same management of the world on this day as on all the others. The chief priests were also commanded to make the offerings on this day just as on the other days. And all those many righteous men who did none of these legal observances have been given a good witness by God himself.^[101]

Chapter 30

Christians Possess the True Righteousness.

1 Rather, blame your own wickedness for the fact that God can be slandered even by people with no understanding, as though he had not always taught everyone the same righteous requirements. To many people such teachings seemed unreasonable and unworthy of God. They had not received the grace to understand that he called your people, who were doing evil and were in a sickness of the soul, to turn back and repent in spirit. They also did not understand that the prophecy which came after the death of Moses is everlasting. 2 This was also said through the psalm, gentlemen. And that we, who have been made wise by these teachings, declare them sweeter than honey and the honeycomb is clear from this: we will not deny his name even to the point of death. It is also plain to everyone that we who believe in him ask him to keep us safe from “strangers,” that is, from the wicked and deceiving spirits. The word of prophecy says this by speaking in the character of one of those who believe in him.^[102]

3 For we constantly beg God, through Jesus Christ, to keep us safe from the demons. These are foreign to the worship of God, and we used to bow down to them. We ask this so that, after turning to God through Christ, we may be blameless. For we call him our helper and redeemer. Even the demons tremble at the power of his name. To this day, when they are commanded in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, they submit. From this it is plain to everyone that his Father gave him such great power that even the demons are subject to his name and to the plan fulfilled in his suffering. [Luke 10:17]

Chapter 31

If Christ's Power Be Now So Great, How Much Greater at the Second Advent!

1 But if such great power is shown to have accompanied the plan of his suffering, and still accompanies it, how great will the power be at his glorious coming! For he will come on the clouds as a son of man, as Daniel declared, with angels arriving with him. [Daniel 7:13] 2 These are the words: “I kept watching until thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days sat down. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like clean wool. His throne was like a flame of fire, and its wheels were blazing fire. A river of fire poured out and came forth from before him. A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. Books were opened, and the court took its seat.”^[103] [Daniel 7:9-10] 3 “Then I took note of the sound of the great words that the horn is speaking. And the beast was beaten to death, and its body was destroyed and given over to burning fire. The rest of the beasts were removed from their rule, and a length of life was given to them until a set season and time. I kept watching in a vision of the night, and look, one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He came up to the Ancient of Days and stood before him, and those standing by brought him near.”^[104] [Daniel 7:11-13]

4 And royal authority and honor were given to him, and all the nations of the earth, tribe by tribe, and all glory serve him. His authority is an everlasting authority that will never be taken away, and his kingdom will never be destroyed. My spirit shuddered within my body, and the visions in my head troubled me. I approached one of those standing there and asked him for the exact truth about all this. He answered me and made known the meaning of the words: “These great beasts are four kingdoms, which will perish from the earth. They will not receive the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.”^[105] [Daniel 7:14-18] 5 “Then I wanted to know exactly about the fourth beast, which was destroying everything and was exceedingly terrifying. Its teeth were iron and its claws bronze; it devoured and crushed, and trampled the remainder with its feet. I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head, and about the one that grew up among them, because of which three of the earlier horns fell out. That horn had eyes and a mouth speaking great things, and its appearance was greater than the others. I watched that horn making war against the saints and overpowering them, until the Ancient of Days came. He gave judgment to the saints of the Most High, the time arrived, and the saints of the Most High took possession of the kingdom.”^[106] [Daniel 7:19-22]

6 “And this was said to me about the fourth beast: ‘There will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all these kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, lay it waste, and grind it to pieces. As for the ten horns, ten kings will arise, and after them another. He will surpass the earlier ones in evil, and he will bring three kings low. He will speak words against the Most High and overthrow other saints of the Most High, and he will intend to change seasons and times. And it will be handed over into his hands for a time, and times, and half a time.’”^[107] [Daniel 7:23-25] 7 “Then the judgment sat, and they will take away his dominion, to wipe it out and destroy it to the end. The kingdom, the authority, and the greatness of the kingdoms in the places under heaven were given to the holy people of the Most High, to reign in an everlasting kingdom. All authorities will be subject to him and obey him. Here the account ends. I, Daniel, was gripped by great amazement, my condition was changed, and I kept the matter in my heart.”^[108] [Daniel 7:26-28]

Chapter 32

Trypho Objecting that Christ is Described as Glorious by Daniel, Justin Distinguishes Two Advents.

