Dialogue with Trypho (chapters 65–98)

Dialogue with Trypho

continued

Chapter 65

The Jew Objects that God Does Not Give His Glory to Another. Justin Explains the Passage.

1 Trypho said, “I am hard pressed by so many Scriptures, and I do not know what to say about the passage Isaiah spoke, in which God says he will give his glory to no one else. It says: ‘I am the Lord God; this is my name. My glory I will not give to another, nor my excellences.’”^[244] [Isaiah 42:8] 2 I said: “Trypho, if you recited these words simply and without malice and then fell silent, without quoting what comes before or adding what follows, you are to be excused. But if you did it because you thought you could throw the argument into difficulty and make me say that the Scriptures contradict one another, you are mistaken. I would never dare to think or say such a thing. If a passage is put forward that seems to be of this kind, and it gives some excuse for calling it contradictory, I am fully convinced that no Scripture contradicts another. So I will rather admit that I myself do not understand what is said, and I will work hard to persuade those who think the Scriptures are contradictory to think as I do.”

3 God knows with what purpose you raised the difficulty. But I will remind you of what the passage says, so that from this very text you may know that God gives his glory to his Christ alone. I will take up a few short passages, gentlemen: the ones connected with what Trypho said, and those that follow on from it in sequence. I will not take them from some other section, but as they stand joined together in one. Give me your attention. 4 The words are these: “Thus says the Lord God, who made the heaven and fixed it firm, who made the earth firm and everything in it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the Lord God, have 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 for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out of chains those who are bound, and out of the prison house those who sit in darkness.”^[245] [Isaiah 42:5-7]

5 “I am the Lord God; this is my name. My glory I will not give to another, nor my praise to carved idols. Look, the things from the beginning have come; I am announcing new things, and before I announce them they are made clear to you. Sing to God a new song. His rule is from the end of the earth. Sing, you who go down to the sea and sail on it, you islands and those who live on them.”^[246] [Isaiah 42:8-10] 6 “Rejoice, desert, and their villages and farmsteads. The people who live in Kedar will rejoice, and those who live in the rock will shout from the top of the mountains. They will give glory to God, and they will announce his praise in the islands. The Lord God of hosts will go out. He will crush war, he will stir up zeal, and he will shout against his enemies with strength.”^[247] [Isaiah 42:11-13]

7 When I had said this, I said to them, “My friends, have you understood that God says he will give glory to the one he has set up as a light for the nations, and to no one else? So it is not, as Trypho said, that God keeps the glory for himself.” Trypho answered, “We have understood this too. So go on with the rest of your argument.” [Isaiah 42:6]

Chapter 66

He Proves from Isaiah that God Was Born from a Virgin.

1 I took up the argument again at the point where I had first stopped. I had been showing that he was born of a virgin, and that Isaiah had prophesied his birth through a virgin. So I recited the same prophecy again. [Isaiah 7:14] 2 It is this: “And the Lord went on to speak to Ahaz, saying, ‘Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height.’ And Ahaz said, ‘I will not ask, and I will not test the Lord.’ And Isaiah said, ‘Listen now, house of David. Is it too little for you to cause trouble for men? How is it, then, that you cause trouble for the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Look, the virgin will conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel. He will eat butter and honey.^[248] [Isaiah 7:10-15]

3 Before he knows or chooses evil, he will choose the good. For before the child knows evil or good, he refuses evil in order to choose the good. For before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria in the presence of the king of the Assyrians. And the land will be seized, the land that you will bear with difficulty because of the two kings. But God will bring upon you, your people and your father’s house days such as have not yet come, from the day when Ephraim took the king of the Assyrians away from Judah.’”^[249] [Isaiah 7:15-16; Isaiah 8:4; Isaiah 7:17] 4 And I went on: “Now it is plain to everyone that no one in the family of Abraham according to the flesh has ever been born of a virgin, or is said to have been, except this Christ of ours.”

Chapter 67

Trypho Compares Jesus with Perseus; And Would Prefer [to Say] that He Was Elected [to Be Christ] on Account of Observance of the Law. Justin Speaks of the Law as Formerly.

1 Trypho answered, “The Scripture does not say, ‘Look, the virgin will conceive and bear a son.’ It says, ‘Look, the young woman will conceive and bear a son,’ and the rest as you quoted it. The whole prophecy was spoken about Hezekiah, and it is shown that it was fulfilled in him according to this prophecy.^[250] [Isaiah 7:14] 2 “In the myths of the so-called Greeks it is said that Perseus was born of Danae, who was a virgin, when the one they call Zeus poured down on her in the form of gold. You ought to be ashamed to say the same things they do. You should rather say that this Jesus was a man born of men. And if you can show from the Scriptures that he is the Christ, then say that he was counted worthy to be chosen as Christ because he lived lawfully and perfectly. But do not dare to tell tales of marvels, so that you are not proved to be as foolish as the Greeks.”^[251]

3 To this I said, “Trypho, I want you and all people to be convinced of this. Even if you say worse things in mockery or jest, you will not drive me from the matter before us. Whatever arguments or facts you think you are bringing forward to refute me, from those very things I will always draw the proofs of what I say, with the witness of the Scriptures. 4 “But you are not acting rightly or like a lover of truth when you try to undo even those points on which we have always agreed: that some of the commandments were laid down through Moses because of the hardness of your people’s hearts. For you said that he was chosen and became Christ because he lived lawfully, if he should indeed be shown to be the Christ.” 5 Trypho said, “But you admitted to us that he was circumcised and kept the other legal ordinances commanded through Moses.”

6 I answered, “I admitted it, and I admit it still. But I did not admit that he went through all this as one being justified by these things. I said he did it to complete the plan that his Father wanted, who is Maker, Lord and God of all things. For I also admit that he endured being crucified and dying, and becoming man, and suffering all that people of your race did to him.”^[252] 7 But since, Trypho, you again withdraw your agreement from what you just agreed to, answer me this. The righteous men and patriarchs who lived before Moses kept none of the things that, as the Scripture shows, were first commanded through Moses. Are they saved, with a share in the inheritance of the blessed, or not? 8 Trypho said, “The Scriptures force me to admit that they are.” I asked him in the same way again: “Did God command your fathers to bring the offerings and sacrifices because he lacked something? Or was it because of their hardness of heart and their readiness to fall into idolatry?” “This too,” he said, “the Scriptures likewise force us to admit.”

9 “And did the Scriptures likewise foretell,” I said, “that God promised to make a new covenant, different from the one made on Mount Horeb?” He answered that this too had been foretold. Then I said again, “Was the old covenant given to your fathers with fear and trembling, so that they could not even listen to God?” He admitted that also.^[253] [Jeremiah 31:31-32] 10 “Well then,” I said, “God promised that there would be another covenant. He said it would not be given as that one was, and that it would be given to them without fear, trembling or lightning. It would show what commandment and deed God knows to be eternal and fitting for every nation, and what he had commanded to suit the hardness of heart of your people, as he also proclaims through the prophets.”^[254] 11 “To this too,” he said, “lovers of truth, rather than lovers of quarrels, must by all means agree.” I replied, “I do not know how you can call some people quarrelsome, when you yourself have often been seen doing just that, repeatedly contradicting what you had agreed to.”

Chapter 68

He Complains of the Obstinacy of Trypho; He Answers His Objection; He Convicts the Jews of Bad Faith.

1 Trypho said, “You are trying to prove something unbelievable and almost impossible: that God submitted to being born and becoming man.” I said, “If I had set out to prove this from human teachings or arguments, you would not need to put up with me. But I am quoting Scriptures, many of them, spoken on this very point, and I often repeat them. I ask you to understand them, and you grow hard-hearted when it comes to knowing the mind and will of God. If you want to stay like that forever, I will not be harmed at all. I will keep the same convictions I had before I met you, and I will take my leave of you.” 2 Trypho said, “Consider, my friend, that you acquired these things with great effort and toil. So we too must test everything that comes up, and then agree to what the Scriptures compel us to accept.” To this I answered, “I am not asking you to stop striving in every way as you examine the questions before us. I ask that, when you have nothing to say, you not contradict again the points you said you agreed to.”

3 Trypho said, “We will try to do that.” I said again, “In addition to the questions I have already put to you, I want to ask you more now. For through these questions I will work to bring the discussion quickly to its end.” Trypho said, “Ask.” I said, “Do you think that anyone else in the Scriptures is called worthy of worship, and Lord and God, apart from the one who made this universe and the Christ, who by so many Scriptures was shown to you to have become man?” 4 Trypho said, “How can we agree to that, when we have made such a long inquiry into whether there is anyone else besides the Father alone?” I answered, “I need to ask you this as well, so that I may know whether you think anything different from what you have agreed to so far.” He said, “No, sir.” Then I said, “Since you truly agree with these things, and the Word says, ‘Who will declare his generation?’, should you not also understand that he is not the offspring of human stock?”^[255] [Isaiah 53:8]

5 Trypho said, “How then does the Word say to David that God will take for himself a son from David’s loins, will establish his kingdom, and will set him on the throne of his glory?”^[256] [Psalm 132:11] 6 I said, “Trypho, if the prophecy Isaiah spoke, ‘Behold, the virgin will conceive,’ had not been addressed to the house of David but to some other house among the twelve tribes, perhaps the matter would be puzzling. But this prophecy too was spoken to the house of David. So what God had said to David in a hidden way was explained through Isaiah: he showed how it was going to come about. Or perhaps you do not know this, my friends: many sayings that were spoken in a hidden way, in parables, in mysteries, or in symbolic actions were explained by prophets who came after those who had spoken or acted.”^[257] [Isaiah 7:14] 7 “Certainly,” said Trypho. “Then,” I went on, “suppose I show that this prophecy of Isaiah was spoken of this Christ of ours and not of Hezekiah, as you say. Will I not also, on this point, shame you out of trusting your teachers? They dare to say that the translation made by your seventy elders, when they were with Ptolemy king of the Egyptians, is not true in some places.^[258]

8 Whatever passages in the Scriptures plainly expose their foolish and self-loving opinion, they dare to say were not written that way. But whatever passages they think they can twist to fit human events, they say were not spoken of this Jesus Christ of ours but of whatever person they themselves choose to apply them to. For example, they taught you that this passage, which we are now discussing, was spoken of Hezekiah. As I promised, I will show that what they say is false. 9 When we cite to them the Scriptures that plainly show Christ to be one who suffers, one to be worshipped, and God (I have already set these out for you), they are forced to agree that these were spoken of Christ. Yet they dare to say that this man is not the Christ. They do admit that the Christ will come, suffer, reign, and be worshipped as God. I will show that this view is likewise ridiculous and foolish. But first I am pressed to answer what you said in a mocking way. I will answer that now, and I will give the proofs on the remaining points later.^[259]

Chapter 69

The Devil, Since He Emulates the Truth, Has Invented Fables About Bacchus, Hercules, and Aesculapius.

