DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO
Modern English version · SermonIndex
Justin Martyr · c. AD 155–165

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 He then argues from the Old Testament that Jesus is the Messiah, that the old covenant has been replaced by a new one, and that Gentile believers are the true Israel.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

This is the modern English version of Dialogue with Trypho from SermonIndex. It was prepared with AI from an older public-domain English translation (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885)), checked clause by clause against the Greek, so please compare it with the Greek where it matters. Translator’s notes mark places where the older translation departs from the Greek. It is released under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read it beside the Greek at https://sermonindex.net/fathers/justin-dialogue/


CHAPTER 1

1.1  One morning I was walking in the colonnades of the Xystus. A man met me with some others and said, “Hello, philosopher!” As soon as he said this, he turned around and walked along with me, and his friends turned with him. I greeted him in return and said, “What is it, exactly?”
   [Translator’s note] The Xystus was a covered walkway, typically part of a gymnasium. The man greets Justin as “philosopher” because Justin wore the philosopher’s cloak (see the next section).

1.2  He answered, “In Argos I was taught by Corinthus the Socratic that we should not despise or neglect people who wear this kind of dress. We should show them every kindness and talk with them, in case some benefit comes from the conversation, either to that man or to me. It is good for both, even if only one of them is helped. For this reason, whenever I see someone dressed like this, I gladly approach him. For the same reason I was glad to greet you just now, and these men are following me because they too hope to hear something good from you.”

1.3  “But who are you, best of mortals?” I said this to him in fun. He told me plainly both his name and his family. “I am called Trypho,” he said. “I am a Hebrew of the circumcision. I have escaped the war that has just taken place, and I spend most of my time in Greece and in Corinth.” I said, “And what benefit could you get from philosophy as great as the benefit you get from your own lawgiver and the prophets?” “Why not?” he said. “Don’t the philosophers devote all their discussion to God? Don’t questions about his single rule and his providence come up for them again and again? Isn’t this the very work of philosophy, to inquire about the divine?”
   [Translator’s note] Justin’s question echoes Homer’s Iliad (6.123), where Diomedes asks Glaucus, “Who are you, best of men?” Using a line of epic poetry in casual conversation is the playful touch. The “war” is commonly taken to be the Bar Kokhba revolt (about AD 132–135); the Greek says only “the war that has now happened.”

1.4  “Yes,” I said, “that is our view too. But most philosophers have not even cared about this question: whether there is one god or several, and whether the gods look after each of us or not. They act as if this knowledge contributed nothing to happiness. They even try to persuade us that God takes care of the whole universe and of its kinds and species, but not of me and you and individual matters. Otherwise we would not be praying to him night and day.”

1.5  “It is not hard to see where this leads them. Those who hold these opinions have impunity and freedom to do and say whatever they want. They fear no punishment and hope for nothing good from God. And how could they? They say the same things will always happen, and that you and I will live again in the same way, having become neither better nor worse. Others suppose the soul is immortal and without a body. They think that even if they do something evil they will not pay the penalty, since what has no body cannot suffer. And since the soul is immortal, they think they need nothing more from God.”
   [Translator’s note] The belief that the same things recur forever is a Greek (especially Stoic) idea of endless cycles. The Greek does not name the school.

1.6  Trypho smiled pleasantly and said, “And what about you? What do you think about these things? What is your view about God, and what is your philosophy? Tell us.”


CHAPTER 2

2.1  “I will tell you what seems right to me,” I said. “Philosophy is truly the greatest possession and the most precious in God’s sight, because it alone leads us to him and commends us to him. Those who have set their minds on philosophy are truly holy. But most people do not realize what philosophy is, or why it was sent down to human beings. If they did, there would be no Platonists, Stoics, Peripatetics, Theoretics or Pythagoreans, since this knowledge is one.”
   [Translator’s note] No ancient school called the “Theoretics” is otherwise well known, and scholars are unsure whom Justin means.

2.2  “I want to tell you why it became many-headed. Those who first took hold of it became famous for that reason. Those who followed them investigated nothing about the truth. They were simply struck by the first philosophers’ endurance and self-control and by the strangeness of their teachings. Each follower considered true whatever he had learned from his own teacher. Then these followers in turn handed down such teachings, and others like them, to those after them. Each school was called by the name of the man who was called the father of its teaching.”

2.3  “At the beginning I too wanted to meet one of these men, so I gave myself to a certain Stoic. I spent a good while with him, but I gained nothing more about God. He did not know about God himself, and he said this learning was not necessary. So I left him and went to another man, called a Peripatetic, who thought himself shrewd. He put up with me for the first few days, and then asked me to set a fee, so that our time together would not be unprofitable for us. For this reason I left him too, since I did not think he was a philosopher at all.”
   [Translator’s note] “Peripatetic” means a follower of Aristotle’s school. The Greek word for “shrewd” is damaged in the manuscript, so the reading is uncertain.

2.4  While my soul was still eager to hear what was distinctive and choice about philosophy, I went to a very well-regarded Pythagorean, a man who thought highly of his own wisdom. I spoke with him, wanting to become his hearer and companion. He said, “Well? Have you studied music, astronomy and geometry? Or do you expect to see anything that contributes to happiness without first being taught these subjects? They draw the soul away from things perceived by the senses and make it fit for things perceived by the mind, so that it can see the beautiful itself and the good itself.”
   [Translator’s note] The older translation puts the next sentence, in which the Pythagorean praises these studies and sends Justin away, at the end of this section. In the Greek it begins section 2.5.

2.5  He praised these studies at length and called them necessary, and then sent me away, because I admitted to him that I knew nothing of them. I was naturally upset at having lost my hope, all the more because I had thought he really knew something. Then I considered how long I would have to spend on those studies, and I could not bear to put the matter off for so long.

2.6  I was at a loss, and it seemed good to me to meet with the Platonists as well, for their fame was great too. So I spent as much time as I could with a wise man who had recently come to our city and who held a leading place among the Platonists. I made progress, and every day I improved greatly. The thought of things without bodies captivated me, and the contemplation of the Ideas gave my mind wings. In a short time I supposed I had become wise, and in my foolishness I expected to see God at once, for this is the goal of Plato’s philosophy.
   [Translator’s note] “Ideas” are what Plato called the eternal, unchanging realities behind the things we see. They are also called “Forms.”


CHAPTER 3

3.1  While I was in this state of mind, I wanted at one time to have complete quiet and to stay clear of the paths of men. So I walked to a place not far from the sea. When I came near the spot where I meant to be alone with myself, an old man began to follow a little way behind me. He was not someone to look down on, and his manner was gentle and dignified. I turned around to face him, stopped, and looked at him intently.

3.2  He said, “Do you know me?” I said I did not. “Then why,” he said, “are you looking at me like that?” “I am surprised,” I said, “that you happen to be in the same place as I am. I did not expect to see any man here.” He said, “I am worried about some members of my household. They are away from home, so I have come to look out for them, in case they show up somewhere. But what are you doing here?” “I enjoy this kind of pastime,” I said. “Here my conversation with myself is undisturbed, and places like this are the best for the love of discourse.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word for “love of discourse” is philologia. The old man takes it up in the next section as “lover of words.”

3.3  “So you are a lover of words,” he said, “but not at all a lover of work or of truth? Do you not try to be a man of action rather than a clever debater?” “What greater work could anyone do,” I said, “than to show that reason governs all things? Once a person has grasped reason and rides upon it, he can look down on the error of others and on what they pursue. He can see that they do nothing sound or pleasing to God. Without philosophy and right reason no one can have understanding. So every person ought to study philosophy and count it the greatest and most honorable work. The other things come second and third. When they are tied to philosophy, they have modest value and are worth accepting. But when they are cut off from it, and philosophy does not go along with those who pursue them, they are crude and low.”
   [Translator’s note] The older translation ends this section with the old man’s question, “Does philosophy, then, make happiness?” In the Greek that question begins section 3.4.

3.4  “Does philosophy then bring happiness?” he said, breaking in. “Certainly,” I said, “and it alone.” “What is philosophy,” he said, “and what is its happiness? Tell me, if nothing prevents you.” “Philosophy,” I said, “is knowledge of what is, and a full recognition of the truth. Happiness is the reward of this knowledge and wisdom.”
   [Translator’s note] The older translation ends this section with the old man’s next question, “But what do you call God?” In the Greek that question begins section 3.5.

3.5  “And what do you call God?” he said. “That which always stays the same in the same way, and is the cause of existence for everything else. This is God.” That was how I answered him. He was pleased to hear it, and he questioned me again: “Is ‘knowledge’ not a common name for different things? In all the arts, the person who knows one of them is called skilled, whether in generalship, in steering a ship, or in medicine. But in divine and human matters it is not so. Is there a knowledge that gives an understanding of human and divine things themselves, and then a full recognition of their divinity and righteousness?” “Certainly,” I said.
   [Translator’s note] The older translation renders the Greek word for steering a ship (kybernetike) as “ruling.” The Greek names the pilot’s art alongside the general’s and the physician’s.

3.6  “What then? Is it the same to know man and God as it is to know music, arithmetic, astronomy, or anything like that?” “Not at all,” I said. “Then you have not answered me rightly,” he said. “Some kinds of knowledge come to us through learning or through some practice. Others give us knowledge by seeing. Suppose someone told you that in India there is a creature unlike all the others, but of such and such a kind, of many forms and varied. You would not know it before you saw it. You would not even be able to say anything about it, unless you heard it from someone who had seen it.”
   [Translator’s note] The older translation ends this section with “Certainly not, I said”; that reply belongs to the start of the next section in the Greek, so it is placed there.

3.7  “No, indeed,” I said. “How then,” he said, “could the philosophers think rightly about God, or say anything true, when they have no knowledge of Him and have never seen Him or heard Him?” “But, father,” I said, “the divine is not visible to the eyes, as other living creatures are. It can be grasped by the mind alone, as Plato says, and I believe him.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin probably has in mind Plato’s Phaedrus (247c), which describes true reality as visible only to the mind. The older translation adds “merely” (“cannot be seen merely by the eyes”), but the Greek says plainly that the divine is not visible to the eyes.