1 When I stopped, Trypho said, “Sir, these Scriptures and others like them compel us to wait for one who is glorious and great, who, as a son of man, receives the everlasting kingdom from the Ancient of Days. But this Christ of yours, as you call him, became dishonored and without glory. He even fell under the most extreme curse in the law of God, for he was crucified.”^[109] [Daniel 7:13-14; Deuteronomy 21:23] 2 I said to him, “Gentlemen, suppose I had not shown from the Scriptures I laid out earlier that it was said his appearance would be without glory and his family line beyond telling. Suppose I had not shown that in place of his death the rich would be put to death, that by his bruise we were healed, and that he would be led like a sheep. And suppose I had not explained that he would have two comings: one in which he was pierced by you, and a second in which you will recognize the one you pierced, and your tribes will mourn, tribe by tribe, the women by themselves and the men by themselves...”^[110] [Isaiah 53:2; Isaiah 53:5-9; Zechariah 12:10-12]

3 “So that what we are looking into may now be clearer to you, I will give you other words spoken through the blessed David. From them you will understand that the Holy Spirit of prophecy calls the Christ Lord. You will also understand that the Lord of all, the Father, brings him up from the earth and seats him at his right hand until he makes his enemies a footstool for his feet. This has been happening ever since our Lord Jesus Christ was taken up into heaven after rising from the dead. The times are being fulfilled, and the one who will speak blasphemous and daring things against the Most High is already at the doors. Daniel announces that he will hold sway for a time, and times, and half a time.”^[111] [Psalm 110:1; Daniel 7:25] 4 And you, not knowing how long he is going to hold power, think otherwise. For you explain “a time” as meaning a hundred years. But if that is so, the man of lawlessness must reign at the very least three hundred and fifty years, so that we can count the words of the holy Daniel, “and times,” as meaning only two times.^[112] [Daniel 7:25; 2 Thessalonians 2:3]

5 I have said all this in digressions for this purpose. I want you at last to be persuaded by what God said against you, that you are “senseless sons,” and by this: “Therefore, behold, I will go on to remove this people, and I will remove them; and I will take away the wisdom of the wise, and I will hide the understanding of their men of understanding.” Then you may stop deceiving yourselves and those who listen to you, and learn from us, who have been made wise by the grace of Christ.^[113] [Jeremiah 4:22; Isaiah 29:14] 6 Now the words spoken through David are these: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ The Lord will send out the rod of your power from Zion; rule in the midst of your enemies. With you is the rule on the day of your power, in the splendors of your holy ones; from the womb, before the morning star, I have begotten you. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.’ The Lord is at your right hand; he crushed kings on the day of his wrath. He will judge among the nations; he will fill the land with corpses. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.”^[114]

Chapter 33

Ps. CX. Is Not Spoken of Hezekiah. He Proves that Christ Was First Humble, Then Shall Be Glorious.