1 “Know well then, Trypho,” I went on, “that the devil, as he is called, made imitations and caused them to be told among the Greeks, just as he worked through the magicians in Egypt and through the false prophets in Elijah’s time. These things too have made my knowledge of the Scriptures, and my faith in them, firm.^[260] 2 For they say that Dionysus was the son of Zeus by his union with Semele. They say he was the discoverer of the vine, that he was torn to pieces and died, and that he rose again and went up to heaven. And they bring a donkey forward in his mysteries. When they say these things, do I not understand that the devil has imitated the prophecy of the patriarch Jacob, which was spoken beforehand and written down by Moses?^[261] [Genesis 49:11] 3 They say that Heracles was strong, that he travelled all over the earth, that he too was born to Zeus by Alcmene, and that he died and went up to heaven. Do I not understand that in this the devil has likewise imitated the Scripture spoken about Christ, “Strong as a giant to run his course”? And when he puts forward Asclepius as one who raised the dead and healed other ailments, do I not say that in this too he has imitated the prophecies about Christ?^[262]

4 I have not yet cited to you a Scripture saying that Christ will do these things. So I must mention one. From it you can see how the Word foretold that people without the knowledge of God would renounce their idols and put their hope in this Christ. I mean the Gentiles, who had eyes and did not see, and had a heart and did not understand, and who worshipped things made out of matter.^[263] 5 It is written like this: “Rejoice, thirsty desert; let the desert be glad and blossom like a lily. The deserts of the Jordan will blossom and be glad, and the glory of Lebanon was given to it, and the honor of Carmel. And my people will see the height of the Lord and the glory of God. Be strong, you slack hands and paralyzed knees. Be comforted, you fainthearted; be strong, do not fear. Look, our God pays back judgment, and he will pay it back. He himself will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will hear. Then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the stammerers will be clear. For water has burst out in the desert, and a ravine in the thirsty land. The waterless land will become marshes, and in the thirsty land there will be a spring of water.”^[264]

6 This Christ is the spring of living water from God, which gushed out in the desert, the land of the Gentiles, that had no knowledge of God. He also appeared among your own people. He healed those who were blind, deaf, and lame in their bodies from birth. By his word he made one leap, another hear, another see. He also raised the dead and made them live. By these works he pressed the people of that time to recognize him.^[265] 7 But those who saw these things happen said it was a magic illusion. They even dared to call him a magician and a deceiver of the people. Yet he did these things also to persuade those who were going to believe in him of this: if anyone who has some bodily defect keeps the teachings that Christ handed down, Christ will raise him up whole at his second coming. He will also make him immortal, incorruptible, and free from sorrow.^[266]

Chapter 70

So Also the Mysteries of Mithras are Distorted from the Prophecies of Daniel and Isaiah.

1 “When the men who hand down the mysteries of Mithras say that he was born from a rock, and call the place where they initiate his followers a cave, do I not know that here they have imitated what Daniel said, that ‘a stone was cut out of a great mountain without hands’? And they have likewise imitated what Isaiah said. They even tried to imitate all of his words, for they contrived to have words of righteous dealing spoken among them too.^[267] [Daniel 2:34; Daniel 2:45] 2 “I must go through the words of Isaiah that I mentioned, so that from them you may know that this is so. They are these: ‘Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; those who are near will know my strength. The lawless ones in Zion have departed; trembling will seize the ungodly. Who will tell you of the eternal place? The one who walks in righteousness, speaks what is straight, hates lawlessness and injustice, keeps his hands clear of bribes, stops his ears so as not to hear an unjust sentence of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes so as not to see injustice. He will dwell in the high cave of the strong rock. [Isaiah 33:13-16]

3 Bread will be given to him, and his water will be sure. You will see the King with glory, and your eyes will see from far off. Your soul will meditate on the fear of the Lord. Where is the scribe? Where are the counselors? Where is the one who counts those who are fed, small and great alike? They took no counsel with him, nor did they know the depths of the voices, so that they did not hear. A despised people, and the one who hears has no understanding.’^[268] [Isaiah 33:16-19] 4 “Now it is plain that this prophecy speaks of the bread which our Christ handed down to us to do in remembrance of his taking a body for the sake of those who believe in him, for whose sake he also became subject to suffering. It also speaks of the cup, which he handed down to us to do, giving thanks, in remembrance of his blood. And this prophecy shows that we will see this same one as King in glory.^[269] [Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25; Isaiah 33:16-17]

5 “The words of the prophecy cry out that the people foreknown to believe in him were foreknown to meditate on the fear of the Lord. These same Scriptures likewise cry out that those who think they understand the letter of the Scriptures, and who hear the prophecies, have no understanding. And when I hear, Trypho,” I said, “that Perseus was born of a virgin, I understand that the deceiving serpent imitated this as well.

Chapter 71

The Jews Reject the Interpretation of the LXX., from Which, Moreover, They Have Taken Away Some Passages.

1 “But I do not trust your teachers. They refuse to agree that the seventy elders who were with Ptolemy, king of the Egyptians, translated well, and they try to translate the Scriptures themselves.^[270] 2 “I want you to know that they have removed entirely many Scriptures from the translation made by those elders who were with Ptolemy. From these passages it is plainly shown that this very man who was crucified was proclaimed as God and man, and as one who would be crucified and die. I know that all of your people deny these passages, so I do not take up such questions. Instead I go on to make my arguments from the passages that you still admit.^[271] 3 “For you accept all the passages I have brought to you, except that you objected to the phrase ‘Behold, the virgin will conceive,’ saying that it was written, ‘Behold, the young woman will conceive.’ I promised to prove that the prophecy was not spoken about Hezekiah, as you were taught, but about this Christ of mine. And I will now give that proof.^[272] [Isaiah 7:14]

4 Then Trypho said, “First, we ask you to tell us some of the Scriptures that you say have been completely removed.”

Chapter 72

Passages Have Been Removed by the Jews from Esdras and Jeremiah.

1 I said, “I will do as you wish. From the explanations that Esdras gave of the law about the Passover, they removed this explanation: ‘And Esdras said to the people: This Passover is our Savior and our refuge. If you understand, and it enters your heart, that we are going to humble him on a sign, and after this we put our hope in him, this place will never be made desolate, says the God of hosts. But if you do not believe him and do not listen to his preaching, you will be a laughingstock to the nations.’^[273] 2 And from the words spoken through Jeremiah they cut out this: “I was like a harmless lamb led away to be sacrificed. They devised a plan against me, saying: Come, let us put wood into his bread, and let us wipe him out from the land of the living, and his name shall never be remembered again.”^[274] [Jeremiah 11:19]

3 This passage from the words of Jeremiah is still written in some copies in the Jewish synagogues, for it was only a short time ago that they cut it out. These words prove that the Jews plotted against Christ himself, planning to crucify and kill him. He himself is shown here as a harmless lamb, just as Isaiah had prophesied that he would be “led like a sheep to the slaughter.” So, being at a loss, they turn to blasphemy.^[275] [Isaiah 53:7; Jeremiah 11:19] 4 In the same way they cut this out of the words of the same Jeremiah: “The Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, remembered his dead who had fallen asleep in the earth of the grave, and he went down to them to proclaim to them the good news of his salvation.”^[276]

Chapter 73

[the Words] "From the Wood" Have Been Cut Out of Ps. XCVI.

1 And from the ninety-fifth Psalm, from the words spoken through David, they removed a few short words: “from the wood.” The text said, “Say among the nations: The Lord has reigned from the wood.” They left only, “Say among the nations: The Lord has reigned.”^[277] [Psalm 96:10] 2 But among the nations, none of your people has ever been said to have reigned as God and Lord, except this one alone who was crucified. In the same psalm the Holy Spirit says that he has been saved by rising again. The Spirit thus shows that he is not like the gods of the nations, for those are idols of demons.^[278] 3 But so that you may understand what is being said, I will recite the whole psalm to you. It is this: “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord and bless his name; proclaim the good news of his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, and his wonders among all the peoples. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are demons, but the Lord made the heavens. Praise and beauty are before him; holiness and majesty are in his sanctuary. Bring to the Lord, you families of the nations, bring to the Lord glory and honor; bring to the Lord glory in his name.

4 “Take up offerings and enter his courts; worship the Lord in his holy court. Let all the earth be shaken before his face. Say among the nations: The Lord has reigned from the wood. For he has set the world right, and it will not be shaken; he will judge the peoples with fairness. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; the sea will be shaken, and all that fills it. The fields will rejoice, and everything in them. All the trees of the forest will exult before the Lord, for he is coming, he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his truth.” 5 Trypho said, “Whether the rulers of the people really removed anything from the Scriptures, as you say, God may know. But such a thing seems unbelievable.” 6 “Yes,” I said, “it does seem unbelievable. For it is more dreadful than the making of the calf, which they did when they had been filled with manna on earth. It is more dreadful than sacrificing their children to demons, or than killing the prophets themselves. But,” I said, “let us suppose you have never even heard the Scriptures which I said they cut out. For the many passages I have already recounted are more than enough to prove the points in question. And there are others still to be quoted, which have been preserved among you.”^[279]

Chapter 74

The Beginning of Ps. XCVI. Is Attributed to the Father [by Trypho]. But [It Refers] to Christ by These Words: "Tell Ye Among the Nations that the Lord," Etc.

1 Trypho said, “We know that you recounted these passages because we asked you to. But about this psalm, which you quoted last from the words of David, it does not seem to me that it was spoken of anyone other than the Father, who made the heavens and the earth. You, however, say that it was spoken of this suffering one, whom you are also eager to prove to be the Christ.” 2 I answered: Pay attention, I beg you, as I speak about the very words the Holy Spirit uttered in this psalm. Then you will know that I am not speaking wrongly, and that you have not really been put under a spell. In this way you will be able, on your own, to understand many other things the Holy Spirit has said. “Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord and bless his name. Proclaim his salvation day after day, and his wonders among all the peoples.”^[280]

3 He commands people from all the earth who have come to know this saving mystery, that is, the suffering of Christ, by which he saved them, to keep singing and chanting psalms to God, the Father of all. They are to recognize that the one who accomplished this salvation for the human race is to be praised and feared, and is the maker of heaven and earth. And they are to recognize Christ as the one who died after being crucified, and whom God counted worthy to reign over all the earth, as also through . . .^[281] 4 . . . of the land into which this people is entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant, which I made with them in that day. I will forsake them and turn my face away from them. They will be devoured, and many evils and afflictions will find them. They will say in that day, “Because the Lord my God is not among us, these evils have found us.” But I will surely turn my face away from them in that day, because of all the evils they have done, for they turned to foreign gods.^[282] [Deuteronomy 31:16-18]

Chapter 75

It is Proved that Jesus Was the Name of God in the Book of Exodus.

1 We have also understood that in the book of Exodus the name of God himself was Jesus. God says this name was not made known to Abraham or to Jacob, and it was likewise announced in a mystery through Moses. It is written like this: “And the Lord said to Moses, Say to this people: Behold, I am sending my angel before your face, to guard you on the way, so that he may bring you into the land I have prepared for you. Pay attention to him and listen to him. Do not disobey him. For he will not hold back from you, for my name is on him.”^[283] [Exodus 6:3; Exodus 23:20-21] 2 So who brought your fathers into the land? Understand at last that it was the one who was given the name Jesus, who was formerly called Auses. For if you understand this, you will also recognize that the name of the one who said to Moses, “for my name is on him,” was Jesus. Indeed, he was himself also called Israel, and he likewise renamed Jacob with this name.^[284] [Exodus 23:21; Numbers 13:16; Genesis 32:28]

3 Isaiah has also shown that the prophets who are sent to announce what comes from God are called both angels and apostles of God. For there Isaiah says, “Send me.” And it is plain to everyone that the man who was given the name Jesus became a mighty and great prophet.^[285] [Isaiah 6:8] 4 If, then, we know that this God appeared in so many forms to Abraham, to Jacob and to Moses, how can we be at a loss and refuse to believe that, according to the will of the Father of all, he could also be born a man of a virgin? And this when we have so many Scriptures, from which we can plainly understand that this too happened according to the Father’s will.^[286]

Chapter 76

From Other Passages the Same Majesty and Government of Christ are Proved.