CHAPTER 4

4.1  “Does our mind, then,” he said, “have such great power? Or can it grasp Being when it has not taken it in through the senses? Will a man’s mind ever see God if it is not adorned with the Holy Spirit?” “Plato says,” I replied, “that the eye of the mind is of just this kind, and has been given to us for this purpose: that when it is pure it can see that very Being which is the cause of everything the mind perceives. It has no color, no shape, no size, nothing that the eye sees. It is simply Being itself, Plato says, beyond all essence, neither speakable nor utterable, but alone beautiful and good. It comes suddenly into souls that are naturally gifted, because of their kinship with it and their longing to see it.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin, still speaking as a Platonist, strings together phrases from Plato. “The eye of the mind/soul” is from Republic 533d, “beyond all essence” from Republic 509b, “no color, no shape” from Phaedrus 247c, and “unspeakable” and “suddenly” from the Seventh Letter 341c–d.

4.2  “What kinship, then, do we have with God?” he said. “Is the soul also divine and immortal, and a part of that very royal mind? And just as that mind sees God, can we also grasp the divine with our mind, and so be happy from now on?” “Certainly,” I said. “And do the souls of all living creatures take it in?” he asked. “Or is a man’s soul one kind, and a horse’s or a donkey’s another?” “No, the souls in all of them are the same,” I answered.
   [Translator’s note] “Royal mind” echoes Plato, Philebus 30d, which speaks of a “royal soul” and “royal mind” in the nature of Zeus.

4.3  “Then will horses and donkeys see God, or have they ever seen Him?” he asked. “No,” I said. “Nor will most people, except anyone who lives justly, purified by righteousness and every other virtue.” “So it is not because of kinship that a person sees God, nor because he has a mind, but because he is self-controlled and just?” “Yes,” I said, “and because he has that by which he perceives God.” “What then? Do goats or sheep wrong anyone?” “Not anyone in any way,” I said.

4.4  “Then according to your argument these animals will see God too?” he said. “No, for their body, being what it is, is a hindrance to them.” He broke in: “If these animals could speak, be sure that they would have much more reason to abuse our body. But let us leave that now, and let it be granted to you as you say. Now tell me this: does the soul see while it is in the body, or after it is released from it?”

4.5  “While it is in human form,” I said, “it is possible for it to attain this through the mind. But above all, when it has been released from the body and is alone by itself, it obtains what it had loved all along.” “And does it remember this when it comes to be in a human being again?” “I do not think so,” I said. “Then what is the benefit to those who have seen? What more does the one who has seen have than the one who has not, if he does not even remember that he saw?”

4.6  “I cannot say,” I said. “And what happens to those souls that are judged unworthy of this sight?” he asked. “They are bound into the bodies of certain wild animals, and this is their punishment.” “Do they know, then, that they are in such bodies for this reason, and that they have sinned in some way?” “I do not think so.”

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


CHAPTER 5

5.1  “Then those philosophers know nothing about these matters, for they cannot even say what the soul is.” “It seems not.” “Nor should we call it immortal. If it is immortal, then clearly it is also unbegotten.” “According to some who are called Platonists, it is both unbegotten and immortal.” “Do you also say that the world is unbegotten?” “Some say so, but I do not agree with them.”

5.2  “You are right not to. What reason is there to think that a body so solid, so resistant, so composite, a body that changes, wastes away and comes into being every day, did not come from some beginning? But if the world has been begotten, the souls must have been begotten too, and perhaps there is a time when they do not exist. For they came into being for the sake of human beings and the other living creatures, if you will say at all that they came into being separately and not together with their own bodies.” “That seems right.” “Then they are not immortal.” “No, since the world has appeared to us to be begotten.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek of “perhaps there is a time when they do not exist” is uncertain, and editors usually correct one word to read “at some time.” It could mean that souls once did not exist, or that they may someday cease to exist. The older translation takes it the first way.

5.3  “But I do not say that all souls die, for that would truly be a windfall for the wicked. What I say is this: the souls of the godly stay in some better place, and those of the unjust and wicked in a worse place, while they wait for the time of judgment. So the souls that have been shown worthy of God no longer die, but the others are punished for as long as God wills them both to exist and to be punished.”

5.4  “Is what you say like what Plato hints at in the Timaeus about the world? He says that the world is perishable in that it came into being, but that it will not be dissolved or meet the lot of death, because of God’s will. Does it seem to you that the same thing is being said about the soul, and about everything? For everything that exists after God, or will ever exist, has a perishable nature and can be wiped out and cease to be. God alone is unbegotten and imperishable, and that is why he is God. Everything else after him is begotten and perishable.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin is probably thinking of Timaeus 41a–b, where the Maker tells the gods he has made that, because they came into being, they are not immortal or indissoluble in themselves, yet they will not be dissolved, because his will is a stronger bond.

5.5  “For this reason souls both die and are punished. If they were unbegotten, they would not sin, or be full of folly, or be cowardly at one time and reckless at another. Nor would they ever willingly pass into pigs, snakes and dogs, and it would not be right to force them, if they were unbegotten. For the unbegotten is like the unbegotten, equal to it and the same as it, and neither in power nor in honor could one be put above the other.”
   [Translator’s note] “Pass into pigs, snakes and dogs” refers to the Pythagorean and Platonic teaching that souls are reborn in animal bodies. The two speakers discussed this earlier (chapter 4).

5.6  “So there are not many unbegotten things. If there were some difference among them, you would not find the cause of the difference, however much you searched. You would send your thought on without end, and at last, worn out, you would stop at one unbegotten being and say that this is the cause of all.” “Did this escape Plato and Pythagoras,” I said, “those wise men who have become for us like a wall and a support of philosophy?”


CHAPTER 6

6.1  “I do not care at all about Plato or Pythagoras,” he said, “or about anyone at all who holds such opinions. For the truth is this, and you can learn it from what follows. The soul is either life or has life. If it is life, it would make something else live, not itself, just as motion would move something else rather than itself. That the soul lives, no one would deny. But if it lives, it does not live by being life but by sharing in life. And what shares in something is different from that which it shares in. The soul shares in life, since God wills it to live.”

6.2  “So, in the same way, it will no longer share in life when God does not will it to live. For living is not the soul’s own possession, as it is God’s. A human being does not exist forever, and the body is not always joined to the soul. When this harmony has to be dissolved, the soul leaves the body and the man is no more. In the same way, when the soul has to cease to be, the life-giving spirit departs from it, and the soul is no more. It too goes back to the place from which it was taken.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 3:19


CHAPTER 7

7.1  “Then whom,” I said, “should anyone still use as a teacher? Where could anyone get help, if the truth is not even in these men?” “Long ago,” he said, “long before all these so-called philosophers, there were men who were blessed, righteous and beloved by God. They spoke by the divine Spirit and foretold the things that are now happening. They are called prophets. They alone saw the truth and declared it to people. They did not hold back out of fear or respect for anyone, and they were not ruled by the love of glory. They said only what they had heard and seen, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

7.2  “Their writings still survive. Anyone who reads them, and believes them, can gain very great help about the first principles and the end of things, and about whatever a philosopher ought to know. They did not give their words with proofs, because they stand above all proof, as trustworthy witnesses of the truth. What has happened, and what is happening now, compels you to agree with what was spoken through them.

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


CHAPTER 8

8.1  “When he had said these things, and many others which there is no time to tell now, he went away. He urged me to pursue what he had said, and I have not seen him since. But at once a fire was kindled in my soul, and I was seized with a love for the prophets and for those men who are friends of Christ. As I turned his words over in my mind, I found this to be the only philosophy that is safe and profitable.

8.2  “That is how, and why, I am a philosopher. I wish that everyone would share my resolve and never turn away from the words of the Saviour. They have an awe-inspiring power in them, enough to make those who stray from the right road ashamed. And they bring the sweetest rest to those who practice them diligently. So if you have any care for yourself, if you are striving for salvation, and if you trust in God, then this matter is not foreign to you. You may come to know the Christ of God, become complete, and be happy.”
   [Translator’s note] “Become complete” translates a Greek word (teleios) meaning “perfect,” “mature” or “complete.” In the language of the pagan mystery cults the same word could mean “fully initiated,” which is how the older translation took it (“after being initiated”).

8.3  When I said this, my dear friend, Trypho’s companions burst out laughing. He himself smiled a little and said, “I accept the rest of what you say, and I admire your zeal for divine things. But it would be better for you to still keep to the philosophy of Plato or of someone else, practicing endurance, self-control and moderation, than to be deceived by false teachings and follow men who are worth nothing. If you stayed in that way of philosophy and lived blamelessly, you would still have hope of a better lot. But once you have abandoned God and put your hope in a man, what salvation is left for you?
   [Translator’s note] “My dear friend” translates a singular Greek word (philtate). Justin is addressing the person for whom he is writing up the conversation, not Trypho’s companions. Later in the work he addresses a “Marcus Pompeius.”

8.4  “So if you want to listen to me too, for I already count you a friend, first be circumcised. Then keep the Sabbath, the feasts and the new moons of God, as the custom is. In short, do everything written in the Law, and then perhaps you will find mercy from God. As for Christ, even if he has been born and is somewhere, he is unknown. He does not yet even know himself, and he has no power, until Elijah comes, anoints him, and makes him known to everyone. But you have accepted an empty rumor, and you have made up a Christ for yourselves. For his sake you are now recklessly destroying yourselves.”
   [Translator’s note] The expectation that Elijah would come before the day of the Lord rests on Malachi 4:5. The further idea that the Messiah would stay hidden, unaware of himself, until Elijah anointed him is not found in the Old Testament. It reflects Jewish tradition of Justin’s time.


CHAPTER 9

9.1  “You are excused, sir,” I said, “and may you be forgiven. You do not know what you are saying. You have been persuaded by teachers who do not understand the Scriptures, and you speak like a fortune-teller, saying whatever comes into your head. But perhaps you are willing to hear an account of this: how we have not been led astray, and how we will not stop confessing him, even if people heap reproaches on us, and even if the most terrible tyrant forces us to deny him. If so, then while you are here I will show you that we have not believed empty myths or unproven stories. We have believed words that are full of the divine Spirit, overflowing with power, and flourishing with grace.”