1 I went on: “I am well aware that you dare to explain this psalm as if it were spoken of King Hezekiah. But I will show you at once, from the words themselves, that you are mistaken. It says, ‘The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind,’ and ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek,’ along with what comes before and after. Not even you will dare to claim that Hezekiah was a priest, or that he is God’s everlasting priest. But that this was said about our Jesus, these very words make clear. Yet your ears are blocked and your hearts are hardened.” 2 God declared with an oath, because of your unbelief, that he is high priest after the order of Melchizedek: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.’” What this means is as follows. Moses records that Melchizedek was priest of the Most High. He was a priest of those who were in uncircumcision, and he blessed Abraham, who was circumcised and brought him tithes. In the same way God made plain that his everlasting priest, whom the Holy Spirit also calls Lord, would be priest of those in uncircumcision. And those in circumcision who come to him, that is, who believe in him and seek blessings from him, he will also receive and bless. The end of the psalm shows that he would first be lowly as a man and then be exalted: “He will drink from the brook by the way,” and along with it, “therefore he will lift up his head.”^[115] [Genesis 14:18-20]

Chapter 34

Nor Does Ps. LXXII. Apply to Solomon, Whose Faults Christians Shudder at.

1 “Moreover, to convince you that you have understood nothing of the Scriptures, I will recall another psalm, spoken to David by the Holy Spirit. You say it was written about Solomon, who was also a king of yours. But this psalm too was spoken about our Christ. You deceive yourselves through words that can mean more than one thing. For where it says, ‘The law of the Lord is blameless,’ you do not take it to mean the law that was to come after the law of Moses. You take it to mean the one given through Moses, even though God loudly proclaimed that he would establish a new law and a new covenant.”^[116] [Psalm 19:7; Jeremiah 31:31] 2 “And where it says, ‘O God, give your judgment to the king,’ you say the psalm was spoken about Solomon, since he was a king. But the words of the psalm plainly proclaim that it was spoken about the everlasting King, that is, about Christ. For Christ is proclaimed as King and Priest, God and Lord, angel and man, commander-in-chief, stone, and a child being born. He is proclaimed as one who first became subject to suffering, then went up into heaven, and will come again with glory and hold an everlasting kingdom. This I prove from all the Scriptures.”^[117] [Psalm 72:1]

3 But so that you may also understand what I have said, I will give you the words of the psalm. They are these: “O God, give your judgment to the king, and your righteousness to the king’s son, to judge your people in righteousness and your poor in judgment. Let the mountains take up peace for the people, and the hills righteousness. He will judge the poor of the people and save the sons of the needy, and he will humble the slanderer. He will endure as long as the sun, and before the moon, to generations of generations. He will come down like rain upon a fleece, and like a drop that drips upon the earth.”^[118] 4 “In his days righteousness will rise, and a fullness of peace, until the moon is taken away. He will rule from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the world. The Ethiopians will fall down before him, and his enemies will lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and the islands will bring gifts; the kings of the Arabians and of Sheba will bring gifts. All the kings of the earth will worship him, and all the nations will serve him, because he rescued the poor from the powerful, and the needy who had no helper.”^[119]

5 “He will spare the poor and needy, and he will save the souls of the needy. He will redeem their souls from interest and from injustice, and his name will be honored in their sight. And he will live, and some of the gold of Arabia will be given to him. They will pray for him continually, and bless him all day long. There will be a support in the land; on the tops of the mountains he will be lifted up. His fruit will be higher than Lebanon, and people will blossom out from the city like the grass of the earth.”^[120] 6 “His name will be blessed forever; his name endures before the sun. All the tribes of the earth will be blessed in him; all nations will call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wonders. Blessed be the name of his glory forever and ever, and the whole earth will be filled with his glory. So be it, so be it.” And at the end of this psalm that I have mentioned, it is written: “The hymns of David, son of Jesse, have come to an end.”^[121]

7 I know that Solomon was a famous and great king, and that in his reign the temple known as the house in Jerusalem was built. But it is plain that none of the things said in the psalm happened to him. Not all the kings worshiped him, he did not reign to the ends of the world, and his enemies did not fall down before him and lick the dust. 8 Moreover, I dare to say what is written in the books of Kings about what he did: that because of a woman of Sidon he worshiped idols. People from the nations who have come to know God, the Maker of all things, through Jesus the crucified, cannot bear to do this. They endure every torture and punishment, even to the point of death, rather than worship idols or eat food offered to idols.^[122]

---

Notes

[1] The Xystus was a covered walkway, typically part of a gymnasium. The man greets Justin as “philosopher” because Justin wore the philosopher’s cloak (see the next section).