1 When Daniel speaks of one “like a son of man” who receives the everlasting kingdom, is he not hinting at this very thing? To say “like a son of man” shows that he appeared and became a man, but it also makes clear that he did not come from human seed. Likewise, to say that this stone was cut out “without hands” proclaims the same thing in a mystery. To say it was cut out without hands shows that it is not a human work, but comes from the will of God, the Father of all, who brought him forth.^[287] [Daniel 7:13-14; Daniel 2:34] 2 When Isaiah says, “Who will declare his generation?” he was showing that this one has an origin that cannot be told. No one who is a man born of men has an origin that cannot be told. And when Moses says that he will wash his robe in the blood of the grape, is that not what I have already told you many times, that Moses prophesied in veiled terms? He foretold that this one would have blood, but not from men, just as it is not man but God who produced the blood of the vine.^[288] [Isaiah 53:8; Genesis 49:11]

3 And when Isaiah called him “messenger of great counsel,” was he not announcing in advance that he would become the teacher of the very things he taught when he came? The Father had made great plans for all people who have pleased him and will please him. He had also made plans for those who have turned away from his counsel, whether men or angels. This one alone taught those plans openly, without veiling them, when he said:^[289] [Isaiah 9:6] 4 “They will come from east and west, and will sit at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness.”^[290] [Matthew 8:11-12] 5 And: “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not eat and drink and prophesy and cast out demons in your name?’ And I will say to them, ‘Depart from me.’” And in other sayings, by which he will condemn those who are unworthy to be saved, he said that he will say: “Go into the outer darkness, which the Father has prepared for Satan and his angels.”^[291] [Matthew 7:22-23; Matthew 25:41]

6 And again, in other sayings, he said: “I give you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and centipedes, and over all the power of the enemy.” And now we who believe in Jesus our Lord, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, have all demons and evil spirits subject to us when we exorcise them. For even though it had been proclaimed through the prophets, in veiled language, that Christ would suffer and afterward be Lord of all, still no one could understand it. That remained so until he himself convinced the apostles that these things had been plainly proclaimed in the Scriptures.^[292] [Luke 10:19; Luke 24:25-27] 7 For before he was crucified he cried out: “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the scribes and Pharisees, and be crucified, and rise on the third day.” David also proclaimed that, according to the Father’s counsel, he would be born from the womb before the sun and moon. And David showed that he, being Christ, is a mighty God, worthy of worship.^[293] [Luke 9:22; Mark 8:31]

Chapter 77

He Returns to Explain the Prophecy of Isaiah.

1 Trypho said: “I agree with you that such things, and so many of them, are enough to give anyone pause. But I want you to know that I am still asking you to prove the passage you have often brought up. So carry that one through for us as well, so that we may see how you show that it was spoken about this Christ of yours. For we say it was prophesied about Hezekiah.”^[294] 2 I said: “I will do this too, as you wish. But first you show me that it was said about Hezekiah that, before he knew how to call father or mother, he took the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria in the presence of the king of Assyria. You will not be allowed to explain it as you like, by saying that Hezekiah made war on the people of Damascus or Samaria in the presence of the king of Assyria. For the prophetic word said: ‘Before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria in the presence of the king of Assyria.’^[295] [Isaiah 8:4]

3 Suppose the prophetic Spirit had not added this clause, “Before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria.” Suppose he had said only, “And she will bear a son, and he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria.” Then you could say that God had said it beforehand because he foreknew that the child would take these things. But as it is, the prophecy was spoken with this added clause: “Before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria.” You cannot show that this ever happened to anyone among the Jews, but we can show that it happened in the case of our Christ. [Isaiah 8:4; Isaiah 7:14] 4 For as soon as he was born, Magi came from Arabia and worshiped him. They had first gone to Herod, who was then reigning in your land. Scripture calls him king of Assyria because of his godless and lawless character. For you know,” I said, “that the Holy Spirit often speaks of such things in parables and comparisons. He did this also with all the people in Jerusalem, often saying to them, ‘Your father is an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.’^[296] [Matthew 2:1-2; Ezekiel 16:3]

Chapter 78

He Proves that This Prophecy Harmonizes with Christ Alone, from What is Afterwards Written.

1 Now the Magi from Arabia came to this King Herod. They said that from a star which had appeared in the sky they knew a king had been born in your country, “and we have come to worship him.” Herod then learned from the elders of your people that it would be in Bethlehem, for they said it is written in the prophet in this way: “And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. For out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people.”^[297] [Matthew 2:2; Matthew 2:6; Micah 5:2] 2 So the Magi from Arabia came to Bethlehem and worshipped the child, and they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Then, by a revelation after they had worshipped the child in Bethlehem, they were told not to go back to Herod. [Matthew 2:11; Matthew 2:12] 3 Joseph, who was betrothed to Mary, had at first wanted to send away his betrothed, Mary. He supposed she was pregnant by intercourse with a man, that is, by fornication. But he was commanded in a vision not to send his wife away. The angel who appeared to him told him that what she carried in her womb was from the Holy Spirit. [Matthew 1:19; Matthew 1:20]

4 So he was afraid, and he did not send her away. At the time of the first census in Judea, under Quirinius, he went up from Nazareth, where he lived, to Bethlehem, where he came from, to be registered. His family came from the tribe of Judah, which lived in that region. Then he was commanded to go out into Egypt with Mary and to stay there with the child, until it should again be revealed to them that they should return to Judea.^[298] [Matthew 1:24; Luke 2:2; Luke 2:4; Matthew 2:13] 5 When the child was born in Bethlehem, Joseph had nowhere to lodge in that village, so he stayed in a cave near it. While they were there, Mary gave birth to the Christ and laid him in a manger. That is where the Magi from Arabia came and found him.^[299] [Luke 2:7] 6 “I have already told you,” I said, “that Isaiah proclaimed beforehand the sign connected with the cave. But for the sake of those who have come with you today, I will mention the passage again.” So I recounted the passage from Isaiah that I had written out earlier. I added that, because of those words, the devil was at work in the men who hand down the mysteries of Mithras. He moved them to say that people are initiated by them in a place that they call a cave.^[300]

7 Herod had asked the Magi from Arabia to come back to him. But they did not. As they had been commanded, they left for their own country by another road. Joseph, with Mary and the child, had also already gone out into Egypt, as had been revealed to them. So Herod did not know which child the Magi had come to worship, and he ordered all the children in Bethlehem, without exception, to be killed. [Matthew 2:12; Matthew 2:16] 8 This too had been prophesied through Jeremiah, since the Holy Spirit spoke through him in these words: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and much mourning. Rachel was weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted, because they are no more.” Now the voice was to be heard from Ramah, that is, from Arabia. (There is still today a place in Arabia called Ramah.) So weeping was to seize the place where Rachel is buried, that is, Bethlehem. Rachel was the wife of Jacob, the holy patriarch, who was also called Israel. The women wept for their own children who had been killed, and they had no comfort in what had happened to them.^[301] [Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 2:18]

9 Isaiah said, “He will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria.” By this he meant that the power of the wicked demon living in Damascus would be defeated by Christ as soon as he was born. And it is shown that this happened. The Magi had been carried off as plunder into every evil practice worked by that demon. Yet they came and worshipped Christ, and so they clearly broke away from that power which had plundered them. In a hidden way, the Scripture showed us that this power lived in Damascus.^[302] [Isaiah 8:4] 10 Because that power is sinful and unjust, Isaiah rightly calls it “Samaria” in a figure. And none of you can deny that Damascus was and is part of the land of Arabia, even if it is now assigned to what is called Syrophoenicia. So, gentlemen, it would be good for you to learn what you have not understood from those who have received grace from our God, that is, from us Christians. You should not fight in every way to defend your own teachings and so dishonor the things of God.^[303]

11 For this reason this grace has been transferred to us, as Isaiah says: “This people draws near to me. They honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men. Therefore, see, I will go on to remove this people, and I will remove them. I will take away the wisdom of their wise men, and I will set aside the understanding of their intelligent men.”^[304] [Isaiah 29:13-14]

Chapter 79

He Proves Against Trypho that the Wicked Angels Have Revolted from God.

1 Trypho was somewhat indignant, but he still respected the Scriptures, as his face showed. He said to me, “The words of God are holy, but your interpretations are contrived, as is plain from what you have just explained. Worse, they are blasphemous, for you say that angels did evil and fell away from God.” 2 I spoke in a gentler tone, because I wanted him to be ready to listen to me. I answered, “I admire this reverence of yours, sir, and I pray that you will have the same attitude toward the one whom, as Scripture records, the angels serve. Daniel says that one like a son of man is brought to the Ancient of Days, and that every kingdom is given to him forever and ever. But I want you to know, sir, that we have not used our own daring to produce this interpretation that you object to. I will give you testimony from Isaiah himself, who says that evil angels have lived, and still live, in Tanis in the land of Egypt.^[305] [Daniel 7:13-14]

3 “These are his words: ‘Woe to you, rebellious children, says the Lord. You have made a plan, but not through me, and agreements, but not through my Spirit, so as to add sins to sins. They set out to go down to Egypt, but they did not ask me, so that Pharaoh might help them and they might be sheltered under the shelter of the Egyptians. The shelter of Pharaoh will become your shame, and a reproach to those who trust in the Egyptians, because in Tanis there are rulers who are evil angels. They will labor in vain for a people that will not help them, but will bring them shame and reproach.’^[306] [Isaiah 30:1-5] 4 “Zechariah also says, as you yourself mentioned, that the devil stood at the right hand of Jesus the priest to oppose him, and that the Lord said, ‘The Lord rebuke you, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem.’ Again, it is written in Job, as you also said, that the angels came to stand before the Lord, and the devil came with them. We also have it written by Moses at the beginning of Genesis that the serpent deceived Eve and was cursed. We know that in Egypt magicians tried to match the power that God worked through his faithful servant Moses. And you know that David said, ‘The gods of the nations are demons.’”^[307] [Zechariah 3:1-2; Job 1:6; Genesis 3:13-14]

Chapter 80

The Opinion of Justin with Regard to the Reign of a Thousand Years. Several Catholics Reject It.

1 Trypho answered, “I told you, sir, that you are careful to stay on safe ground in everything, since you cling closely to the Scriptures. But tell me, do you truly agree that this place, Jerusalem, will be rebuilt? Do you expect your people to be gathered and to rejoice with the Christ, together with the patriarchs and the prophets and the holy ones of our nation, and also those who became proselytes before your Christ came? Or did you give in and agree to this only so that you might seem to get the better of us in our debates?” 2 I said, “I am not so wretched, Trypho, as to say one thing and think another. I admitted to you earlier that I and many others hold this view, and that we know for certain it will happen. But I also pointed out to you that many Christians who are of pure and godly mind do not acknowledge this.”^[308]

3 “I made clear to you that there are people called Christians who are really godless and impious heretics, because they teach things that are blasphemous, godless and foolish in every respect. And so that you may know I am not saying this to you alone, I will compile a record, as well as I can, of all the discussions we have had. In it I will record that I confess the very thing I confess to you. For I choose to follow not men, or the teachings of men, but God and the teachings that come from him.” 4 “Suppose you have met some who are called Christians but do not confess this, and who even dare to blaspheme the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. They say there is no resurrection of the dead, but that their souls are taken up into heaven at the moment they die. Do not think they are Christians. In the same way, anyone who examines the matter rightly would not agree that the Sadducees, or similar sects, are Jews. I mean the Genistae, Meristae, Galileans, Hellenians, Pharisees and Baptists. Do not be offended to hear me say everything I think. They are called Jews and children of Abraham, and they confess God with their lips, as God himself cried out, but their heart is far from him.”^[309] [Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:8]

5 I, however, and every other Christian who is right-minded in all things, know that there will be a resurrection of the flesh, and a thousand years in Jerusalem, rebuilt, adorned and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and the others declare.^[310]

Chapter 81

He Endeavours to Prove This Opinion from Isaiah and the Apocalypse.