9.2  Trypho’s companions laughed again and shouted something rude. I got up and was ready to leave, but he took hold of my cloak and said he would not let go until I had finished what I had promised. “Then do not let your friends make such a racket,” I said, “or behave so badly. If they wish, let them listen quietly. But if some more important business keeps them, let them go. As for us, let us withdraw somewhere, rest, and finish the discussion.”

9.3  Trypho agreed that we should do this. So we slipped away and went to the middle of the Xystus. Two of his companions mocked us and made fun of our earnestness, and then went off. When we reached the place where there are stone seats on both sides, Trypho’s friends sat down on one side. One of them brought up the war that had taken place in Judaea, and they began to talk about it.
   [Translator’s note] The “war in Judaea” is probably the Bar Kokhba revolt (AD 132–135). In chapter 1 Trypho says he fled the recent war, though neither he nor Justin names it.


CHAPTER 10

10.1  When they had stopped, I began again and spoke to them like this: “My friends, is there anything else you blame us for, other than this: that we do not live by the law, are not circumcised in the flesh as your forefathers were, and do not keep the Sabbath as you do? Or are our way of life and our character also slandered among you? I mean this: have you too come to believe about us that we eat human beings, and that after the feast we put out the lamps and wallow in unlawful sexual union? Or do you condemn us only for this, that we hold to such teachings, and believe, as you think, a false opinion?”
   [Translator’s note] Charges of cannibalism and of incestuous orgies after the lamps were put out were common rumors about Christians in this period. Justin mentions them also in his First Apology (chapter 26).

10.2  “This is what we are amazed at,” said Trypho. “As for what the crowd says about you, it does not deserve belief, for it goes far beyond human nature. But I also know that the commands in what you call the Gospel are so marvelous and so great that I suppose no one could keep them. I took the trouble to read them myself.”

10.3  “But what puzzles us most is this. You claim to be devout and think yourselves better than everyone else, yet you are no different from them. Your way of life does not differ from that of the nations, since you keep neither the feasts nor the Sabbaths and do not practice circumcision. Further, you place your hopes on a man who was crucified, and yet you expect to receive some good from God while not doing his commandments. Have you not read: ‘That soul shall be cut off from its people which is not circumcised on the eighth day’? The same is laid down for foreigners and for slaves bought with money.”
   [Translator’s note] Trypho quotes Genesis 17:14 as it stands in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), which includes “on the eighth day”; the Hebrew text lacks these words in that verse. The rule for foreigners and bought slaves comes from Genesis 17:12–13.
   [Scripture] Genesis 17:14; Genesis 17:12-13

10.4  “You, then, have immediately despised this covenant, and you neglect what follows from it. You try to persuade us that you know God, while you do none of the things that those who fear God do. So if you have a defense to offer on these points, and can show in what way you hope for anything at all, even though you do not keep the law, we would be glad to hear it from you above all. After that we can examine the other matters in the same way.”
   [Translator’s note] The older translation has “persuade yourselves”; the Greek says they try to persuade “us” (Trypho and his companions).


CHAPTER 11

11.1  I answered him: “Trypho, there will never be another God, nor has there been one from eternity, except the one who made and ordered this whole universe. We do not think that we have one God and you another. He is the very one who brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and an uplifted arm. We have not set our hope on anyone else, for there is no one else. Our hope is in the same God as yours, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But we have not put our hope in him through Moses or through the law. If we had, we would be doing the same as you.”

11.2  “But now, Trypho, I have read that there would be a final law and a covenant more authoritative than all others, which all people who lay claim to God’s inheritance must now keep. For the law given at Horeb is already old, and belongs to you alone. This new law belongs to all people without exception. A law set against a law has brought the earlier one to an end, and a covenant made later has likewise set aside the former. Christ has been given to us as an eternal and final law, and the covenant is faithful. After it there is no law, no ordinance, no commandment.”
   [Translator’s note] Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai. The Greek sentence beginning “But now” breaks off. Here it is given as a plain statement for readability.

11.3  Have you not read what Isaiah says? “Listen to me, listen to me, my people, and you kings, give ear to me, for a law will go out from me, and my judgment will be a light for the nations. My righteousness is drawing near quickly, my salvation will go out, and nations will hope in my arm.” And through Jeremiah he speaks like this about this same new covenant: “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotations are Isaiah 51:4–5 and Jeremiah 31:31–32, following the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint). Justin stops the Jeremiah passage before its end.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 51:4-5; Jeremiah 31:31-32

11.4  So God announced a new covenant that was yet to be established, and announced it as a light for the nations. And we see, and are convinced, that people are coming to God from idols and every other kind of wickedness, through the name of Jesus Christ who was crucified. They hold to their confession even to death and live in godliness. From these deeds, and from the power that goes with them, everyone can understand that he is the new law, the new covenant, and the hope of those from every nation who wait for the good things that come from God.
   [Translator’s note] The older English has “attendant miracles.” The Greek word (dynamis) means “power,” and it can refer to miraculous power, so “miracles” is a possible reading. Here the more general “power” is kept.

11.5  For we who have been brought to God through this crucified Christ are the true, spiritual Israelite people. We are the race of Judah, Jacob, Isaac and Abraham. God bore witness to Abraham, while he was still uncircumcised, because of his faith. He blessed him and called him father of many nations. This will be shown as our discussion goes on.
   [Translator’s note] On Abraham, see Genesis 15:6 and 17:5. Paul makes the same point, that Abraham was counted righteous before he was circumcised and is father of many nations, in Romans 4:9–17.
   [Scripture] Genesis 17:5; Romans 4:11


CHAPTER 12

12.1  I went on to point out that elsewhere, too, Isaiah cries out: “Hear my words, and your soul will live, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the faithful holy things of David. Behold, I have given him as a witness to the nations. Nations that do not know you will call on you, peoples who do not understand you will flee to you for refuge, because of your God, the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Isaiah 55:3–5 in the Greek Old Testament. Where the older English has “the people,” the Greek has “nations.” Where it has “mercies,” the Greek has “holy things” (ta hosia), the same phrase quoted in Acts 13:34. The older English runs on into what is here 12.2.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 55:3-5

12.2  You have dishonored this very law, and you have treated his new holy covenant with contempt. Even now you neither accept it nor repent of your evil deeds. For your ears are still stopped up, your eyes are blinded, and your heart has grown thick. Jeremiah cried out, and even so you do not listen. The Lawgiver is here, and you do not see him. The poor have good news preached to them, the blind see, and you do not understand.
   [Translator’s note] The words about ears, eyes and heart echo Isaiah 6:10 (compare Jeremiah 5:21). For the last sentence compare Matthew 11:5 and Luke 7:22, which echo Isaiah 61:1.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 6:10; Matthew 11:5

12.3  Now a second circumcision is needed, yet you take great pride in the flesh. The new law wants you to keep the sabbath always. You rest for one day and think you are godly, not understanding why it was commanded you. And if you eat unleavened bread, you say you have fulfilled God’s will. The Lord our God does not take pleasure in these things. If any among you is a perjurer or a thief, let him stop. If any is an adulterer, let him repent. Then he has kept the delightful and true sabbaths of God. If anyone does not have clean hands, let him wash, and he is clean.
   [Translator’s note] “Delightful” echoes Isaiah 58:13, where the Greek Old Testament uses the same word for the sabbath. “Let him wash, and he is clean” echoes Isaiah 1:16.
   [Scripture] Joshua 5:2; Isaiah 1:16


CHAPTER 13

13.1  For Isaiah was certainly not sending you to a bathhouse to wash away murder and your other sins there. Not even all the water of the sea would be enough to cleanse them. No, as one would expect, the saving bath he spoke of was this one, even long ago: the bath for those who repent. They are no longer cleansed by the blood of goats and sheep, or the ashes of a heifer, or offerings of fine flour. They are cleansed by faith, through the blood of Christ and his death. He died for this very reason, as Isaiah himself said when he spoke like this:
   [Translator’s note] The older English says the bath “followed” those who repented. The Greek says it was “for” them. The older English also places the first words of the Isaiah quotation in this section. In the Greek used here, the quotation begins in the next section.
   [Scripture] Hebrews 9:13

13.2  “The Lord will uncover his holy arm before all the nations, and all the nations and the ends of the earth will see the salvation that comes from God. Depart, depart, depart! Go out from there and touch nothing unclean. Go out from the midst of her. Be set apart, you who carry the vessels of the Lord, for you do not go out in confusion. For the Lord will go before you, and the one who gathers you together is the Lord, the God of Israel. Behold, my servant will understand, and he will be lifted up and greatly glorified.”
   [Translator’s note] The older English has “deal prudently” and “be ye clean,” following the Hebrew as the King James Version renders it. Justin’s Greek says “will understand” (synēsei) and “be set apart.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 52:10-13

13.3  “Just as many will be astonished at you, so your appearance and your glory will be without honor among men. In the same way many nations will marvel at him, and kings will shut their mouths. For those who were told nothing about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand. Lord, who believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We made our announcement before him like a child, like a root in thirsty ground.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 52:14-15; Isaiah 53:1-2

13.4  He has no form or glory. We saw him, and he had no form or beauty. His appearance was without honor, falling short of the sons of men. He is a man struck down, who knows how to bear sickness, because his face is turned away. He was dishonored and not esteemed. This is the one who bears our sins and suffers pain for us, and we considered him to be in toil, under a blow, and in ill-treatment.
   [Translator’s note] “Struck down” and “under a blow” render the same Greek word (plēgē), which means a blow or wound and can also mean a plague.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:2-4

13.5  But he was wounded because of our sins and made sick because of our lawless acts. The discipline that brings our peace was upon him, and by his bruise we were healed. All of us have gone astray like sheep; each person has gone astray in his own way. And the Lord handed him over for our sins, and because he has been ill-treated he does not open his mouth. He was led like a sheep to slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth.
   [Translator’s note] The older English “the Lord laid on Him our iniquities” follows the Hebrew as rendered in the King James Version. Justin’s Greek says the Lord “handed him over” for our sins.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:5-7

13.6  In his humiliation his judgment was taken away. Who will describe his generation? For his life is taken from the earth; because of the lawless acts of my people he has come to death. And I will give the wicked in place of his burial, and the rich in place of his death, because he did no lawless act, and no deceit was found in his mouth. And the Lord wills to cleanse him of the blow. If you give an offering for sin, your soul will see a long-lived offspring.
   [Translator’s note] The older translation reads “If he has been given for sin.” The Greek has a plural “you” (dōte), “if you give.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:8-10