[2] Justin’s question echoes Homer’s Iliad (6.123), where Diomedes asks Glaucus, “Who are you, best of men?” Using a line of epic poetry in casual conversation is the playful touch. The “war” is commonly taken to be the Bar Kokhba revolt (about AD 132–135); the Greek says only “the war that has now happened.”

[3] The belief that the same things recur forever is a Greek (especially Stoic) idea of endless cycles. The Greek does not name the school.

[4] No ancient school called the “Theoretics” is otherwise well known, and scholars are unsure whom Justin means.

[5] “Peripatetic” means a follower of Aristotle’s school. The Greek word for “shrewd” is damaged in the manuscript, so the reading is uncertain.

[6] The older translation puts the next sentence, in which the Pythagorean praises these studies and sends Justin away, at the end of this section. In the Greek it begins section 2.5.

[7] “Ideas” are what Plato called the eternal, unchanging realities behind the things we see. They are also called “Forms.”

[8] The Greek word for “love of discourse” is philologia. The old man takes it up in the next section as “lover of words.”

[9] The older translation ends this section with the old man’s question, “Does philosophy, then, make happiness?” In the Greek that question begins section 3.4.

[10] The older translation ends this section with the old man’s next question, “But what do you call God?” In the Greek that question begins section 3.5.

[11] The older translation renders the Greek word for steering a ship (kybernetike) as “ruling.” The Greek names the pilot’s art alongside the general’s and the physician’s.

[12] The older translation ends this section with “Certainly not, I said”; that reply belongs to the start of the next section in the Greek, so it is placed there.

[13] Justin probably has in mind Plato’s Phaedrus (247c), which describes true reality as visible only to the mind. The older translation adds “merely” (“cannot be seen merely by the eyes”), but the Greek says plainly that the divine is not visible to the eyes.

[14] Justin, still speaking as a Platonist, strings together phrases from Plato. “The eye of the mind/soul” is from Republic 533d, “beyond all essence” from Republic 509b, “no color, no shape” from Phaedrus 247c, and “unspeakable” and “suddenly” from the Seventh Letter 341c–d.

[15] “Royal mind” echoes Plato, Philebus 30d, which speaks of a “royal soul” and “royal mind” in the nature of Zeus.

[16] The Greek of “perhaps there is a time when they do not exist” is uncertain, and editors usually correct one word to read “at some time.” It could mean that souls once did not exist, or that they may someday cease to exist. The older translation takes it the first way.

[17] Justin is probably thinking of Timaeus 41a–b, where the Maker tells the gods he has made that, because they came into being, they are not immortal or indissoluble in themselves, yet they will not be dissolved, because his will is a stronger bond.

[18] “Pass into pigs, snakes and dogs” refers to the Pythagorean and Platonic teaching that souls are reborn in animal bodies. The two speakers discussed this earlier (chapter 4).

[19] “Become complete” translates a Greek word (teleios) meaning “perfect,” “mature” or “complete.” In the language of the pagan mystery cults the same word could mean “fully initiated,” which is how the older translation took it (“after being initiated”).

[20] “My dear friend” translates a singular Greek word (philtate). Justin is addressing the person for whom he is writing up the conversation, not Trypho’s companions. Later in the work he addresses a “Marcus Pompeius.”

[21] The expectation that Elijah would come before the day of the Lord rests on Malachi 4:5. The further idea that the Messiah would stay hidden, unaware of himself, until Elijah anointed him is not found in the Old Testament. It reflects Jewish tradition of Justin’s time.

[22] The “war in Judaea” is probably the Bar Kokhba revolt (AD 132–135). In chapter 1 Trypho says he fled the recent war, though neither he nor Justin names it.

[23] Charges of cannibalism and of incestuous orgies after the lamps were put out were common rumors about Christians in this period. Justin mentions them also in his First Apology (chapter 26).