1 For Isaiah spoke about this thousand-year period in these words: “For there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, and they shall not remember the former things, nor shall these come into their heart. But they shall find gladness and rejoicing in it, in all that I create. For behold, I make Jerusalem a rejoicing and my people a gladness, and I will rejoice over Jerusalem and be glad over my people. No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard in her, nor the sound of crying. And there shall no longer be there a child who lives only a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his time. For the young man shall be a hundred years old, and the sinner who dies at a hundred years old shall be accursed.^[311] [Isaiah 65:17-20] 2 “And they shall build houses and live in them themselves, and they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruits themselves. They shall not build for others to live in, nor plant for others to eat. For the days of my people shall be like the days of the tree of life, and they shall wear out the works of their labors. My chosen ones shall not labor in vain, nor bear children for a curse. For they shall be a righteous seed, blessed by the Lord, and their offspring with them. And before they cry out, I will answer them; while they are still speaking, I will say, ‘What is it?’ Then wolves and lambs shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the serpent shall eat earth like bread. They shall not do wrong or cause ruin on the holy mountain, says the Lord.”^[312] [Isaiah 65:21-25]

3 I said: “We have understood that these words, ‘For the days of my people shall be like the days of the tree, they shall wear out the works of their labors,’ point in a hidden way to a thousand years. For Adam was told that on the day he ate from the tree he would die, and we know that he did not complete a thousand years. We have also understood that the saying, ‘A day of the Lord is as a thousand years,’ bears on this.^[313] [Isaiah 65:22; Genesis 2:17; 2 Peter 3:8] 4 And furthermore, among us a certain man named John, one of the apostles of Christ, prophesied in a revelation given to him that those who believed in our Christ would spend a thousand years in Jerusalem. After that, he said, the universal and, in short, eternal resurrection and judgment of all together would take place. Our Lord also said this: “They will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be equal to the angels, being children of the God of the resurrection.”^[314] [Revelation 20:4-6; Luke 20:35-36]

Chapter 82

The Prophetical Gifts of the Jews Were Transferred to the Christians.

1 For among us even until now there are prophetic gifts. From this you yourselves ought to understand that what was once in your nation has been transferred to us. And just as there were false prophets in the time of your holy prophets, so among us now there are many false teachers. Our Lord warned us to be on guard against them, so that we would lack nothing, since we know that he foresaw what would happen to us after his resurrection from the dead and his ascent into heaven. [2 Peter 2:1; Matthew 7:15] 2 For he said that we would be killed and hated because of his name, and that many false prophets and false christs would come in his name and deceive many. And that is exactly what is happening.^[315] [Matthew 24:9; Matthew 24:5; Matthew 24:11; Matthew 24:24] 3 For many have taught godless, blasphemous and unjust things, counterfeiting them in his name. They have taught, and still teach to this day, the things that the unclean spirit, the devil, put into their minds. We struggle to persuade them, as we do you, not to be led astray, knowing that everyone who is able to speak the truth and does not will be judged by God. God testified to this through Ezekiel when he said, “I have set you as a watchman for the house of Judah. If the sinner sins and you do not warn him, he will perish in his sin, but I will require his blood from you. But if you warn him, you will be clear of guilt.”^[316] [Ezekiel 3:17-19]

4 So it is out of fear that we too are eager to speak according to the Scriptures, and not out of love of money, love of reputation, or love of pleasure. In none of these things can anyone prove us guilty. Nor do we want to live like the rulers of your people, whom God rebukes when he says, “Your rulers are partners of thieves, lovers of gifts, chasing after payment.” And if you know of some among us who are like that, do not, because of such people, blaspheme the Scriptures and Christ, and do not work so eagerly to twist the meaning of the Scriptures.^[317] [Isaiah 1:23]

Chapter 83

It is Proved that the Psalm, "The Lord Said to My Lord," Etc., Does Not Suit Hezekiah.

1 For your teachers have even dared to explain the words “The Lord says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet” as spoken about Hezekiah. They say he was told to sit at the right side of the temple when the king of the Assyrians sent him threats, and Isaiah told him not to be afraid. We know and agree that what Isaiah said did happen this way. The king of the Assyrians turned back from making war on Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah, and an angel of the Lord killed about 185,000 men from the Assyrian camp.^[318] [Psalm 110:1; Isaiah 37:36] 2 But it is plain that the psalm was not spoken about him. For it reads: “The Lord says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. He will send out a rod of power to Jerusalem, and will rule in the midst of your enemies. In the splendor of the holy ones, 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.”^[319]

3 Who does not admit, then, that Hezekiah is not a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek? Who does not know that he is not the redeemer of Jerusalem? And who does not know that he did not send a rod of power to Jerusalem, or rule in the midst of his enemies, but that it was God who turned the enemies away from him as he wept and grieved? 4 But our Jesus, who has not yet come in glory, has sent a rod of power to Jerusalem. This is the word of calling and repentance to all the nations, where demons held sway over them, as David says: “The gods of the nations are demons.” His powerful word has persuaded many to leave the demons they used to serve, and through him to believe in the Almighty God, because the gods of the nations are demons. And the words “In the splendor of the holy ones, from the womb, before the morning star, I have begotten you” were spoken to Christ, as we said before.^[320]

Chapter 84

That Prophecy, "Behold, a Virgin," Etc., Suits Christ Alone.

1 The words “Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son” were also spoken beforehand about him. For if the one Isaiah spoke of was not to be born of a virgin, then of whom was the Holy Spirit crying out: “Behold, the Lord himself will give us a sign: behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son”? If he too were going to be born from sexual union, like all other firstborn children, why did God say he would do a sign that is not common to all firstborn children?^[321] [Isaiah 7:14] 2 But God foretold what was truly a sign, one that would be trustworthy for the human race: that the firstborn of all things made would become flesh through a virgin’s womb and truly become a child. He announced this ahead of time through the prophetic Spirit in one way after another, as I have recounted to you. He did this so that when it happened it would be recognized as done by the power and will of the Maker of all things. It is just as Eve came from one of Adam’s ribs, and as all the other living creatures came into being in the beginning by the word of God.^[322] [Colossians 1:15; Genesis 2:21-22]

3 But you dare, even in these matters, to set aside the translation that your elders made when they were with Ptolemy, king of the Egyptians. You say the Scripture does not read as they translated it but says, “Behold, the young woman will conceive.” As if great things were being signaled if a woman were going to give birth after sexual union! That is what all young women do, except the barren, and God can make even them bear if he wishes.^[323] [Isaiah 7:14] 4 Samuel’s mother, who could not bear children, gave birth by the will of God. So did the wife of the holy patriarch Abraham, and Elizabeth, who bore John the Baptist, and some others likewise. So you must not think it impossible that God can do whatever he wishes. This is especially so because it was prophesied that this would happen. Do not dare to alter the prophecies or twist their meaning, for you will wrong only yourselves, and you will not harm God. [Genesis 21:2; Luke 1:57]

Chapter 85

He Proves that Christ is the Lord of Hosts from Ps. XXIV., and from His Authority Over Demons.

1 And some of you likewise dare to explain the prophecy that says, “Lift up your gates, you rulers, and be lifted up, you everlasting gates, that the King of glory may come in,” as if it were spoken of Hezekiah, while others say it is about Solomon. But it cannot be shown that it was spoken of Hezekiah, or of Solomon, or of any other man called your king. It was spoken only of this Christ of ours, who appeared without form or honor, as Isaiah, David and all the Scriptures said. He is the Lord of hosts by the will of the Father who gave this to him. He also rose from the dead and went up into heaven, as the Psalm and the other Scriptures made clear, and they proclaimed him Lord of hosts. And you could more easily be persuaded of this, if you are willing, by what is happening before your eyes.^[324] [Psalm 24:7; Isaiah 53:2]

2 For every demon that is exorcised in the name of this very Son of God is overcome and made subject. He is the firstborn of all creation, born of a virgin, and he became a man who could suffer. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate by your people and died, and he rose from the dead and went up into heaven.^[325] [Colossians 1:15] 3 But if you exorcise in the name of any of those who lived among you, whether kings, or righteous men, or prophets, or patriarchs, no demon will submit. But if one of you were to exorcise in the name of the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, perhaps it would submit. Yet your exorcists, I said, already use the magic art when they exorcise, just as the Gentiles do. They use incense and binding spells.^[326] 4 The word of David likewise showed that it is angels and powers whom the prophecy through David tells to lift up the gates, so that this one who rose from the dead, Jesus Christ, the Lord of hosts according to the Father’s will, might enter. I will bring up that word of David again for the sake of those who were not with us yesterday. For their sake I am also summarizing much of what was said yesterday.

5 And if I say this to you now, even though I have repeated it many times, I know that it is not out of place. Think how ridiculous it would be. We see the sun, the moon and the other stars always keep the same course and bring round the seasons. A man who works with numbers, if he is asked what twice two is, does not stop saying “four” just because he has said it many times before. Everything else that is firmly agreed is likewise always stated and agreed in the same way. Yet a man who gives talks from the prophetic Scriptures is supposed to leave them alone and not keep speaking the same Scriptures, and to think he can produce something better than Scripture! 6 So this is the passage by which I showed that God makes known that there are angels and powers in heaven: “Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the highest places. Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his powers.” Then one of those who had come with them on the second day, a man named Mnaseas, said, “We too are glad that you try to say the same things again for our sake.”^[327]

7 And I said, “Listen, friends, to the Scripture I am obeying in doing this. Jesus commanded us to love even our enemies. This had also been proclaimed through Isaiah in several passages. These include the mystery of our new birth, and, in short, the new birth of all who expect that Christ will appear in Jerusalem and who strive by their works to please him.^[328] [Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27] 8 These are the words through Isaiah: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word. Say, “Our brothers,” to those who hate you and detest you, so that the name of the Lord may be glorified. He appeared in their joy, and those people will be put to shame. A voice of outcry from the city, a voice of the people, a voice of the Lord who pays back the proud what they deserve. Before the woman in labor gave birth, and before the pain of labor came, she bore a male child.^[329] [Isaiah 66:5-7]

9 Who has heard of such a thing, and who has seen such a thing? Did the earth go into labor in one day? Was a nation born all at once? Yet Zion went into labor and gave birth to her children. But I have given this expectation even to her who does not bear, said the Lord. Look, I have made her who bears, and her who is barren, says the Lord. Rejoice, Jerusalem, and keep a festival, all you who love her. Be glad, all you who mourn over her, so that you may nurse and be filled from the breast of her comfort, and that, having nursed, you may delight yourselves from the entrance of his glory.’”^[330] [Isaiah 66:8-11]

Chapter 86

There are Various Figures in the Old Testament of the Wood of the Cross by Which Christ Reigned.