13.7  And the Lord wills to lift the toil from his soul, to show him light, to form him with understanding, and to justify the righteous one who serves many well. And he himself will bear our sins. Therefore he will inherit many, and he will divide the spoils of the strong, because his soul was handed over to death and he was counted among the lawless. He himself bore the sins of many, and he was handed over because of their lawless acts.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:10-12

13.8  Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; break out and shout, you who are not in labor, for the children of the desolate woman are more than those of the woman who has a husband. For the Lord said: Enlarge the place of your tent and of your curtains. Fix them in place, do not hold back. Lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. Spread out to the right and to the left. Your offspring will inherit nations, and you will fill the desolate cities with people.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek verb (katoikieis) means “you will cause to be inhabited,” that is, “you will populate.” The older translation’s “make the desolate cities to be inherited” is probably a slip for “inhabited,” as in the King James Version of Isaiah 54:3.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 54:1-3

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


CHAPTER 14

14.1  So we have believed through the washing of repentance and of the knowledge of God. As Isaiah cries out, this washing came about because of the lawlessness of the peoples of God. We know that this is the very baptism he foretold, the only one able to cleanse those who have repented. This is the water of life. But the cisterns you dug for yourselves are broken and of no use to you. For what good is that baptism which makes bright only the flesh and the body?
   [Translator’s note] The older translation says the washing “has been ordained”; the Greek says only that it “has come about” (gegonen). The Greek also has “peoples” (plural) of God. Both “water of life” and “cisterns you dug for yourselves... broken” echo Jeremiah 2:13. There God’s people forsake him, “the fountain of the water of life” in the Greek version, and dig broken cisterns.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:8; Jeremiah 2:13

14.2  Be baptized in the soul from anger, from greed, from envy, from hatred, and see, the body is clean. For this is the symbol of the unleavened bread: that you not practice the old works of the evil leaven. But you have understood everything in a fleshly way, and you think it is godliness if you do such things while your souls are full of deceit and, in a word, every kind of wickedness.
   [Scripture] 1 Corinthians 5:7-8

14.3  This is also why, after the seven days of eating unleavened bread, God commanded them to knead new leaven for themselves. That means doing other works, and not imitating the old and worthless ones. And to show that this is what this new Lawgiver asks of you, I will go over again the words I quoted before, together with others I left out. Isaiah says them like this:
   [Translator’s note] No passage of the Law spells out a command to make new leaven after the seven days. Justin is drawing a lesson from the fact that leavened bread was used again once the feast was over.

14.4  “Listen to me, and your soul will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the holy and sure blessings of David. See, I have given him as a witness to the nations, a ruler and commander of nations. Nations that do not know you will call on you, and peoples who do not know you will flee to you for refuge, for the sake of your God, the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you.
   [Translator’s note] Justin is quoting Isaiah 55:3–5. The shift from “him” to “you” is in Isaiah itself.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 55:3-5

14.5  “Seek God, and when you find him, call on him while he is near you. Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the lawless man his plans. Let him turn back to the Lord, and he will receive mercy, because he will abundantly forgive your sins. For my plans are not like your plans, and my ways are not like your ways. As far as heaven is from the earth, so far is my way from your way, and your thoughts from my mind.
   [Translator’s note] Justin continues with Isaiah 55:6–9 in its Greek (Septuagint) form.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 55:6-9

14.6  “For as the snow or rain comes down from heaven and does not return until it has soaked the earth, and made it bring forth and sprout, and given seed to the sower and bread to eat, so will my word be that goes out of my mouth. It will not return until everything I wanted is accomplished, and I will make my commands succeed.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 55:10-11

14.7  “For you will go out with joy and be taught with gladness. The mountains and hills will leap up to welcome you, and all the trees of the fields will clap their branches. Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, and instead of the weed the myrtle will come up. And the Lord will be for a name and an everlasting sign, and it will never fail.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin’s quotation ends here with Isaiah 55:12–13 in its Greek (Septuagint) form.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 55:12-13

14.8  Trypho, I said, some of these words and others like them, spoken by the prophets, refer to the first coming of Christ. In it he was proclaimed as one who would appear without honor, without beauty, and mortal. Others refer to his second coming, when he will be present in glory above the clouds. Then your people will see and recognize the one whom they pierced, as Hosea, one of the twelve prophets, and Daniel foretold.
   [Translator’s note] The words about seeing “the one whom they pierced” come from Zechariah 12:10, not Hosea. Zechariah is also one of the twelve minor prophets, so Justin, or a later copyist, has named the wrong book. Coming “above the clouds” points to Daniel 7:13.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:2-3; Zechariah 12:10; Daniel 7:13


CHAPTER 15

15.1  So learn to keep the true fast of God, as Isaiah says, so that you may please God.

15.2  Isaiah cried out this way: “Shout aloud with strength and do not hold back. Lift up your voice like a trumpet and announce to my people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their lawless acts. They seek me day after day and long to know my ways, like a people that has done righteousness and has not abandoned the judgment of God.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 58:1-2

15.3  “They now ask me for righteous judgment and long to draw near to God. They say, ‘Why have we fasted, and you did not see? Why have we humbled our souls, and you did not notice?’ For on the days of your fasting you find your own pleasure, and you drive hard all those under your control. Look, you fast for lawsuits and fights, and you strike the lowly with your fists. Why do you fast for me up to this day, so that your voice is heard in a shout?
   [Scripture] Isaiah 58:2-4

15.4  “This is not the fast I chose, a day when a man humbles his soul. Even if you bend your neck like a hoop and spread sackcloth and ashes under you, you still will not call that a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord. This is not the fast I chose, says the Lord. Instead, loosen every bond of injustice, untie the knots of violent dealings, set free those who are crushed, and tear up every unjust contract.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 58:5-6

15.5  “Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house. If you see someone naked, clothe him, and do not turn away from your own relatives. Then your light will break forth early, and your garments will quickly spring up. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of God will surround you. Then you will cry out, and God will listen to you. While you are still speaking he will say, ‘Look, I am here.’
   [Translator’s note] Justin’s Greek here reads “your garments” (himatia). The Septuagint and the Hebrew of Isaiah 58:8 both have “your healing” (in Greek, iamata). The two Greek words look alike, so this may be a copying error.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 58:7-9

15.6  “If you take away from yourself the chain, the raised hand, and the word of grumbling, and give your bread to the hungry from your heart, and satisfy the humbled soul, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your darkness will be like noon. Your God will be with you always, and you will be filled just as your soul desires. Your bones will grow fat, and you will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring of water, or like a land where water never fails.”
   [Translator’s note] Isaiah 58:9–11, quoted from the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint). The Greek word for “the raised hand” means a stretching out or lifting of the hand, probably a gesture of threat or accusation. The Hebrew behind most modern Bibles has “the pointing of the finger.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 58:9-11

15.7  So circumcise the foreskin of your heart, as the words of God demand in all these sayings.
   [Translator’s note] This is Justin’s own appeal, not part of the quotation; it echoes Deuteronomy 10:16 and Jeremiah 4:4.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4


CHAPTER 16

16.1  God himself also cried out through Moses, saying: “Circumcise the hardness of your hearts, and do not stiffen your necks any longer. For the Lord your God is Lord of lords, a great, mighty and fearful God, who shows no partiality and takes no bribe.” And in Leviticus: “Because they transgressed and looked down on me, and because they walked crookedly against me, I also walked crookedly with them, and I will destroy them in the land of their enemies. Then their uncircumcised heart will be put to shame.”
   [Translator’s note] Deuteronomy 10:16–17 and Leviticus 26:40–41, quoted freely from the Greek Old Testament, so the wording differs from common Bible versions; the final Greek verb here means “be put to shame.”
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 10:16-17; Leviticus 26:40-41

16.2  For the circumcision of the flesh, which comes from Abraham, was given as a sign. It was so that you would be set apart from the other nations and from us. It was so that you alone would suffer what you are now suffering, and justly: that your lands would be desolate and your cities burned with fire, that strangers would eat your crops in front of you, and that none of you would set foot in Jerusalem.
   [Translator’s note] The words about desolate lands, burned cities and strangers eating the crops echo Isaiah 1:7. After the Bar Kokhba revolt (AD 132–135), the emperor Hadrian banned Jews from entering Jerusalem, and Justin is referring to that ban.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 1:7

16.3  For you are not distinguished from other people by anything except the circumcision in your flesh. None of you, I think, will dare to say that God did not foresee, and does not foresee, what is going to happen, or that he does not prepare in advance what each person deserves. So these things have come upon you rightly and justly.

16.4  For you killed the Righteous One, and before him his prophets. And now you reject those who hope in him, and the one who sent him, God the Almighty and Maker of all things. As far as it depends on you, you dishonor them, cursing in your synagogues those who believe in Christ. You do not have the authority to kill us with your own hands, because of those who now hold power. But as often as you have been able, you have done even this.
   [Translator’s note] “The Righteous One” is a title for Christ, as in Acts 7:52, where Stephen also links the killing of the prophets with the killing of “the Righteous One.” “Those who now hold power” are the Roman authorities.
   [Scripture] 1 Thessalonians 2:15

16.5  This is why God cries out to you through Isaiah, saying: “See how the righteous man has perished, and no one understands. For the righteous man has been taken away from before the face of injustice. He will be in peace; his burial has been taken out of the midst. Come here, you lawless sons, offspring of adulterers and children of a prostitute. Whom were you mocking? Against whom did you open your mouth? Against whom did you let loose your tongue?”
   [Translator’s note] Isaiah 57:1–4, quoted from the Greek Old Testament; the Greek words can also be punctuated “His burial will be in peace; he has been taken from the midst,” as in the Septuagint.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 57:1-4