[24] Trypho quotes Genesis 17:14 as it stands in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), which includes “on the eighth day”; the Hebrew text lacks these words in that verse. The rule for foreigners and bought slaves comes from Genesis 17:12–13.

[25] The older translation has “persuade yourselves”; the Greek says they try to persuade “us” (Trypho and his companions).

[26] Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai. The Greek sentence beginning “But now” breaks off. Here it is given as a plain statement for readability.

[27] The quotations are Isaiah 51:4–5 and Jeremiah 31:31–32, following the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint). Justin stops the Jeremiah passage before its end.

[28] The older English has “attendant miracles.” The Greek word (dynamis) means “power,” and it can refer to miraculous power, so “miracles” is a possible reading. Here the more general “power” is kept.

[29] On Abraham, see Genesis 15:6 and 17:5. Paul makes the same point, that Abraham was counted righteous before he was circumcised and is father of many nations, in Romans 4:9–17.

[30] The quotation is Isaiah 55:3–5 in the Greek Old Testament. Where the older English has “the people,” the Greek has “nations.” Where it has “mercies,” the Greek has “holy things” (ta hosia), the same phrase quoted in Acts 13:34. The older English runs on into what is here 12.2.

[31] The words about ears, eyes and heart echo Isaiah 6:10 (compare Jeremiah 5:21). For the last sentence compare Matthew 11:5 and Luke 7:22, which echo Isaiah 61:1.

[32] “Delightful” echoes Isaiah 58:13, where the Greek Old Testament uses the same word for the sabbath. “Let him wash, and he is clean” echoes Isaiah 1:16.

[33] The older English says the bath “followed” those who repented. The Greek says it was “for” them. The older English also places the first words of the Isaiah quotation in this section. In the Greek used here, the quotation begins in the next section.

[34] The older English has “deal prudently” and “be ye clean,” following the Hebrew as the King James Version renders it. Justin’s Greek says “will understand” (synēsei) and “be set apart.”

[35] “Struck down” and “under a blow” render the same Greek word (plēgē), which means a blow or wound and can also mean a plague.

[36] The older English “the Lord laid on Him our iniquities” follows the Hebrew as rendered in the King James Version. Justin’s Greek says the Lord “handed him over” for our sins.

[37] The older translation reads “If he has been given for sin.” The Greek has a plural “you” (dōte), “if you give.”

[38] The Greek verb (katoikieis) means “you will cause to be inhabited,” that is, “you will populate.” The older translation’s “make the desolate cities to be inherited” is probably a slip for “inhabited,” as in the King James Version of Isaiah 54:3.

[39] The older translation says the washing “has been ordained”; the Greek says only that it “has come about” (gegonen). The Greek also has “peoples” (plural) of God. Both “water of life” and “cisterns you dug for yourselves... broken” echo Jeremiah 2:13. There God’s people forsake him, “the fountain of the water of life” in the Greek version, and dig broken cisterns.

[40] No passage of the Law spells out a command to make new leaven after the seven days. Justin is drawing a lesson from the fact that leavened bread was used again once the feast was over.

[41] Justin is quoting Isaiah 55:3–5. The shift from “him” to “you” is in Isaiah itself.

[42] Justin continues with Isaiah 55:6–9 in its Greek (Septuagint) form.

[43] Justin’s quotation ends here with Isaiah 55:12–13 in its Greek (Septuagint) form.

[44] The words about seeing “the one whom they pierced” come from Zechariah 12:10, not Hosea. Zechariah is also one of the twelve minor prophets, so Justin, or a later copyist, has named the wrong book. Coming “above the clouds” points to Daniel 7:13.

[45] Justin’s Greek here reads “your garments” (himatia). The Septuagint and the Hebrew of Isaiah 58:8 both have “your healing” (in Greek, iamata). The two Greek words look alike, so this may be a copying error.