1 When I had said this, I added: “The Scriptures show that this man will come again in glory after he has been crucified. Hear how he was represented by a symbol of the tree of life, which was said to have been planted in paradise, and of the things that would happen to all the righteous. Moses was sent with a rod to redeem the people. Holding it in his hand at the head of the people, he divided the sea. Through it he saw water gush out of the rock. And when he threw a piece of wood into the water at Marah, which was bitter, he made it sweet.^[331] [Genesis 2:9; Exodus 14:16; Exodus 15:25; Exodus 17:6] 2 By putting rods into the water troughs, Jacob succeeded in making the sheep of his uncle conceive, so that he could gain for himself the young born from them. The same Jacob boasts that he crossed the river with his rod. He said that he had seen a ladder, and the Scripture has made clear that God was standing firmly on it. We have shown from the Scriptures that this was not the Father. And in that same place Jacob poured oil on a stone. The very God who appeared to him bears witness that Jacob had anointed a pillar to the God who appeared to him.^[332] [Genesis 30:37-38; Genesis 32:10; Genesis 28:12-13; Genesis 31:13]

3 We have likewise shown that Christ was proclaimed in symbol as a stone through many Scriptures. And we have shown that all anointing, whether with oil or with myrrh or with the other ingredients of the compounded ointment, belonged to him, since the word says: “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions.” For all the kings and anointed ones received from him their share in being called kings and anointed ones. In the same way he himself received from the Father the titles King, Christ, Priest and Angel, and whatever other such titles he has or has had.^[333] 4 Aaron’s rod, which put forth a shoot, showed that Aaron was the high priest. Isaiah prophesied that Christ would be a rod from the root of Jesse. And David says that the righteous man is like the tree planted beside the channels of water, which will give its fruit in its season, and whose leaf will not fall off. It is also said that the righteous will blossom like a palm tree.^[334] [Numbers 17:8; Isaiah 11:1]

5 God appeared to Abraham from a tree, as it is written, by the oak of Mamre. The people found seventy willows and twelve springs after crossing the Jordan. David says that he was comforted by God with a rod and a staff.^[335] [Genesis 18:1; Exodus 15:27] 6 Elisha threw a piece of wood into the river Jordan and brought up the iron head of the axe. The sons of the prophets had gone with it to cut wood for building the house in which they wanted to speak and study the law and the commandments of God. In the same way our Christ, by being crucified on the tree and by cleansing us with water, redeemed us when we were sunk in the heaviest sins we had committed, and made us a house of prayer and worship. And it was a rod that showed Judah to be the father of the children born of Tamar, through a great mystery.”^[336] [Genesis 38:25]

Chapter 87

Trypho Maintains in Objection These Words: "And Shall Rest on Him," Etc. They are Explained by Justin.

1 When I had said this, Trypho said: “Do not suppose that I ask the questions I ask in order to overthrow what you say. I want to learn about the very things I am asking. 2 So tell me this. The word spoke through Isaiah: ‘A rod will come out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will rise from the root of Jesse, and the Spirit of God will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and godliness, and the spirit of the fear of God will fill him.’ You agreed with me that this was said about Christ. Yet you say that he pre-existed as God, and you say that by God’s will he was made flesh and was born a man through the virgin. How can he be shown to have pre-existed, when he is filled with the powers of the Holy Spirit, which the word through Isaiah lists, as though he lacked them?”^[337] [Isaiah 11:1-3]

3 I answered, “You have asked a very sensible and thoughtful question. It truly does seem to be a difficulty. But listen to what I say, and you will see the answer to this as well. The Scripture does not say that these powers of the Spirit, which it lists, came upon him because he lacked them. It says they came upon him because they were going to find their rest in him. That is, they would come to their end in him, so that there would be no more prophets in your nation in the old way. You can see this with your own eyes, for after him there has been no prophet at all among you.^[338] 4 “Consider also what I say next. Each of your prophets received one power from God, or perhaps two, and they did and said the things we have learned from the Scriptures. Solomon had the spirit of wisdom. Daniel had understanding and counsel. Moses had strength and godliness. Elijah had fear, and Isaiah had knowledge. The others were the same: each had one power, or one power joined in turn with another. So it was with Jeremiah, the twelve prophets, David, and, in short, all the others who have been prophets among you.”^[339]

5 “So the Spirit ‘rested,’ that is, ‘ceased,’ when he came. After him, during the time of his dispensation among men, these gifts were to cease among you. Having found their rest in him, they were to become gifts again, as had been prophesied. These are the gifts which he gives, from the grace of that Spirit’s power, to those who believe in him, as he knows each one to be worthy.”^[340] 6 “I have already said, and I say again, that it was prophesied he would do this after his ascent into heaven. So it says, ‘He went up on high, he led captivity captive, he gave gifts to the sons of men.’ And again, in another prophecy it is said, ‘And after this it shall be that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and on my male servants and on my female servants, and they shall prophesy.’”^[341] [Ephesians 4:8; Joel 2:28-29]

Chapter 88

Christ Has Not Received the Holy Spirit on Account of Poverty.

1 “Among us too one can see women and men who have gifts from the Spirit of God. So it was not because he lacked power that it was prophesied the powers listed by Isaiah would come upon him. It was because they would not continue to exist after him. Let this also serve as a witness for you, namely what I told you was done by the Magi from Arabia. As soon as the child was born, they came and worshiped him.”^[342] 2 “For even when he was born he had his power. He grew up like all other people, using what was fitting, and gave to each stage of growth what belonged to it. He was nourished with every kind of food. He remained thirty years, more or less, until John came forward as the herald of his coming and went ahead of him on the way of baptism, as I have already shown.” [Luke 3:23]

3 “Then Jesus came to the river Jordan, where John was baptizing. When Jesus went down into the water, a fire was kindled in the Jordan. And the apostles of this very Christ of ours wrote that when he came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit flew down upon him like a dove.”^[343] [Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10] 4 “We know that he did not come to the river because he needed to be baptized, or needed the Spirit that came upon him in the form of a dove. In the same way, he did not endure being born and being crucified because he needed those things. He did it for the human race, which from Adam had fallen under death and the deceit of the serpent, and each person had also done evil by his own fault.” [Luke 3:22] 5 “God made angels and men with free choice and power over themselves, and he wished them to do whatever he had given each of them strength to do. He made them so that, if they chose what pleased him, he would keep them free from corruption and from punishment. But if they did evil, he would punish each one as he saw fit.”^[344]

6 “Nor did his riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, which we showed was prophesied, give him power to be the Christ. It was a sign to people that he is the Christ. In the same way, in John’s time a sign was needed, so that people could recognize who the Christ is.”^[345] 7 “When John was sitting by the Jordan and preaching a baptism of repentance, he wore only a leather belt and a garment of camel’s hair, and ate nothing but locusts and wild honey. People supposed that he was the Christ. But he cried out to them, ‘I am not the Christ, but the voice of one crying out. For one stronger than I is coming, and I am not fit to carry his sandals.’”^[346] [Matthew 3:4; Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:15-16; John 1:20-23] 8 “Then Jesus came to the Jordan. He was thought to be the son of Joseph the carpenter, and he appeared without good looks, as the Scriptures had proclaimed. He was also thought to be a carpenter. For while he was among people he did this carpenter’s work, making plows and yokes, and by these he taught the symbols of righteousness and a life of activity. Then the Holy Spirit, also for the sake of people, as I said before, flew down on him in the form of a dove. At the same time a voice came from heaven. This was the same voice that was spoken through David, who spoke as if in Christ’s person what the Father was going to say to him: ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’”^[347] [Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 53:2; Luke 3:23; Mark 6:3]

Chapter 89

The Cross Alone is Offensive to Trypho on Account of the Curse, Yet It Proves that Jesus is Christ.

1 Trypho said, “Be assured that our whole people is waiting for the Christ, and we agree that all the Scriptures you have mentioned were spoken about him. I will also admit that the name Jesus, which was given to the son of Nun, has put pressure on me to be open to this view as well.”^[348] 2 “But we are perplexed about whether the Christ was to be crucified in such a dishonorable way. For the law says that the one who is crucified is cursed, so on this point I am still hard to persuade. It is clear that the Scriptures proclaim a suffering Christ. But we want to learn whether you can also prove that he was to suffer in the way the law calls cursed.”^[349] [Deuteronomy 21:23] 3 I said to him, “If the Christ were not going to suffer, and the prophets had not foretold that he would be led to death because of the lawless deeds of the people, that he would be dishonored and scourged, counted among the lawless, and led like a sheep to slaughter (the prophet says that no one can describe his generation), then you would be right to wonder. But if this is what marks him out and makes him known to everyone, how can we not believe in him with confidence? And all who have understood the prophets will say that this is the one and no other, if only they hear that he was crucified.”^[350] [Isaiah 53:7-8; Isaiah 53:12]

Chapter 90

The Stretched-Out Hands of Moses Signified Beforehand the Cross.

1 “Then lead us forward from the Scriptures,” he said, “so that we too may be persuaded by you. We know that he was to suffer and be led like a sheep. But prove to us that he was also to be crucified, and to die so shamefully and dishonorably by the death that the law calls cursed. We cannot even conceive of such a thing.” [Isaiah 53:7; Deuteronomy 21:23] 2 “You know,” I said, “that everything the prophets said and did, as you yourselves agreed, they disclosed in parables and types. So most of it was not easily understood by everyone. They hid the truth in them, so that those who seek to find and learn it must labor for it.” They said, “We did agree to that.” 3 “Then listen to what comes next,” I said. “Moses was the first to make known this apparent curse on the Christ, by the signs he performed.” “Which signs do you mean?” he asked.

4 “When the people were fighting against Amalek,” I said, “and the son of Nun, who had been given the name Jesus, was leading the battle, Moses himself prayed to God with his hands stretched out on both sides. Hur and Aaron held his hands up all day, so that they would not drop when he grew tired. For if he gave up anything of this posture, which imitates the cross, the people were beaten, as it is written in the writings of Moses. But as long as he stayed in this position, Amalek was defeated to the same degree, and the one who prevailed did so through the cross.”^[351] [Exodus 17:8-12] 5 “The people did not become stronger because Moses prayed in this way. It was because, with the name of Jesus leading the battle, Moses himself made the sign of the cross. Which of you does not know that prayer with grief and tears does most to win God’s favor, whether lying face down or kneeling? But Moses did not pray in that way, sitting on a stone, and neither did anyone else afterward. And the stone also has a symbolic meaning that points to the Christ, as I showed.”^[352] [Exodus 17:12]

Chapter 91

The Cross Was Foretold in the Blessings of Joseph, and in the Serpent that Was Lifted Up.

1 God also showed the power of the mystery of the cross in another way, through Moses, in the blessing he pronounced on Joseph: “His land is from the Lord’s blessing, from the seasons of heaven and the dews, from the deep springs below, from the fruits that ripen in their season under the turning of the sun, from the meeting of the months, from the top of the ancient mountains, from the top of the hills, from the ever-flowing rivers, and from the fullness of the fruits of the earth. And may the things acceptable to him who appeared in the bush come upon the head of Joseph, and upon his crown. Glorified among his brothers, his beauty is that of a firstborn bull, and his horns are the horns of a unicorn. With them he will gore the nations together, to the end of the earth.”^[353] [Deuteronomy 33:13-17] 2 No one could say or show that the horns of a one-horned animal stand for anything other than the figure that displays the cross. One beam stands upright, and its top end rises up like a horn when the other beam is fitted to it. The ends of the cross-piece then appear on each side like horns joined to the one horn. The piece fixed in the middle, on which the crucified rest their weight, also sticks out like a horn. It is seen as a horn, shaped and fixed together with the other horns.^[354]

3 The words “With them he will gore the nations together, to the end of the earth” point to what has now happened among all the nations. People from every nation have been “gored,” that is, pierced to the heart. Through this mystery they have turned from worthless idols and demons to the worship of God. But to unbelievers the same shape signifies destruction and condemnation. In the same way, when the people came out of Egypt, Amalek was defeated and Israel won. That victory came through the figure of Moses’ outstretched hands and through the name Jesus given to the son of Nun.^[355] [Exodus 17:8-13] 4 The bronze serpent was also set up as a figure and sign against the serpents that bit Israel. It evidently was set up for the salvation of those who believe. For it proclaimed even then that death would come to the serpent through the One who was to be crucified. It also proclaimed salvation to those bitten by the serpent who take refuge in the One who sent his crucified Son into the world. The Spirit of prophecy through Moses did not teach us to believe in a serpent, since the Spirit shows that the serpent was cursed by God at the beginning. And in Isaiah the Spirit indicates that the serpent will be destroyed as an enemy by the great sword, which is Christ.^[356] [Numbers 21:8-9; John 3:14-15; Genesis 3:14; Isaiah 27:1]

Chapter 92

Unless the Scriptures Be Understood Through God's Great Grace, God Will Not Appear to Have Taught Always the Same Righteousness.