CHAPTER 17

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

17.2  And Isaiah rightly cries out: “Because of you my name is blasphemed among the nations.” And: “Woe to their soul, for they have planned an evil plan against themselves, saying, ‘Let us bind the righteous man, because he is troublesome to us.’ So they will eat the fruits of their own deeds. Woe to the lawless man; evil will happen to him according to the works of his hands.” And again, in another place: “Woe to those who drag their sins along as with a long rope, and their lawless acts as with the strap of a heifer’s yoke, who say, ‘Let his speed come near, and let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so that we may know it.’ Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who make light darkness and darkness light, who make bitter sweet and sweet bitter.”
   [Translator’s note] Isaiah 52:5 (also quoted in Romans 2:24), Isaiah 3:9–11 and Isaiah 5:18–20, quoted from the Greek Old Testament. “Let us bind the righteous man” is the Septuagint reading of Isaiah 3:10, which differs from the Hebrew.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 52:5; Isaiah 3:9-11; Isaiah 5:18-20

17.3  So against the only blameless and righteous Light, sent to men by God, you were eager to have bitter, dark and unjust things spread through all the earth. For he seemed troublesome to you when he cried out among you: “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.’” And he overturned the tables of the money-changers in the temple.
   [Translator’s note] Jesus’ words, as in Matthew 21:13, combine Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.
   [Scripture] Matthew 21:12-13; Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11

17.4  And he cried out, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You tithe mint and rue, but you do not take to heart the love of God and justice. You are whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside but inside full of dead men’s bones.” And to the scribes he said, “Woe to you, scribes! You hold the keys, and you do not go in yourselves, and you stop those who are going in. You blind guides!”
   [Translator’s note] Justin blends sayings found in Matthew 23 and Luke 11. “Mint and rue” and “the love of God” match Luke 11:42. The “whitewashed tombs” match Matthew 23:27. The “keys” and “you do not go in yourselves” are close to Luke 11:52. “Blind guides” is from Matthew 23:16 and 23:24.
   [Scripture] Luke 11:42; Matthew 23:27; Luke 11:52; Matthew 23:24


CHAPTER 18

18.1  Trypho, you have read what our Saviour taught, as you yourself admitted. So I do not think it out of place that I have also recalled a few of his sayings alongside those of the prophets.
   [Translator’s note] The older translation says “I do not think that I have done foolishly.” The Greek (οὐκ ἄτοπον) means “not out of place” or “not unreasonable.”

18.2  So wash yourselves even now, and become clean, and remove the wickedness from your souls. God commands you to wash in this washing, and to be circumcised with the true circumcision. For we too would simply keep this circumcision of the flesh, and the Sabbaths, and all the feasts, if we did not know why they were commanded to you. It was because of your lawless deeds and your hardness of heart.
   [Translator’s note] The opening words echo Isaiah 1:16 (“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds”). Justin’s wording is close to the Greek Old Testament.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 1:16

18.3  We patiently endure everything that wicked men and demons work against us, even unspeakable things, death and tortures. We pray that those who treat us this way may find mercy, and we do not want to pay anyone back even in the smallest way, as the new Lawgiver commanded us. So how would we not also keep the things that do us no harm? I mean fleshly circumcision, the Sabbaths, and the feasts.


CHAPTER 19

19.1  Then Trypho said, “This is what is worth wondering about. You endure such things, yet you do not keep all the other things we are now inquiring about.”

19.2  This circumcision is not necessary for everyone, but for you alone, so that, as I said before, you may suffer what you now justly suffer. Nor do we accept that useless baptism of the cisterns. It has nothing to do with this baptism of life. That is why God has cried out, “You have forsaken him, the living spring, and dug for yourselves broken cisterns, which will not be able to hold water.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Jeremiah 2:13. Justin’s text reads “him,” where the Hebrew and the Greek Old Testament read “me.”
   [Scripture] Jeremiah 2:13

19.3  You who are circumcised in the flesh need our circumcision. But we who have this one need nothing of that kind. If circumcision were necessary, as you suppose, God would not have formed Adam uncircumcised. He would not have looked with favor on the gifts of Abel, who offered sacrifices in uncircumcised flesh. Enoch would not have pleased God while uncircumcised, and “he was not found, because God took him.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says Enoch pleased God while uncircumcised, following Genesis 5:24 in the Greek Old Testament (“Enoch pleased God, and he was not found, because God took him”); compare Hebrews 11:5, and for Abel, see Genesis 4:4.
   [Scripture] Genesis 4:4; Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5

19.4  Lot, uncircumcised, was saved from Sodom, when those same angels and the Lord sent him on his way. Noah, the beginning of another race, went into the ark uncircumcised, together with his children. Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High, was uncircumcised. Abraham, the first to receive circumcision in the flesh, gave him tithes as offerings, and Melchizedek blessed him. God made known through David that he would appoint the eternal priest after Melchizedek’s order.
   [Translator’s note] For Melchizedek and Abraham, see Genesis 14:18–20. The promise “through David” is Psalm 110:4: “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 14:18-20

19.5  So this circumcision was necessary for you alone, so that the people would be no people and the nation no nation, as Hosea, one of the twelve prophets, says. For all the righteous men I named earlier pleased God without keeping the Sabbath. After them came Abraham and all his sons down to Moses. In Moses’ time your people proved unjust and ungrateful toward God, making a calf in the wilderness.
   [Translator’s note] Justin seems to have in mind Hosea 1:9 (“you are not my people”). His wording is a loose recollection rather than an exact quotation. The calf is the golden calf of Exodus 32.
   [Scripture] Hosea 1:9

19.6  For this reason God adapted himself to that people and commanded them to bring sacrifices as if to his name, so that you would not practice idolatry. But you did not keep even that command. You even sacrificed your children to demons. He also commanded you to keep the Sabbath, so that you would remember God. His word shows this when it says, “that you may know that I am God, who redeemed you.”
   [Translator’s note] On sacrificing children to demons, compare Psalm 106:37. The closing quotation resembles Ezekiel 20:12 and 20:20, where the Sabbath is given “that they may know that I am the LORD.” Justin’s wording does not match any single verse exactly.
   [Scripture] Ezekiel 20:12


CHAPTER 20

20.1  He also commanded you to abstain from certain foods, so that even in eating and drinking you would keep God before your eyes. You were prone to fall away, and quick to turn from the knowledge of him. As Moses says, “The people ate and drank, and rose up to play.” And again: “Jacob ate and was filled, and grew fat, and the beloved one kicked. He grew fat, he grew thick, he grew broad, and he forsook God who made him.” God had allowed Noah, who was righteous, to eat every living creature except flesh with its blood, which is carrion. Moses told you this in the book of Genesis.
   [Translator’s note] The quotations are Exodus 32:6 and Deuteronomy 32:15. “The beloved one” follows the Greek Old Testament, where the Hebrew has “Jeshurun.” The permission given to Noah is in Genesis 9:3–4.
   [Scripture] Exodus 32:6; Deuteronomy 32:15; Genesis 9:3-4

20.2  When Trypho was about to say, “as the green herbs,” I spoke first: Will you not hear the words “as the green herbs” the way God said them? God made the herbs as food for man, and in the same way he gave the animals for eating meat. But you say that a distinction was then laid down for Noah, because we do not eat certain herbs.
   [Translator’s note] “As the green herbs” is from Genesis 9:3 (“as the green herbs, I have given you all things”). Justin takes it to mean that Noah was given animals for food just as freely as plants.
   [Scripture] Genesis 9:3

20.3  It should not be believed the way you explain it. First, I will not spend time on this point, though I could say and maintain that every green plant is food and can be eaten. But even if we do tell plants apart and do not eat them all, we do not avoid some because they are common or unclean. We avoid them because they are bitter, or deadly, or thorny. But all that are sweet, very nourishing and good, whether from the sea or from the land, we seek out and eat.
   [Scripture] Acts 10:14

20.4  In the same way God told you through Moses to abstain from unclean, unjust and lawless things. For even while you were eating manna in the desert and seeing all the wonders God did for you, you made a golden calf and worshipped it. So he rightly cries out all the time, “Foolish sons, in whom there is no faith.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is close to Deuteronomy 32:20, “sons in whom there is no faith.” The word “foolish” may come from a similar phrase in Jeremiah 4:22.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 32:20


CHAPTER 21

21.1  Further, God commanded you to keep the Sabbath as a sign, as I said before, and gave you the other commands too, because of your wrongdoing and that of your fathers. He also shows that it was because of the nations, so that his name would not be profaned among them, that he let some of you stay alive at all. His own words can prove this to you.

21.2  They were spoken through Ezekiel like this: “I am the Lord your God. Walk in my commands, keep my ordinances, do not mingle with the practices of Egypt, and make my Sabbaths holy. They will be a sign between me and you, so that you may know that I am the Lord your God. But you provoked me to bitterness, and your children did not walk in my commands and did not keep my ordinances to do them. A man who does these things shall live by them. But they profaned my Sabbaths.”
   [Translator’s note] This quotation, continued through 21.4, is drawn freely from Ezekiel 20:19–26.
   [Scripture] Ezekiel 20:19-21

21.3  “And I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the desert, to finish my anger against them. But I did not do it, so that my name would not be profaned at all before the nations. I brought them out before their eyes. And I lifted up my hand over them in the desert, to scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the lands, because they did not do my ordinances, they rejected my commands, they profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes followed the devices of their fathers.”
   [Translator’s note] In Ezekiel, “lifting up the hand” is the gesture of taking an oath, so the sense is that God swore he would scatter them.
   [Scripture] Ezekiel 20:21-24

21.4  “And I gave them commands that were not good, and ordinances by which they will not live. And I will defile them in their houses, when I pass through all that opens the womb, so that I may destroy.”
   [Translator’s note] In the Hebrew of Ezekiel 20:26, it is the people who “cause to pass through” all that opens the womb. This means offering firstborn children in sacrifice (compare 20:31, “through the fire”).
   [Scripture] Ezekiel 20:25-26


CHAPTER 22

22.1  He likewise commanded these things because of the sins of your people and their idolatries, not because he needed such offerings. Hear how he speaks about them through Amos, one of the twelve, who cries out:
   [Translator’s note] “The twelve” are the twelve shorter prophetic books at the end of the Old Testament (the Minor Prophets), of which Amos is one.