[46] Isaiah 58:9–11, quoted from the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint). The Greek word for “the raised hand” means a stretching out or lifting of the hand, probably a gesture of threat or accusation. The Hebrew behind most modern Bibles has “the pointing of the finger.”

[47] This is Justin’s own appeal, not part of the quotation; it echoes Deuteronomy 10:16 and Jeremiah 4:4.

[48] Deuteronomy 10:16–17 and Leviticus 26:40–41, quoted freely from the Greek Old Testament, so the wording differs from common Bible versions; the final Greek verb here means “be put to shame.”

[49] The words about desolate lands, burned cities and strangers eating the crops echo Isaiah 1:7. After the Bar Kokhba revolt (AD 132–135), the emperor Hadrian banned Jews from entering Jerusalem, and Justin is referring to that ban.

[50] “The Righteous One” is a title for Christ, as in Acts 7:52, where Stephen also links the killing of the prophets with the killing of “the Righteous One.” “Those who now hold power” are the Roman authorities.

[51] Isaiah 57:1–4, quoted from the Greek Old Testament; the Greek words can also be punctuated “His burial will be in peace; he has been taken from the midst,” as in the Septuagint.

[52] “Through whose wounds there is healing” echoes Isaiah 53:5. The Greek word (μώλωψ) means a wound, bruise or stripe.

[53] Isaiah 52:5 (also quoted in Romans 2:24), Isaiah 3:9–11 and Isaiah 5:18–20, quoted from the Greek Old Testament. “Let us bind the righteous man” is the Septuagint reading of Isaiah 3:10, which differs from the Hebrew.

[54] Jesus’ words, as in Matthew 21:13, combine Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.

[55] Justin blends sayings found in Matthew 23 and Luke 11. “Mint and rue” and “the love of God” match Luke 11:42. The “whitewashed tombs” match Matthew 23:27. The “keys” and “you do not go in yourselves” are close to Luke 11:52. “Blind guides” is from Matthew 23:16 and 23:24.

[56] The older translation says “I do not think that I have done foolishly.” The Greek (οὐκ ἄτοπον) means “not out of place” or “not unreasonable.”

[57] The opening words echo Isaiah 1:16 (“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds”). Justin’s wording is close to the Greek Old Testament.

[58] The quotation is Jeremiah 2:13. Justin’s text reads “him,” where the Hebrew and the Greek Old Testament read “me.”

[59] The Greek says Enoch pleased God while uncircumcised, following Genesis 5:24 in the Greek Old Testament (“Enoch pleased God, and he was not found, because God took him”); compare Hebrews 11:5, and for Abel, see Genesis 4:4.

[60] For Melchizedek and Abraham, see Genesis 14:18–20. The promise “through David” is Psalm 110:4: “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

[61] Justin seems to have in mind Hosea 1:9 (“you are not my people”). His wording is a loose recollection rather than an exact quotation. The calf is the golden calf of Exodus 32.

[62] On sacrificing children to demons, compare Psalm 106:37. The closing quotation resembles Ezekiel 20:12 and 20:20, where the Sabbath is given “that they may know that I am the LORD.” Justin’s wording does not match any single verse exactly.

[63] The quotations are Exodus 32:6 and Deuteronomy 32:15. “The beloved one” follows the Greek Old Testament, where the Hebrew has “Jeshurun.” The permission given to Noah is in Genesis 9:3–4.

[64] “As the green herbs” is from Genesis 9:3 (“as the green herbs, I have given you all things”). Justin takes it to mean that Noah was given animals for food just as freely as plants.

[65] The quotation is close to Deuteronomy 32:20, “sons in whom there is no faith.” The word “foolish” may come from a similar phrase in Jeremiah 4:22.

[66] This quotation, continued through 21.4, is drawn freely from Ezekiel 20:19–26.

[67] In Ezekiel, “lifting up the hand” is the gesture of taking an oath, so the sense is that God swore he would scatter them.