1 So if someone has not received, by God’s great grace, the ability to understand what the prophets said and did, it will not help him to be able to repeat their words or the events, if he cannot also give an account of them. And surely these things will seem easy to despise to most people, when they are told by those who do not understand them. 2 Suppose someone wanted to question you like this. Enoch, and Noah with his children, and any others like them, were neither circumcised nor keepers of the Sabbath, and yet they pleased God. So why did God see fit, after so many generations, to act through other leaders and a giving of the law? Why did he require that those from Abraham to Moses be justified through circumcision, and those from Moses onward through circumcision and the other commandments, that is, the Sabbath, sacrifices, ashes and offerings? What could the reason be, unless you show, as I said before, that it was because God, who knows all things beforehand, knew that your people would deserve to be driven out of Jerusalem, and that no one would be allowed to enter it?^[357]

3 For, as I said before, you are recognized by nothing other than the circumcision of the flesh. Abraham, too, was not declared righteous by God because of circumcision, but because of faith. Before he was circumcised, this was said about him: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”^[358] [Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:10-11] 4 And we too, in the uncircumcision of our flesh, believe God through Christ. We have the circumcision that benefits those who possess it, that is, the circumcision of the heart. So we hope to appear righteous and pleasing to God, since he has already borne witness to us through the words of the prophets. As for your being commanded to keep the Sabbath and bring offerings, and the Lord’s agreeing to have a place called by God’s name: this was so that, as has been said, you would not become ungodly and godless by worshiping idols and forgetting God, as you have always shown yourselves to be.

5 I have already shown from what I said earlier that God gave the commands about Sabbaths and offerings for these reasons. But for the sake of those who have come today, I want to go over nearly all of it again. For if this is not so, God will be slandered, as though he had no foreknowledge and did not teach everyone to know and do the same righteous things (for many generations of people clearly lived before Moses). And then there would be no truth in the saying that God is true and just, that all his ways are judgments, and that there is no injustice in him.^[359] [Deuteronomy 32:4] 6 But the saying is true, and God always wants you not to be like this, senseless and self-loving, so that you may be saved with Christ. Christ pleases God and has received his testimony, as I said before when I worked out the proof from the holy words of the prophets.

Chapter 93

The Same Kind of Righteousness is Bestowed on All. Christ Comprehends It in Two Precepts.

1 For God provides what is always and everywhere righteous, and all righteousness, among every race of people. Every race knows that adultery is evil, and so are fornication, murder, and other such things. Even though everyone does them, they still do not escape knowing that they do wrong whenever they do them. The exceptions are those who are filled with an unclean spirit, and who have been corrupted by upbringing, bad customs, and wicked laws. These have lost their natural ideas of right and wrong, or rather have quenched them or keep them suppressed. 2 For you can see that such people do not want to suffer the same things they do to others, and that with hostile consciences they reproach one another for the very things they do. So it seems to me that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ spoke well when he said that all righteousness and godliness is fulfilled in two commandments. These are: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself.” For the one who loves God with all his heart and all his strength is full of a God-fearing mind and will honor no other god. And since God wills it, he would honor that angel who is loved by the Lord and God himself. And the one who loves his neighbor as himself will wish for him the same good things he wishes for himself. No one wishes evil for himself.^[360] [Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:30-31; Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18]

3 So the one who loves his neighbor would pray that his neighbor have the same things he wants for himself, and would work for it. A person’s neighbor is nothing other than a being who feels as he does and is rational: a human being. All righteousness is divided in two, toward God and toward people. So whoever, as the word says, loves the Lord God with all his heart and all his strength, and his neighbor as himself, would truly be righteous. [Mark 12:30-31; Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18] 4 But you have never been shown to have friendship or love toward God, toward the prophets, or toward one another. Instead, as has been shown, you are always found to be idolaters and murderers of the righteous. You even laid hands on Christ himself, and to this day you persist in your wickedness, cursing those who prove that this man, crucified by you, is the Christ. On top of that, you think you can prove that he was crucified as an enemy of God and accursed. That is the product of your senseless thinking.

5 You have starting points in the signs that were done through Moses for understanding that this is the Christ, and yet you are unwilling. Besides this, you suppose that you can leave us without an answer, so you raise whatever questions come to mind. Then you find yourselves at a loss for words whenever you meet a vigorous Christian.

Chapter 94

In What Sense He Who Hangs on a Tree is Cursed.

1 Tell me: was it not God who commanded through Moses that no image or likeness at all be made, of anything in heaven above or on the earth? Yet he himself, in the wilderness, had Moses make the bronze serpent, and set it up as a sign, and through that sign those bitten by snakes were saved. And is he not free of any wrongdoing?^[361] [Exodus 20:4; Numbers 21:8-9] 2 For through this, as I said before, God was proclaiming a mystery. By it he announced that he would destroy the power of the serpent, who brought about Adam’s transgression. He also announced salvation for those who believe in the one who was going to be put to death by means of this sign, that is, the cross. This salvation is from the bites of the serpent, which are evil deeds, idolatry, and other kinds of injustice.^[362] 3 Otherwise, if this is not understood, give me a reason why Moses set up the bronze serpent as a sign, and ordered those who were bitten to look at it, and those who were bitten were healed. And he did this although he himself had commanded that no likeness of anything at all be made.^[363] [Numbers 21:8-9; Exodus 20:4]

4 Then the other of those who had come on the second day said, “You have spoken truly. We have no answer to give. I have often asked our teachers about this very thing, and none of them gave me an answer. So go on and say what you have to say. We are listening to you as you reveal a mystery. It is because of things like this that the teachings of the prophets are open to false accusation.” 5 And I said: “In the same way that God commanded the sign to be made through the bronze serpent and is not to blame for it, so also there is a curse in the law on men who are crucified. But there is no such curse on the Christ of God, through whom he saves all who have done things deserving a curse.”^[364] [Deuteronomy 21:23]

Chapter 95

Christ Took Upon Himself the Curse Due to Us.

1 For the whole human race will be found to be under a curse according to the law of Moses. It says, “Cursed is everyone who does not remain in all the things written in the book of the law, to do them.” No one has done everything exactly, and you will not dare to say otherwise. Some have kept the commands more, and some less, than others. But if those under this law are shown to be under a curse because they did not keep everything, will not all the nations be shown to be under a curse far more, since they practice idolatry, corrupt boys, and do other evil things?^[365] [Deuteronomy 27:26; Galatians 3:10] 2 The Father of all wished his own Christ to take on himself the curses of all, for the sake of people from every race, and he knew that he would raise him up after he had been crucified and had died. If so, why do you speak of the one who submitted to suffer these things by the Father’s will as if he were cursed? Why do you not rather mourn for yourselves? For even though his Father, and he himself, brought it about that he suffered these things for the human race, you did not do this as people serving the purpose of God. Nor did you act with piety when you killed the prophets.^[366]

3 And let none of you say, “If the Father wanted him to suffer these things so that the human race might be healed by his wound, we have done nothing wrong.” If you say this while repenting of your sins, recognizing that this is the Christ, and keeping his commandments, then, as I said before, you will have forgiveness of sins.^[367] [Isaiah 53:5] 4 But if you curse him and those who believe in him, and kill them whenever you have the power, how will it not be required of you, as of unjust and sinful men, utterly hard of heart and without understanding, that you laid your hands on him?

Chapter 96

That Curse Was a Prediction of the Things Which the Jews Would Do.

1 For the statement in the law, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” strengthens our hope, which hangs on the crucified Christ. It does so not because God curses this crucified man, but because in it God foretold what all of you, and those like you, would do. You do not know that this is the one who existed before all things, and who was to become the eternal priest of God, and king, and Christ.^[368] [Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13] 2 You can see this happening with your own eyes. In your synagogues you curse all who have become Christians through him. The other nations also make the curse effective by killing those who do nothing more than confess that they are Christians. To all of these we say: “You are our brothers. Rather, come to recognize the truth of God.” But neither they nor you are persuaded by us. Instead you both strive to make us deny the name of Christ. And we choose rather to be put to death, and we endure it, fully convinced that God will give us all the good things he promised through Christ.^[369]

3 On top of all this, we also pray for you, that you may receive mercy from Christ. For he taught us to pray even for our enemies, when he said, “Be kind and compassionate, as your heavenly Father is.” We see that almighty God is kind and compassionate. He makes his sun rise on the ungrateful and the righteous, and sends rain on the devout and the wicked. And he taught that he is also going to judge all of them.^[370] [Matthew 5:44; Matthew 5:45; Luke 6:35; Luke 6:36]

Chapter 97

Other Predictions of the Cross of Christ.

1 It was not for nothing that the prophet Moses stayed in this posture until evening, while Hur and Aaron held up his hands. In the same way the Lord stayed on the tree almost until evening, and toward evening they buried him. Then he rose on the third day. David spoke of this when he said: “I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he answered me from his holy mountain. I lay down and slept; I woke up, because the Lord took hold of me.”^[371] [Exodus 17:12] 2 In the same way Isaiah spoke of the manner in which he was going to die: “I spread out my hands to a disobedient and contradicting people, to those who walk in a way that is not good.” Isaiah also said that he was going to rise again: “His burial has been taken out of the midst.” And: “I will give the rich in exchange for his death.”^[372] [Isaiah 65:2; Isaiah 57:2; Isaiah 53:9]

3 In other words again, David spoke of the suffering and the cross in a mysterious parable, in the twenty-first Psalm: “They dug my hands and my feet; they counted all my bones. They themselves examined me and stared at me. They divided my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.” When they crucified him, they drove in the nails and dug through his hands and feet. And those who crucified him divided his garments among themselves. Each man cast lots for what he wanted to choose, and took it according to how the lot fell.^[373] 4 Yet you say that this psalm was not spoken about the Christ. You are blind in every way. You do not understand that no one in your nation who was ever called king has had his hands and feet dug through while alive, or died by this mystery, that is, by being crucified. Only this Jesus did.^[374]

Chapter 98

Predictions of Christ in Ps. XXII.