22.2  “Woe to those who long for the day of the Lord. What is this day of the Lord to you? It is darkness and not light. It is as when a man escapes from the face of a lion and a bear meets him, and he runs into his house and rests his hands on the wall, and a snake bites him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness and not light, a gloom with no brightness in it? I hate and reject your feasts, and I will not smell anything at your festivals.”
   [Translator’s note] This quotation, continued in 22.3, is from Amos 5:18–26.
   [Scripture] Amos 5:18-21

22.3  “Even if you bring me your whole burnt offerings and your sacrifices, I will not accept them, and I will not look on your peace offerings. Take away from me the noise of your songs and psalms. I will not listen to your instruments. Let justice roll like water, and righteousness like a torrent that cannot be crossed. Did you bring me slaughtered animals and sacrifices in the desert, house of Israel? says the Lord. And you took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Raphan, the images you made for yourselves.”
   [Translator’s note] Stephen quotes a closely similar Greek form of Amos 5:25–27 in Acts 7:42–43. “Moloch” and “Raphan” are the Septuagint’s renderings. The Hebrew of Amos 5:26 reads differently, and its meaning is uncertain.
   [Scripture] Amos 5:22-26

22.4  “And I will send you into exile beyond Damascus, says the Lord; the God Almighty is his name. Woe to those who live in luxury in Zion, and to those who trust in the mountain of Samaria. Those who are named among the leaders have harvested the first of the nations; the house of Israel has gone in for itself. Cross over, all of you, to Calneh and see. From there go to Hamath the great, and from there go down to Gath of the foreigners. These are the strongest of all these kingdoms. Is their territory larger than your territory?”
   [Translator’s note] “Calneh” is spelled “Chalanē” in the Greek. “Gath of the foreigners” means Gath of the Philistines. The Greek word is allophyloi, “people of another tribe,” which the Septuagint regularly uses for the Philistines.
   [Scripture] Amos 5:27; Amos 6:1-2

22.5  “You who are coming to an evil day, who draw near and lay hold of false sabbaths; who sleep on ivory beds and live in reckless luxury on their couches; who eat lambs from the flocks and suckling calves from the midst of the herds; who clap along to the sound of instruments, and counted these things as lasting and not as passing away; who drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with the finest ointments, and felt no pain over the ruin of Joseph. Therefore they will now be captives, first among the powerful men who are being deported. The house of the evildoers will be overturned, and the neighing of horses will be taken away from Ephraim.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin is quoting Amos 6:3–7 from the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint). Where Justin’s Greek has “false sabbaths,” the Hebrew text (followed by most English Bibles) speaks of bringing near “the seat of violence.”
   [Scripture] Amos 6:3-7

22.6  And again through Jeremiah: “Gather your meats and your sacrifices and eat them. For I gave your fathers no command about sacrifices or drink offerings on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.”
   [Translator’s note] Jeremiah 7:21–22.
   [Scripture] Jeremiah 7:21-22

22.7  And again through David, in the forty-ninth psalm, he spoke in this way: “The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken, and has called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. From Zion comes the splendor of his beauty. God will come openly, our God, and he will not keep silent. Fire will burn before him, and a violent storm will rage all around him. He will summon the heaven above and the earth, so that he may judge his people. Gather to him his holy ones, who make a covenant with him by sacrifices. And the heavens will declare his righteousness, for God is judge.”
   [Translator’s note] The “forty-ninth psalm” follows the Greek (Septuagint) numbering. In most English Bibles it is Psalm 50.

22.8  “Hear, my people, and I will speak to you, Israel, and I will bear witness against you. I am God, your God. I will not rebuke you over your sacrifices; your burnt offerings are always before me. I will not accept calves from your house, or goats from your flocks. For all the wild animals of the field are mine, the cattle on the mountains and the oxen. I know all the birds of the sky, and the beauty of the field is with me.”

22.9  “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine and everything in it. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call on me in the day of affliction, and I will deliver you, and you will glorify me. But to the sinner God said: Why do you recite my statutes and take my covenant into your mouth? You have hated discipline, and you have thrown my words behind you.”

22.10  “If you saw a thief, you ran along with him, and you took your share with an adulterer. Your mouth overflowed with evil, and your tongue wove deceit together. You sat and spoke against your brother, and you set a stumbling block against your mother’s son. You did these things, and I stayed silent. In your lawlessness you supposed that I would be like you. I will rebuke you and set your sins before your face. Understand this, you who forget God, or he will seize you and there will be no one to rescue you. A sacrifice of praise will glorify me, and there is the way in which I will show him my salvation.”

22.11  So God does not take sacrifices from you, and he did not command them in the beginning as though he were in need. He commanded them because of your sins. The same is true of the temple in Jerusalem, which was called by his name. He did not acknowledge it as his house or court because he was in need. He did so in order that, by paying attention to him in this way too, you would not practice idolatry. And that this is so, Isaiah says: “What kind of house have you built for me? says the Lord. Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool of my feet.”
   [Translator’s note] Isaiah 66:1.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 66:1


CHAPTER 23

23.1  But if we do not acknowledge these things, we will fall into absurd ideas. It would be as if the God of Enoch and all the others were not the same God. They had no circumcision in the flesh, and they did not keep sabbaths or the other practices, since it was Moses who commanded these things. Or it would be as if God had not always wanted every race of people to practice the same righteous things. To admit such things plainly appears ridiculous and foolish.

23.2  We must confess that God, who is always the same, commanded these and similar things because of sinful men. In this way we show him to be loving toward people, foreknowing, in need of nothing, just and good. If this is not how things stand, answer me, gentlemen: what do you think about these questions we are looking into?
   [Translator’s note] The Greek “ō andres” (“gentlemen”) is plural: Justin is addressing Trypho and his companions together.

23.3  No one answered anything. So I went on: “For these reasons, Trypho, I will proclaim to you, and to any who want to become proselytes, a divine message that I heard from that man. You see that the elements of nature are never idle and keep no Sabbath. Stay as you were born. For if there was no need of circumcision before Abraham, nor of Sabbath-keeping, feasts and offerings before Moses, then there is no need of them now either, after Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born by God’s plan of the virgin Mary, who was of the family of Abraham.
   [Translator’s note] “The elements” (στοιχεῖα) probably refers to the heavenly bodies and the natural order, which keep working on the Sabbath.

23.4  For Abraham himself was justified and blessed while he was still uncircumcised, because of the faith he put in God, as the Scripture shows. He received circumcision as a sign, not for righteousness. Both the Scriptures and the facts themselves force us to admit this. So it was rightly said about that people that the soul which is not circumcised on the eighth day will be cut off from its people.
   [Translator’s note] Justin is drawing on Genesis 15:6 (“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”) and Genesis 17:14, which the last sentence quotes from the Greek Old Testament. His argument closely follows Paul in Romans 4:10–11, where Abraham receives circumcision as a sign after being counted righteous by faith while uncircumcised.
   [Scripture] Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:10-11; Genesis 17:14

23.5  The fact that the female sex cannot receive circumcision in the flesh shows that this circumcision was given as a sign and not as a work of righteousness. For God made women just as able as men to keep everything that is just and virtuous. We do see that the bodily form of male and female has been made different. Yet we know that neither is righteous or unrighteous because of that, but because of godliness and righteousness.


CHAPTER 24

24.1  “We could also show this, gentlemen,” I said: “that through these things God was announcing some mystery in the eighth day, more than in the seventh. But so that I do not seem to be turning aside to other topics now, understand what I cry out: the blood of that circumcision has been done away, and we have put our faith in saving blood. There is now another covenant, and another law has gone out from Zion.
   [Translator’s note] “A law has gone out from Zion” echoes Isaiah 2:3 and Micah 4:2.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 2:3

24.2  Jesus Christ circumcises all who are willing, as was proclaimed long ago, with knives of stone. The purpose is that they become a righteous nation, a people that keeps faith, holds to the truth and keeps peace.
   [Translator’s note] “Long ago” could also be translated “earlier,” meaning earlier in this conversation. The older translation takes it that way (“as was declared above”).
   [Scripture] Joshua 5:2; Isaiah 26:2-3

24.3  “Come with me, all you who fear God, who want to see the good things of Jerusalem. Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord, for he has forsaken his people, the house of Jacob. Come, all nations, let us gather to Jerusalem, which is no longer attacked because of the lawless deeds of the peoples. ‘For I became visible to those who did not seek me; I was found by those who did not ask for me,’ he cries through Isaiah.
   [Translator’s note] “I became visible to those who did not seek me” begins a quotation of Isaiah 65:1, which Paul also quotes in Romans 10:20.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 2:5-6; Isaiah 65:1

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


CHAPTER 25

25.1  “Those who justify themselves and say they are children of Abraham will want to inherit even a small place along with us, as the Holy Spirit cries out through Isaiah, speaking as if in their person:

25.2  ‘Turn back from heaven and look down from your holy and glorious house. Where is your zeal and your strength? Where is the abundance of your mercy, that you have held it back from us, Lord? For you are our Father, since Abraham did not know us, and Israel did not recognize us. But you, Lord, our Father, rescue us; from the beginning your name has been upon us. Why, Lord, have you led us astray from your way and hardened our heart so that we do not fear you?
   [Translator’s note] Justin now quotes Isaiah 63:15–64:12 at length, following the Greek Old Testament.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 63:15-17

25.3  Turn back for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes of your inheritance, so that we may inherit a little of your holy mountain. We have become as we were from the beginning, when you did not rule over us and your name was not called upon us. If you open the heavens, trembling will seize the mountains before you, and they will melt as wax melts before fire. Fire will burn up the adversaries, and your name will be made known among the adversaries; the nations will be thrown into confusion at your presence.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 63:17-19; Isaiah 64:1-2

25.4  When you do glorious things, trembling will seize the mountains before you. From of old we have not heard, and our eyes have not seen, any God but you and your works. He will show mercy to those who repent. He will meet those who do what is right, and they will remember your ways. Look, you were angry, and we sinned. Because of this we went astray, and we all became unclean. All our righteousness is like the rag of a woman who sits apart. We have dropped off like leaves because of our lawless deeds, and so the wind will carry us away.
   [Translator’s note] “A woman who sits apart” refers to a woman during her monthly period, when she was ritually unclean under the Law (Leviticus 15:19–24).
   [Scripture] Isaiah 64:3-6

25.5  No one calls on your name or thinks to take hold of you, because you have turned your face away from us and handed us over because of our sins. Now turn back, Lord, for we are all your people. Your holy city has become a desert. Zion has become like a desert, and Jerusalem a curse. The house, our holy place, and the glory which our fathers blessed, has been burned with fire, and all the glorious nations have fallen together. After all this you held back, Lord, and kept silent, and humbled us severely.’”
   [Translator’s note] “All the glorious nations” is how the Greek reads here. The Greek Old Testament of Isaiah 64:11 has “all our glorious things,” so “nations” may be a copyist’s slip.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 64:7-12

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


CHAPTER 26

26.1  I said, “I do not mean that. I mean that those who persecuted Christ, and still persecute him, and do not repent will inherit nothing on the holy mountain. But the Gentiles who believed in him and repented of the sins they committed will inherit it. They will share it with the patriarchs, the prophets, and all the righteous who are descended from Jacob. This is true even though they do not keep the Sabbath, are not circumcised, and do not observe the feasts. They will most certainly inherit God’s holy inheritance.