[68] In the Hebrew of Ezekiel 20:26, it is the people who “cause to pass through” all that opens the womb. This means offering firstborn children in sacrifice (compare 20:31, “through the fire”).

[69] “The twelve” are the twelve shorter prophetic books at the end of the Old Testament (the Minor Prophets), of which Amos is one.

[70] This quotation, continued in 22.3, is from Amos 5:18–26.

[71] Stephen quotes a closely similar Greek form of Amos 5:25–27 in Acts 7:42–43. “Moloch” and “Raphan” are the Septuagint’s renderings. The Hebrew of Amos 5:26 reads differently, and its meaning is uncertain.

[72] “Calneh” is spelled “Chalanē” in the Greek. “Gath of the foreigners” means Gath of the Philistines. The Greek word is allophyloi, “people of another tribe,” which the Septuagint regularly uses for the Philistines.

[73] Justin is quoting Amos 6:3–7 from the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint). Where Justin’s Greek has “false sabbaths,” the Hebrew text (followed by most English Bibles) speaks of bringing near “the seat of violence.”

[74] Jeremiah 7:21–22.

[75] The “forty-ninth psalm” follows the Greek (Septuagint) numbering. In most English Bibles it is Psalm 50.

[76] Isaiah 66:1.

[77] The Greek “ō andres” (“gentlemen”) is plural: Justin is addressing Trypho and his companions together.

[78] “The elements” (στοιχεῖα) probably refers to the heavenly bodies and the natural order, which keep working on the Sabbath.

[79] Justin is drawing on Genesis 15:6 (“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”) and Genesis 17:14, which the last sentence quotes from the Greek Old Testament. His argument closely follows Paul in Romans 4:10–11, where Abraham receives circumcision as a sign after being counted righteous by faith while uncircumcised.

[80] “A law has gone out from Zion” echoes Isaiah 2:3 and Micah 4:2.

[81] “Long ago” could also be translated “earlier,” meaning earlier in this conversation. The older translation takes it that way (“as was declared above”).

[82] “I became visible to those who did not seek me” begins a quotation of Isaiah 65:1, which Paul also quotes in Romans 10:20.

[83] Justin now quotes Isaiah 63:15–64:12 at length, following the Greek Old Testament.

[84] “A woman who sits apart” refers to a woman during her monthly period, when she was ritually unclean under the Law (Leviticus 15:19–24).

[85] “All the glorious nations” is how the Greek reads here. The Greek Old Testament of Isaiah 64:11 has “all our glorious things,” so “nations” may be a copyist’s slip.

[86] Isaiah 42:6–7, quoted from the Greek Old Testament.

[87] Isaiah 62:10–12 and 63:1, quoted from the Greek Old Testament. “Bosor” is the Greek form of Bozrah.

[88] Isaiah 63:2–6, quoted from the Greek Old Testament. The words “full of trampled grapes” can be read as the end of the question or as the beginning of the answer. This version takes them as the speaker describing himself.

[89] Isaiah 58:13–14, quoted from the Greek Old Testament.

[90] “Sacrifice your children to demons” echoes Psalm 106:37 (105:37 in the Greek Old Testament). The rest draws on Isaiah 1:23 and 1:15.

[91] The first sentence is Isaiah 3:16. The lines after “all have turned aside” come from the chain of Psalm and Isaiah verses (Psalms 14, 5, and 140, and Isaiah 59:7–8) that Paul also strings together in Romans 3:10–18.

[92] The Greek pronoun (autou) can mean “him” (God) or “it.” This translation takes it as referring to God.

[93] The Greek word is “high priests” (archiereis), though here it may be used loosely for the priests who served in the temple.

[94] Jeremiah 4:3–4.

[95] Jeremiah 9:25–26.

[96] The Greek of the last clause does not name its subject. It is usually read, as here, to mean that God rejoices in the man’s gifts and offerings (compare 29.1). It could also be read to mean that the man himself rejoices in God’s gifts and offerings.