1 I will recite the whole psalm, so that you may also hear his devotion to the Father. You will hear how he refers everything to the Father, and asks to be saved from this death through him. At the same time, in the psalm he makes clear what kind of people were rising up against him. And he shows that he truly became a man who could feel suffering. 2 The psalm is this: “O God, my God, attend to me. Why have you forsaken me? The words of my transgressions are far from my salvation. My God, I will cry out to you by day, and you will not hear; and by night, and it is not for lack of understanding in me. But you dwell in the holy place, you, the praise of Israel. Our fathers hoped in you; they hoped, and you delivered them. They cried out to you and were saved; they hoped in you and were not put to shame.^[375]

3 “But I am a worm and not a man, a reproach among men and despised by the people. All who saw me mocked me. They spoke with their lips and shook their heads: ‘He hoped in the Lord; let him rescue him, let him save him, because he delights in him.’ For you are the one who drew me out of the womb, my hope since my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon you from the womb; from my mother’s belly you have been my God. Do not stand far from me, for trouble is near, and there is no one to help me.^[376] 4 “Many calves surrounded me; fat bulls closed in on me. They opened their mouths against me like a lion tearing its prey and roaring. I was poured out like water, and all my bones were scattered. My heart became like wax melting in the middle of my belly. My strength dried up like a piece of broken pottery, and my tongue sticks to my throat, and you have brought me down into the dust of death. For many dogs surrounded me; a gang of evildoers closed in on me. They dug into my hands and my feet; they counted all my bones. And they themselves looked closely at me and stared.^[377]

5 “They divided my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, Lord, do not keep your help far from me; give heed to come to my aid. Rescue my soul from the sword, and my only-begotten from the hand of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth, and my lowliness from the horns of the one-horned beasts. I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the church I will sing your praise. You who fear the Lord, praise him. All the seed of Jacob, glorify him. Let all the seed of Israel stand in fear of him.”^[378]

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Notes

[244] The quotation is Isaiah 42:8. In the Greek Old Testament the word given here as “excellences” stands for the Hebrew “my praise.” The verse goes on, “to carved images,” but Trypho stops before those words. Justin’s reply in the next section turns to the surrounding verses.

[245] The Greek genos means “race” or “people”; the Hebrew has “a covenant of the people.”

[246] “Praise” translates the Greek aretai, which can mean “excellencies” or “virtues”; here and in 65.6 it stands where the Hebrew of Isaiah has “praise.”

[247] “Hosts” is literally “powers” (Greek dynameis).

[248] This is Isaiah 7:10–15 in the Greek (Septuagint) version.

[249] The Greek here reads “will be seized.” The Septuagint of Isaiah 7:16 has an almost identical word meaning “will be left” or “forsaken.” The two words sounded alike, so the difference may be a copying slip.

[250] Trypho’s point is that the Greek word he cites (neanis) means simply “young woman,” whereas Justin’s text, like the Septuagint, has parthenos, “virgin.” Irenaeus (Against Heresies 3.21.1) reports that the Jewish translators Theodotion and Aquila rendered the word neanis.

[251] The older translation adds “[it is well]” to complete the sentence. The Greek has no such phrase. The sentence continues with “say that he was counted worthy.”

[252] “Plan” translates oikonomia, which can also be rendered “dispensation” or “arrangement.” It means God’s ordered purpose for salvation.

[253] Justin is recalling Exodus 20:18–19, where the people were terrified by the thunder and lightning at the mountain and asked Moses to speak to them instead of God.

[254] “Not as that one was” echoes Jeremiah 31:31–32, where God promises a new covenant “not like the covenant I made with their fathers.”

[255] “Who will declare his generation?” is from Isaiah 53:8 in the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint). Justin reads “generation” as Christ’s origin or birth.

[256] Trypho is recalling God’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:12–16 (compare Psalm 132:11). His wording is a free summary, not an exact quotation.

[257] Isaiah 7:13–14 addresses the prophecy to the “house of David.” Justin’s point is that Isaiah’s sign explains how God’s earlier promise to David would be fulfilled.

[258] Tradition credited the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, to seventy elders working for King Ptolemy of Egypt. In Isaiah 7:14 it reads “virgin,” while Justin’s opponents read “young woman” (see chapters 43 and 71).

[259] The mocking remark is Trypho’s comparison, in chapter 67, of the virgin birth to the Greek myth of Perseus born of the virgin Danaë.

[260] Justin is referring to Pharaoh’s magicians (Exodus 7–8) and the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18).

[261] The older translation has “wine” where this Greek text reads “donkey” (onos). Justin is thinking of Jacob’s blessing of Judah, which mentions a donkey’s colt tied to the vine (Genesis 49:10–11).

[262] The quotation is from Psalm 19:5 (Psalm 18:6 in the Greek numbering).

[263] “Had eyes and did not see” echoes Jeremiah 5:21 (compare Isaiah 6:9–10).

[264] Isaiah 35:1–7, quoted in a Greek form close to the Septuagint. It differs in places from the Hebrew-based wording in most English Bibles.

[265] The Greek word here (pēros) can mean “maimed” or “blind.” It is taken as “blind” because Justin matches the three conditions with leaping, hearing, and seeing, as in Isaiah 35:5–6.

[266] The older translation says Christ will raise him “after He has made him immortal.” The Greek means “along with” making him immortal, so the raising and the making immortal go together.

[267] Mithras was a god of a mystery cult popular in the Roman Empire. He was commonly pictured as born from a rock, and he was worshiped in cave-like sanctuaries. Justin’s claim that the cult copied the prophets is his own polemical argument, not an established historical fact.

[268] The whole quotation is Isaiah 33:13–19 in a Greek form close to the Septuagint. It differs considerably from the Hebrew-based wording in most English Bibles.

[269] “To do in remembrance” echoes Jesus’ words at the Last Supper (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24–25), where the same Greek verb “do” is used.

[270] The ‘seventy elders’ are the traditional translators of the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament.

[271] Justin gives examples in chapters 72–73. Modern scholars generally think the passages he names were not removed by Jewish teachers. Most were probably Christian additions or variant readings. One example is “the Lord reigned from the tree” in Psalm 96:10.

[272] In Isaiah 7:14 the Septuagint, the Greek translation Justin uses, has parthenos, “virgin.” The Hebrew word (‘almah) means a young woman. Later Jewish Greek translations, such as those of Aquila and Theodotion, used neanis, “young woman,” which is the reading Trypho gives.

[273] “On a sign” translates the Greek literally. The older translation has “on a standard,” and Justin probably means the cross.

[274] “Put wood into his bread” follows the Greek. English Bibles, translating the Hebrew, usually have “let us destroy the tree with its fruit.”

[275] The quotation from Isaiah is Isaiah 53:7.

[276] This saying is not found in any known text of Jeremiah or any other Old Testament book. Irenaeus also quotes it several times, sometimes under the name of Jeremiah and sometimes under the name of Isaiah.

[277] The words “from the wood” are not in the Hebrew text or in the main manuscripts of the Greek Old Testament. They do appear in some early Christian quotations and in Old Latin versions. Most scholars think they were a Christian addition, not a Jewish deletion.

[278] The older translation reads “freed from [the grave],” supplying words in brackets. The Greek says only that he “has been saved, having risen.”

[279] The older translation said “retained by us.” The Greek says “preserved among you,” meaning among the Jews.

[280] The quotation is Psalm 96:1–3 (Psalm 95 in the Greek Old Testament); parallel lines appear in 1 Chronicles 16:23–24.

[281] The Greek text breaks off at the end of this section, and the next section begins in the middle of a sentence, so some text is lost between them. The older English supplies bracketed words to bridge the gap.

[282] This section opens in the middle of a quotation of Deuteronomy 31:16–18; the lost words are probably “This people will rise up and prostitute themselves after the foreign gods” (31:16), to which “of the land” belongs.

[283] God’s statement that his name was not made known to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is in Exodus 6:3. The quotation is Exodus 23:20–21, given in the Greek Old Testament’s form. There, “he will not hold back from you” stands where the Hebrew has “he will not pardon your transgressions.”

[284] The Greek has an active verb, “he renamed Jacob,” with the one who spoke to Moses as the apparent subject.

[285] “Angel” in Greek means “messenger,” and “apostle” means “one sent.” That is why Justin can say the prophets are called both. “Send me” is from Isaiah 6:8.

[286] “This God” translates Justin’s “that God,” meaning the one who appeared to the patriarchs. Justin distinguishes him from “the Father of all,” whose will he carries out.

[287] The “son of man” who receives the everlasting kingdom is from Daniel 7:13–14. The stone cut out without hands is from Daniel 2:34 (see also 2:45).

[288] The washing of the robe in the blood of the grape is from Genesis 49:11, Jacob’s blessing of Judah. Justin calls it a word of Moses because Moses was held to be the author of Genesis.

[289] The phrase “messenger (angel) of great counsel” comes from the Greek Old Testament of Isaiah 9:6 (9:5 in the Greek and Hebrew numbering). The Hebrew text has “Wonderful Counselor” instead.

[290] Matthew 8:11–12.

[291] Justin is quoting from memory and blending sayings. The first is close to Matthew 7:22–23, but “eat and drink” is not there; compare Luke 13:26, “We ate and drank in your presence.” The second combines “outer darkness” (Matthew 25:30) with Matthew 25:41, where Jesus speaks of “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

[292] The saying is from Luke 10:19. “Centipedes” is not in Luke; it is Justin’s addition or comes from the form of the saying he knew.

[293] Justin appears to be combining Psalm 110:3 in the Greek Old Testament (“from the womb, before the morning star, I have begotten you”) with Psalm 72:5 and 72:17 (“before the moon,” “before the sun”).

[294] The passage is Isaiah 7:14 (“the virgin shall conceive and bear a son”). Justin quoted it earlier in the dialogue together with Isaiah 8:4 (the child who takes the power of Damascus), and Trypho had already said that Jews apply it to Hezekiah.

[295] The quotation is Isaiah 8:4 as found in the Greek Old Testament, where “he will take” is read of the child; the Hebrew is usually rendered impersonally: the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria “will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

[296] The saying about the Amorite father and Hittite mother is from Ezekiel 16:3, where it is spoken to Jerusalem. Justin’s point is that “Assyria” and “Amorite” are figurative labels, not literal descriptions.

[297] Justin’s quotation follows the wording of Matthew 2:6 rather than Micah 5:2 (5:1 in the Hebrew), whether in the Hebrew or the Greek Old Testament.

[298] The older translation’s “Cyrenius” follows the Greek spelling of the name (Kyrenios). The Latin form, Quirinius, is the one usually used today. The census is the one in Luke 2:1–5.

[299] The cave is not mentioned in the Gospels. Luke 2:7 speaks only of a manger. Matthew 2:1 says the Magi came “from the east.” The claim that they came from Arabia is Justin’s own.

[300] The Greek says “with you” where the older translation has “with us.” It also says the initiation is done “by them,” meaning the leaders of the cult, where the older translation has “by him,” meaning the devil.

[301] Justin’s claim that Ramah was in Arabia is his own. In Jeremiah 31:15 and Matthew 2:18, Ramah is the town of that name in the territory of Benjamin, north of Jerusalem. Rachel’s burial near Bethlehem comes from Genesis 35:19.

[302] Justin reads Isaiah 8:4 as a prophecy about the Magi. “Plundered” plays on the word for “spoils” in the quotation.

[303] Ancient writers usually counted Damascus as part of Syria. Justin places it in Arabia so that the Magi “from Arabia” fit Isaiah’s prophecy about Damascus. In Paul’s day the city was for a time under an official of the Nabataean Arab king Aretas (2 Corinthians 11:32).

[304] The quotation is Isaiah 29:13–14 in the Greek Old Testament. Jesus quotes verse 13 in Matthew 15:8–9, and Paul quotes verse 14 in 1 Corinthians 1:19. Justin connects the two halves of his point with the same Greek verb: the grace was “transferred” (metetethē), and God will “remove” (metatheinai) this people.

[305] The reference is to Daniel 7:13–14.

[306] This is Isaiah 30:1–5 as it reads in the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint). The Hebrew text of verse 4 reads “his princes are at Zoan (Tanis), and his envoys reach Hanes.” The phrase “evil angels” comes from the Greek version, and Justin’s argument depends on it.