26.2  For God speaks through Isaiah like this: ‘I, the Lord God, called you in righteousness. I will take hold of your hand and strengthen you. I have given you as a covenant of a people, as a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out of bonds those who are shackled, and out of the prison house those who sit in darkness.’
   [Translator’s note] Isaiah 42:6–7, quoted from the Greek Old Testament.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 42:6-7

26.3  And again: ‘Raise a signal for the nations. For look, the Lord has made it heard to the end of the earth. Say to the daughters of Zion: See, your Saviour has come, holding his own reward, and his work before his face. And he will call them a holy people, redeemed by the Lord. And you will be called a city that is sought after and not forsaken.’ ‘Who is this coming from Edom, with the redness of his garments from Bozrah? Who is this, splendid in his robe, coming up with force and might?’ ‘I am the one who speaks righteousness and the judgment of salvation.’
   [Translator’s note] Isaiah 62:10–12 and 63:1, quoted from the Greek Old Testament. “Bosor” is the Greek form of Bozrah.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 62:10-12; Isaiah 63:1

26.4  ‘Why are your garments red, and your clothes like those of a man who has trodden the winepress?’ ‘I am covered with trampled grapes. I trod the winepress completely alone. Of the nations there was no man with me. I trampled them in my anger, crushed them like earth, and brought their blood down to the ground. For the day of repayment has come upon them, and the year of redemption is here. I looked, and there was no helper. I took notice, and no one took hold to help. So my arm brought deliverance, and my wrath arose. I trampled them in my anger, and brought their blood down to the ground.’
   [Translator’s note] Isaiah 63:2–6, quoted from the Greek Old Testament. The words “full of trampled grapes” can be read as the end of the question or as the beginning of the answer. This version takes them as the speaker describing himself.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 63:2-6


CHAPTER 27

27.1  Trypho said, “Why do you pick out whatever you like from the words of the prophets, and then fail to mention the passages that plainly command us to keep the Sabbath? For Isaiah says this: ‘If you turn your foot away from the Sabbaths, so as not to do your own pleasure on the holy day, and call the Sabbaths delightful and holy to your God, and do not lift your foot to work or speak a word from your own mouth, then you will trust in the Lord. He will lift you up to the good things of the land and feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken this.’”
   [Translator’s note] Isaiah 58:13–14, quoted from the Greek Old Testament.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 58:13-14

27.2  I said, “My friends, I did not leave out such prophecies because they oppose me. I left them out because you have understood, and still understand, this: God commands you through all the prophets to do the same things he commanded through Moses, and he keeps crying out the same things because you are hard-hearted and ungrateful toward him. His aim is that, even so, you might repent at last and please him. Then you would no longer sacrifice your children to demons, or be partners with thieves, or love bribes and chase after payment. You would not refuse justice to orphans or ignore the widow’s case, and you would not have hands full of blood.”
   [Translator’s note] “Sacrifice your children to demons” echoes Psalm 106:37 (105:37 in the Greek Old Testament). The rest draws on Isaiah 1:23 and 1:15.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 1:23; Isaiah 1:15

27.3  “For the daughters of Zion walked with their necks held high, winking their eyes as they played, and dragging their long robes.” And he cries out: “All have turned aside, all together have become useless. There is no one who understands, not even one. With their tongues they practised deceit. Their throat is an open grave. The poison of asps is under their lips. Ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known.”
   [Translator’s note] The first sentence is Isaiah 3:16. The lines after “all have turned aside” come from the chain of Psalm and Isaiah verses (Psalms 14, 5, and 140, and Isaiah 59:7–8) that Paul also strings together in Romans 3:10–18.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 3:16; Romans 3:12-17; Isaiah 59:7-8

27.4  So just as these commands were given in the beginning because of your wickedness, in the same way, because you have persevered in these evils, or rather have grown worse in them, he calls you through the same commands to remember him and to know him. But you are a hard-hearted people, without understanding, blind and lame, “sons in whom there is no faith,” as he himself says. You honor him only with your lips, while your heart is far from him, and you teach your own teachings and not his.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek pronoun (autou) can mean “him” (God) or “it.” This translation takes it as referring to God.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 32:20; Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:8-9

27.5  Tell me, did God want the high priests to sin on the Sabbaths when they offered the sacrifices? Or did he want those to sin who are circumcised, and who circumcise, on the Sabbath day? For he commanded that newborn boys be circumcised on the eighth day without exception, even if it falls on the Sabbath. Could he not have had the newborn circumcised one day before the Sabbath or one day after it, if he knew that it was evil to do so on the Sabbaths? And what about those who lived before Moses and Abraham, who were called righteous and were pleasing to him, though they were not circumcised and did not keep the Sabbaths? Why did he not teach them to do these things?
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word is “high priests” (archiereis), though here it may be used loosely for the priests who served in the temple.
   [Scripture] Matthew 12:5; John 7:22-23; Leviticus 12:3


CHAPTER 28

28.1  Trypho said: “We have heard you raise this point before, and we stopped to consider it. To tell the truth, it deserves consideration. But it does not seem right to me to say, as most people do, that ‘it seemed good to him.’ That is always the excuse of people who cannot answer the question being asked.”

28.2  I said: Since I base my proofs and my discussions on the Scriptures and on the facts, do not put it off or hesitate to believe me, even though I am uncircumcised. The time left to you to become proselytes is short. If Christ comes before you have done so, you will repent in vain and weep in vain, for he will not listen to you. Jeremiah cried out to the people: “Plow new ground for yourselves, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and circumcise the foreskin of your heart.”
   [Translator’s note] Jeremiah 4:3–4.
   [Scripture] Jeremiah 4:3-4

28.3  So do not sow among thorns and in unplowed ground, where you can have no fruit. Know Christ, and see: a good field, good and rich, is in your hearts. For “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will visit all who are circumcised in their foreskin: Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the sons of Moab. For all the nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
   [Translator’s note] Jeremiah 9:25–26.
   [Scripture] Jeremiah 9:25-26

28.4  You see that God does not want this circumcision, which was given as a sign. For it is of no use to the Egyptians, or to the sons of Moab, or to the sons of Edom. But even if someone is a Scythian or a Persian, if he knows God and his Christ and keeps the eternal righteous requirements, he has received the good and beneficial circumcision. He is a friend of God, and God rejoices in his gifts and offerings.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek of the last clause does not name its subject. It is usually read, as here, to mean that God rejoices in the man’s gifts and offerings (compare 29.1). It could also be read to mean that the man himself rejoices in God’s gifts and offerings.

28.5  My friends, I will give you the very words of God, spoken to the people through Malachi, one of the twelve prophets. They are these: “I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord, and I will not accept your sacrifices from your hands. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name has been glorified among the nations, and in every place a sacrifice is offered to my name, a pure sacrifice. For my name is honored among the nations, says the Lord, but you profane it.”
   [Translator’s note] Malachi 1:10–12, quoted in shortened form. Justin’s Greek “has been glorified” follows the Septuagint; the Hebrew has no verb here, and English versions often render it as future (KJV: “shall be great”).
   [Scripture] Malachi 1:10-12

28.6  And through David he said: “A people whom I did not know served me; at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me.”
   [Translator’s note] Psalm 18:43–44 (compare 2 Samuel 22:44–45).


CHAPTER 29

29.1  Let us glorify God, we nations gathered together, because he has visited us also. Let us glorify him through the King of glory, through the Lord of hosts. For he has shown his favor to the nations also, and he receives sacrifices from us more gladly than from you. What further need have I of circumcision, when God himself has given testimony to me? What need have I of that baptism, when I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit?
   [Translator’s note] “That baptism” probably means the Jewish ritual washings. Earlier in the Dialogue (chapter 14), Justin contrasts them with Christian baptism as a washing that cleanses only the flesh and body.

29.2  I think that by saying this I can persuade even those of little understanding. These words were not put together by me, nor dressed up by any human skill. David sang them, Isaiah announced them as good news, Zechariah proclaimed them, and Moses wrote them down. Do you recognize them, Trypho? They are stored up in your writings, or rather, not yours but ours. For we obey them, but you read them and do not grasp the meaning in them.
   [Translator’s note] Justin seems to be speaking broadly of the witness of Scripture. The passages he has just quoted come from Jeremiah, Malachi, and the Psalms, not from Isaiah or Zechariah.

29.3  So do not be vexed, and do not reproach us for the foreskin of our bodies, which God himself formed. And do not think it a terrible thing that we drink hot water on the Sabbaths. For God carries on the same management of the world on this day as on all the others. The chief priests were also commanded to make the offerings on this day just as on the other days. And all those many righteous men who did none of these legal observances have been given a good witness by God himself.
   [Translator’s note] On the Sabbath offerings, see Numbers 28:9–10. Jesus makes a similar argument about the priests in Matthew 12:5.


CHAPTER 30

30.1  Rather, blame your own wickedness for the fact that God can be slandered even by people with no understanding, as though he had not always taught everyone the same righteous requirements. To many people such teachings seemed unreasonable and unworthy of God. They had not received the grace to understand that he called your people, who were doing evil and were in a sickness of the soul, to turn back and repent in spirit. They also did not understand that the prophecy which came after the death of Moses is everlasting.

30.2  This was also said through the psalm, gentlemen. And that we, who have been made wise by these teachings, declare them sweeter than honey and the honeycomb is clear from this: we will not deny his name even to the point of death. It is also plain to everyone that we who believe in him ask him to keep us safe from “strangers,” that is, from the wicked and deceiving spirits. The word of prophecy says this by speaking in the character of one of those who believe in him.
   [Translator’s note] “Strangers” follows the Greek Old Testament of Psalm 19:13 (“spare your servant from strangers”). The Hebrew text, followed by most English Bibles, reads “presumptuous sins” or “the arrogant.”