[97] Malachi 1:10–12, quoted in shortened form. Justin’s Greek “has been glorified” follows the Septuagint; the Hebrew has no verb here, and English versions often render it as future (KJV: “shall be great”).

[98] Psalm 18:43–44 (compare 2 Samuel 22:44–45).

[99] “That baptism” probably means the Jewish ritual washings. Earlier in the Dialogue (chapter 14), Justin contrasts them with Christian baptism as a washing that cleanses only the flesh and body.

[100] Justin seems to be speaking broadly of the witness of Scripture. The passages he has just quoted come from Jeremiah, Malachi, and the Psalms, not from Isaiah or Zechariah.

[101] On the Sabbath offerings, see Numbers 28:9–10. Jesus makes a similar argument about the priests in Matthew 12:5.

[102] “Strangers” follows the Greek Old Testament of Psalm 19:13 (“spare your servant from strangers”). The Hebrew text, followed by most English Bibles, reads “presumptuous sins” or “the arrogant.”

[103] Justin quotes Daniel 7:9–10 as he knew it in Greek, so the wording may differ slightly from your Bible.

[104] Continuing Daniel 7, here verses 11–13, in Justin’s Greek wording.

[105] The last sentence follows Justin’s Greek as it has come down to us. In Daniel 7:18 it is “the saints of the Most High” who receive the kingdom forever. Justin’s text seems to have lost that clause, perhaps through a copying slip.

[106] Continuing Daniel 7, here verses 19–22.

[107] The Greek verb for “handed over” is singular and has no stated subject. In Daniel 7:25 it is the saints who are given into his hand.

[108] This is Daniel 7:26–28. The Greek word hexis means a person’s state or condition; the Aramaic of Daniel 7:28 speaks of his color or countenance changing.

[109] The curse is Deuteronomy 21:23, “anyone hanged on a tree is under God’s curse.” Paul applies this verse to Christ in Galatians 3:13.

[110] Justin is drawing on Isaiah 53 (vv. 2, 8, 9, 5, 7 in the Greek Old Testament) and on Zechariah 12:10–12 for the two comings.

[111] The older translation says the Father brought him “again” from the earth. The Greek has no “again”; it says he brings him up from the earth.

[112] The older translation puts “the man of sin”; the Greek says “the man of lawlessness.” The same variation is found in the manuscripts of 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

[113] The second quotation is Isaiah 29:14, close to the Greek Old Testament wording. Paul quotes the last part of the same verse, in a slightly different form, in 1 Corinthians 1:19.

[114] “The land” is supplied for sense; the Greek says only “he will fill corpses,” that is, he will fill places with the dead.

[115] Hebrews 7 also argues from Melchizedek and Psalm 110:4 that Christ’s priesthood is greater than the Levitical priesthood.

[116] For God’s promise of a new covenant, see Jeremiah 31:31.

[117] “Commander-in-chief” (archistratēgos) is the title of the figure who appears to Joshua in the Greek of Joshua 5:14, “commander of the army of the Lord.” Justin later applies that passage to Christ.

[118] Justin quotes Psalm 72 from the Greek version, which sometimes differs from the Hebrew. In verse 5, for example, the Hebrew has “They will fear you as long as the sun endures,” where the Greek has “He will endure as long as the sun.”

[119] “Will rise” translates anatellō, used of the sun rising and of plants springing up; the Hebrew of Psalm 72:7 reads “the righteous will flourish.”

[120] “A support in the land” follows Justin’s Greek (stērigma, “support” or “firm stay”). The Hebrew of Psalm 72:16 speaks instead of grain on the earth, on the tops of the mountains.

[121] The Hebrew of Psalm 72:20 reads “The prayers of David, son of Jesse, are ended.” Justin’s Greek has “hymns.”

[122] See 1 Kings 11:1–8. Scripture speaks of Solomon’s many foreign wives and of his following Ashtoreth, “the goddess of the Sidonians.” It does not say he worshiped in Sidon itself.