[307] The other passages are Job 1:6 and 2:1, Genesis 3:1–14, and Exodus 7–8. The David quotation is Psalm 96:5 (95:5 in the Greek numbering). The Greek Old Testament reads “demons” there, where the Hebrew has “idols” or “worthless things.”

[308] Justin openly admits here that many Christians of pure and godly mind did not share his belief in a rebuilt Jerusalem and a thousand-year reign.

[309] The closing words echo Isaiah 29:13 (compare Matthew 15:8).

[310] In the next chapter (81) Justin supports the thousand years by quoting Isaiah 65 and by citing the Revelation of John (see Revelation 20:4–6).

[311] Justin quotes Isaiah 65:17–25 in a form close to the Greek Septuagint, with some differences in wording. Here I have translated his Greek as he gives it.

[312] The older translation adds “and drink the wine” after “eat the produce of them.” The Greek has no such words. It also gives “the works of their toil shall abound,” where the Greek says they will “wear out” or “make old” the works of their labors. The older translation’s last sentence, “Now we have understood...,” belongs to the start of 81.3 in the Greek and is translated there.

[313] Justin is drawing on the warning about the tree in Genesis 2:17 and on Genesis 5:5, where Adam dies at 930 years, short of a thousand. The saying about a day and a thousand years echoes Psalm 90:4, and its wording is closer to 2 Peter 3:8.

[314] The saying of the Lord is from Luke 20:35–36 (compare Matthew 22:30). Luke has “they are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” Justin’s shorter Greek most naturally reads “children of the God of the resurrection,” as the older translation gives it.

[315] Compare Matthew 24:5, 9, 11 and 24.

[316] The Ezekiel quotation is a loose paraphrase of Ezekiel 3:17–21 and 33:7–9. Ezekiel has “the house of Israel,” where Justin has “the house of Judah.” I have translated it as Justin wrote it.

[317] The rulers’ quotation is a shortened form of Isaiah 1:23 in the Greek Septuagint.

[318] The quotation is from Psalm 110:1. For the events with Hezekiah and the Assyrians, see 2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37.

[319] Justin quotes the Greek (Septuagint) form of Psalm 110 (Psalm 109 in the Greek numbering), including “from the womb, before the morning star, I have begotten you.” The Septuagint has the Lord sending out a rod of power “for you from Zion,” and the Hebrew has “your mighty scepter from Zion.” Justin’s wording here is “to Jerusalem.”

[320] “The gods of the nations are demons” is from the Greek (Septuagint) of Psalm 96:5 (Psalm 95:5 in the Greek numbering). The Hebrew has “idols” or “worthless things.” The Septuagint heading assigns this psalm to David.

[321] The prophecy is Isaiah 7:14.

[322] “Firstborn of all things made” echoes Colossians 1:15 (“firstborn of all creation”). However, Justin’s Greek word here (poiēmata, “things made”) is different from Paul’s word for “creation” (ktisis).

[323] Justin refers to the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, which has “virgin” (parthenos) in Isaiah 7:14. The Jewish teachers he argues with preferred “young woman” (neanis), as in later Greek versions.

[324] “Hosts” translates the Greek “dynameis” (powers), which can also mean armies or heavenly powers.

[325] “Firstborn of all creation” quotes Colossians 1:15.

[326] “Binding spells” translates “katadesmoi,” a word for magical spells that “bind” a person or spirit. The older translation’s “incantations” is looser.

[327] The quotation is Psalm 148:1–2. “Powers” here is the same Greek word (“dynameis”) as “hosts” in “Lord of hosts.” Justin’s argument links the two.

[328] Jesus’ command to love enemies is found in Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:27.

[329] This is Isaiah 66:5–7. Where Justin’s text reads “a voice of the people” (laou), the Septuagint reads “a voice from the temple” (ek naou), a very similar-looking word.

[330] This is Isaiah 66:8–11. Justin’s wording in verse 9 (“even to her who does not bear”) differs from the standard Septuagint text, and it is translated here as he wrote it.

[331] Throughout this chapter Justin collects Old Testament passages that mention wood, a tree, a rod or a staff, and reads them as pointing to the cross. The Greek word xylon means both “tree” and “wood,” so the same word covers the tree of life, the wood thrown into the water at Marah (Exodus 15:23–25), and the “tree” of the cross. The other events are the sea divided (Exodus 14:16) and water from the rock (Exodus 17:5–6).

[332] Justin argued earlier in the Dialogue that the God who appeared to the patriarchs was not the Father but the one Christians call the Son.

[333] “Angel” (angelos) also means “messenger.” Justin uses it as a title for the Son, as the one who carries the Father’s message.

[334] The references are Numbers 17:1–8 (Aaron’s rod), Isaiah 11:1, Psalm 1:3, and Psalm 92:12 (Psalm 91:13 in the Greek Old Testament).

[335] The “seventy willows and twelve springs” seem to echo the oasis at Elim (Exodus 15:27). In the Bible, Elim has seventy palm trees and twelve springs and comes after the crossing of the Red Sea, not the Jordan. The last line echoes Psalm 23:4.

[336] In Genesis 38:18–26, Judah’s staff, which he left with Tamar as a pledge along with his seal and cord, proves that he is the father of her twins.

[337] The quotation is Isaiah 11:1–3, following the Greek Old Testament, which reads “fear of God” where the Hebrew has “fear of the LORD.”

[338] Justin takes “rest” (Isaiah’s word) to mean “come to an end,” and he builds his argument on that sense.

[339] “The twelve” means the twelve shorter prophetic books (Hosea to Malachi).

[340] “Dispensation” translates oikonomia, God’s plan or arrangement, here meaning Christ’s coming in the flesh.

[341] The second quotation is Joel 2:28–29 in a shortened form. Its closing words, “and they shall prophesy,” are not in Joel 2:29 but appear in Peter’s quotation of Joel in Acts 2:18.

[342] Matthew 2:1 says only that the Magi came “from the east.” Justin identifies their homeland as Arabia, as he also does in chapters 77–78.

[343] The fire in the Jordan is not found in our New Testament Gospels. A few other early sources tell of fire or a great light at Jesus’ baptism, including some Old Latin manuscripts at Matthew 3:15. In Justin’s Greek, “the apostles wrote” governs only the dove clause. The fire is stated in his own voice and is not said to come from the apostles’ writings.

[344] “Free from corruption” translates aphthartous (incorruptible, not subject to decay). The older translation’s “free from death” gives the general sense.

[345] The prophecy of the king riding on a donkey is Zechariah 9:9 (see Matthew 21:4–5).

[346] Justin weaves together Gospel material: John’s clothing and food (Matthew 3:4), people wondering whether he was the Christ (Luke 3:15), and his answer (John 1:20, 23; Matthew 3:11).

[347] “Without good looks” is Justin’s reading of Isaiah 53:2. On Jesus as a carpenter, see Mark 6:3. The detail about plows and yokes is not in the Gospels. The quotation is Psalm 2:7. A few ancient manuscripts of Luke 3:22 give these same words as the voice at Jesus’ baptism.

[348] “Nun” is written “Nave” in Justin’s Greek (the Septuagint form). Joshua and Jesus are the same name in Greek.

[349] The law’s statement is in Deuteronomy 21:23, about a person hanged on a tree.

[350] Justin is drawing on Isaiah 53 in its Greek form (see especially verses 3, 7, 8 and 12).

[351] The story is in Exodus 17:8–13. Exodus says Moses “lifted up” his hands, with Aaron and Hur supporting them one on each side. Moses had given Joshua his name in Numbers 13:16. The cross-shaped posture is Justin’s reading of the scene.

[352] The Greek says the stone also carries a symbolic meaning pointing to Christ, whom Justin has earlier shown Scripture calls “the stone.”

[353] The “unicorn” (Greek monokerōs, “one-horned”) is the Septuagint’s rendering of a Hebrew word that modern Bibles usually translate “wild ox.” Justin’s argument in the next section builds on this Greek word.

[354] The “piece fixed in the middle” is a projecting peg or seat on which a crucified person’s body rested; the Greek verb means “ride upon” or “be borne upon.” Irenaeus (Against Heresies 2.24.4) likewise describes a fifth point of the cross on which the body rests.

[355] The battle with Amalek is in Exodus 17:8–13. In Greek, Joshua’s name is the same as “Jesus.” Moses gave the son of Nun this name in Numbers 13:16.

[356] The Greek can also be read “for the salvation of those who believe that death was proclaimed...” This is how the older English takes it. The overall sense is the same either way.

[357] After the revolt of AD 132–135 the emperor Hadrian barred Jews from Jerusalem. Justin refers to this elsewhere (Dialogue 16; First Apology 47).

[358] The quotation is Genesis 15:6. Paul makes the same argument from it in Romans 4:9–11.

[359] The last words echo Deuteronomy 32:4, which Justin quotes loosely.

[360] By “that angel” Justin probably means Christ. Elsewhere in the Dialogue he calls Christ the angel (messenger) of God.

[361] The references are to Exodus 20:4 and Numbers 21:8–9.

[362] “As I said before” refers to chapter 91, where Justin first explained the bronze serpent as a figure of the cross.

[363] One word in the Greek is damaged here, in the phrase translated “why.” The sense is clear from the context.

[364] The curse in the law is Deuteronomy 21:23 (“anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse”). Paul applies it to Christ in Galatians 3:13, in the form “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”

[365] The quotation is Deuteronomy 27:26. Justin’s wording is closer to the form Paul gives in Galatians 3:10 than to the Greek Old Testament of Deuteronomy.

[366] The older English says only that “His Father” caused him to suffer. The Greek says that “his Father, and he himself” brought it about.

[367] “Healed by his wound” echoes Isaiah 53:5 (the Greek uses the word for a bruise or stripe).

[368] The quotation is from Deuteronomy 21:23. Justin’s wording matches Paul’s form of the verse in Galatians 3:13 more closely than the Greek Old Testament.

[369] “The other nations” translates ta alla ethnē, the usual word for the Gentiles. Justin means the non-Jewish peoples, under whose authorities Christians were being put to death.

[370] In the last sentence the Greek does not make clear who “taught” and who “will judge.” It may be Christ or God, so the translation keeps “he.”

[371] The story of Moses is in Exodus 17:12. The quotation is from Psalm 3:4–5 (3:5–6 in the Greek Old Testament).

[372] The quotations are from Isaiah 65:2, Isaiah 57:2, and Isaiah 53:9, broadly following the wording of the Greek Old Testament.

[373] “Dug” is the literal sense of the Greek verb, which the older translation renders “pierced.” The psalm is numbered 21 in the Greek Old Testament Justin used (22 in most English Bibles; these are verses 16–18). At this point the standard Hebrew text reads “like a lion” instead.

[374] The older translation says “King or Christ.” The Greek has only “king.”

[375] This is Psalm 22 (Psalm 21 in the Greek numbering). Justin quotes the Greek Septuagint version, which differs from the Hebrew in places. In the Hebrew, “attend to me” is missing. The Hebrew has “the words of my groaning” where the Greek has “the words of my transgressions.” Where the Greek has “it is not for lack of understanding in me,” the Hebrew has “I find no rest.”

[376] The mockers’ words are echoed by the chief priests at the cross in Matthew 27:43.

[377] “Dug into” renders the Greek verb ōryxan, literally “they dug.” Older English versions render it “pierced.” The Hebrew text at this point (Psalm 22:16) is disputed: the standard Hebrew text reads “like a lion.”

[378] “One-horned beasts” renders the Greek monokerōs, which older English renders “unicorns.” The Hebrew word probably means a wild ox. “Church” translates ekklēsia, which also means “assembly.”