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


CHAPTER 31

31.1  But if such great power is shown to have accompanied the plan of his suffering, and still accompanies it, how great will the power be at his glorious coming! For he will come on the clouds as a son of man, as Daniel declared, with angels arriving with him.
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:13

31.2  These are the words: “I kept watching until thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days sat down. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like clean wool. His throne was like a flame of fire, and its wheels were blazing fire. A river of fire poured out and came forth from before him. A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. Books were opened, and the court took its seat.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin quotes Daniel 7:9–10 as he knew it in Greek, so the wording may differ slightly from your Bible.
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:9-10

31.3  “Then I took note of the sound of the great words that the horn is speaking. And the beast was beaten to death, and its body was destroyed and given over to burning fire. The rest of the beasts were removed from their rule, and a length of life was given to them until a set season and time. I kept watching in a vision of the night, and look, one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He came up to the Ancient of Days and stood before him, and those standing by brought him near.”
   [Translator’s note] Continuing Daniel 7, here verses 11–13, in Justin’s Greek wording.
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:11-13

31.4  And royal authority and honor were given to him, and all the nations of the earth, tribe by tribe, and all glory serve him. His authority is an everlasting authority that will never be taken away, and his kingdom will never be destroyed. My spirit shuddered within my body, and the visions in my head troubled me. I approached one of those standing there and asked him for the exact truth about all this. He answered me and made known the meaning of the words: “These great beasts are four kingdoms, which will perish from the earth. They will not receive the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.”
   [Translator’s note] The last sentence follows Justin’s Greek as it has come down to us. In Daniel 7:18 it is “the saints of the Most High” who receive the kingdom forever. Justin’s text seems to have lost that clause, perhaps through a copying slip.
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:14-18

31.5  “Then I wanted to know exactly about the fourth beast, which was destroying everything and was exceedingly terrifying. Its teeth were iron and its claws bronze; it devoured and crushed, and trampled the remainder with its feet. I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head, and about the one that grew up among them, because of which three of the earlier horns fell out. That horn had eyes and a mouth speaking great things, and its appearance was greater than the others. I watched that horn making war against the saints and overpowering them, until the Ancient of Days came. He gave judgment to the saints of the Most High, the time arrived, and the saints of the Most High took possession of the kingdom.”
   [Translator’s note] Continuing Daniel 7, here verses 19–22.
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:19-22

31.6  “And this was said to me about the fourth beast: ‘There will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all these kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, lay it waste, and grind it to pieces. As for the ten horns, ten kings will arise, and after them another. He will surpass the earlier ones in evil, and he will bring three kings low. He will speak words against the Most High and overthrow other saints of the Most High, and he will intend to change seasons and times. And it will be handed over into his hands for a time, and times, and half a time.’”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek verb for “handed over” is singular and has no stated subject. In Daniel 7:25 it is the saints who are given into his hand.
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:23-25

31.7  “Then the judgment sat, and they will take away his dominion, to wipe it out and destroy it to the end. The kingdom, the authority, and the greatness of the kingdoms in the places under heaven were given to the holy people of the Most High, to reign in an everlasting kingdom. All authorities will be subject to him and obey him. Here the account ends. I, Daniel, was gripped by great amazement, my condition was changed, and I kept the matter in my heart.”
   [Translator’s note] This is Daniel 7:26–28. The Greek word hexis means a person’s state or condition; the Aramaic of Daniel 7:28 speaks of his color or countenance changing.
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:26-28


CHAPTER 32

32.1  When I stopped, Trypho said, “Sir, these Scriptures and others like them compel us to wait for one who is glorious and great, who, as a son of man, receives the everlasting kingdom from the Ancient of Days. But this Christ of yours, as you call him, became dishonored and without glory. He even fell under the most extreme curse in the law of God, for he was crucified.”
   [Translator’s note] The curse is Deuteronomy 21:23, “anyone hanged on a tree is under God’s curse.” Paul applies this verse to Christ in Galatians 3:13.
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:13-14; Deuteronomy 21:23

32.2  I said to him, “Gentlemen, suppose I had not shown from the Scriptures I laid out earlier that it was said his appearance would be without glory and his family line beyond telling. Suppose I had not shown that in place of his death the rich would be put to death, that by his bruise we were healed, and that he would be led like a sheep. And suppose I had not explained that he would have two comings: one in which he was pierced by you, and a second in which you will recognize the one you pierced, and your tribes will mourn, tribe by tribe, the women by themselves and the men by themselves...”
   [Translator’s note] Justin is drawing on Isaiah 53 (vv. 2, 8, 9, 5, 7 in the Greek Old Testament) and on Zechariah 12:10–12 for the two comings.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:2; Isaiah 53:5-9; Zechariah 12:10-12

32.3  “So that what we are looking into may now be clearer to you, I will give you other words spoken through the blessed David. From them you will understand that the Holy Spirit of prophecy calls the Christ Lord. You will also understand that the Lord of all, the Father, brings him up from the earth and seats him at his right hand until he makes his enemies a footstool for his feet. This has been happening ever since our Lord Jesus Christ was taken up into heaven after rising from the dead. The times are being fulfilled, and the one who will speak blasphemous and daring things against the Most High is already at the doors. Daniel announces that he will hold sway for a time, and times, and half a time.”
   [Translator’s note] The older translation says the Father brought him “again” from the earth. The Greek has no “again”; it says he brings him up from the earth.
   [Scripture] Psalm 110:1; Daniel 7:25

32.4  And you, not knowing how long he is going to hold power, think otherwise. For you explain “a time” as meaning a hundred years. But if that is so, the man of lawlessness must reign at the very least three hundred and fifty years, so that we can count the words of the holy Daniel, “and times,” as meaning only two times.
   [Translator’s note] The older translation puts “the man of sin”; the Greek says “the man of lawlessness.” The same variation is found in the manuscripts of 2 Thessalonians 2:3.
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:25; 2 Thessalonians 2:3

32.5  I have said all this in digressions for this purpose. I want you at last to be persuaded by what God said against you, that you are “senseless sons,” and by this: “Therefore, behold, I will go on to remove this people, and I will remove them; and I will take away the wisdom of the wise, and I will hide the understanding of their men of understanding.” Then you may stop deceiving yourselves and those who listen to you, and learn from us, who have been made wise by the grace of Christ.
   [Translator’s note] The second quotation is Isaiah 29:14, close to the Greek Old Testament wording. Paul quotes the last part of the same verse, in a slightly different form, in 1 Corinthians 1:19.
   [Scripture] Jeremiah 4:22; Isaiah 29:14

32.6  Now the words spoken through David are these: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ The Lord will send out the rod of your power from Zion; rule in the midst of your enemies. With you is the rule on the day of your power, in the splendors of your holy ones; from the womb, before the morning star, I have begotten you. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.’ The Lord is at your right hand; he crushed kings on the day of his wrath. He will judge among the nations; he will fill the land with corpses. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.”
   [Translator’s note] “The land” is supplied for sense; the Greek says only “he will fill corpses,” that is, he will fill places with the dead.


CHAPTER 33

33.1  I went on: “I am well aware that you dare to explain this psalm as if it were spoken of King Hezekiah. But I will show you at once, from the words themselves, that you are mistaken. It says, ‘The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind,’ and ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek,’ along with what comes before and after. Not even you will dare to claim that Hezekiah was a priest, or that he is God’s everlasting priest. But that this was said about our Jesus, these very words make clear. Yet your ears are blocked and your hearts are hardened.”

33.2  God declared with an oath, because of your unbelief, that he is high priest after the order of Melchizedek: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.’” What this means is as follows. Moses records that Melchizedek was priest of the Most High. He was a priest of those who were in uncircumcision, and he blessed Abraham, who was circumcised and brought him tithes. In the same way God made plain that his everlasting priest, whom the Holy Spirit also calls Lord, would be priest of those in uncircumcision. And those in circumcision who come to him, that is, who believe in him and seek blessings from him, he will also receive and bless. The end of the psalm shows that he would first be lowly as a man and then be exalted: “He will drink from the brook by the way,” and along with it, “therefore he will lift up his head.”
   [Translator’s note] Hebrews 7 also argues from Melchizedek and Psalm 110:4 that Christ’s priesthood is greater than the Levitical priesthood.
   [Scripture] Genesis 14:18-20


CHAPTER 34

34.1  “Moreover, to convince you that you have understood nothing of the Scriptures, I will recall another psalm, spoken to David by the Holy Spirit. You say it was written about Solomon, who was also a king of yours. But this psalm too was spoken about our Christ. You deceive yourselves through words that can mean more than one thing. For where it says, ‘The law of the Lord is blameless,’ you do not take it to mean the law that was to come after the law of Moses. You take it to mean the one given through Moses, even though God loudly proclaimed that he would establish a new law and a new covenant.”
   [Translator’s note] For God’s promise of a new covenant, see Jeremiah 31:31.
   [Scripture] Psalm 19:7; Jeremiah 31:31

34.2  “And where it says, ‘O God, give your judgment to the king,’ you say the psalm was spoken about Solomon, since he was a king. But the words of the psalm plainly proclaim that it was spoken about the everlasting King, that is, about Christ. For Christ is proclaimed as King and Priest, God and Lord, angel and man, commander-in-chief, stone, and a child being born. He is proclaimed as one who first became subject to suffering, then went up into heaven, and will come again with glory and hold an everlasting kingdom. This I prove from all the Scriptures.”
   [Translator’s note] “Commander-in-chief” (archistratēgos) is the title of the figure who appears to Joshua in the Greek of Joshua 5:14, “commander of the army of the Lord.” Justin later applies that passage to Christ.
   [Scripture] Psalm 72:1

34.3  But so that you may also understand what I have said, I will give you the words of the psalm. They are these: “O God, give your judgment to the king, and your righteousness to the king’s son, to judge your people in righteousness and your poor in judgment. Let the mountains take up peace for the people, and the hills righteousness. He will judge the poor of the people and save the sons of the needy, and he will humble the slanderer. He will endure as long as the sun, and before the moon, to generations of generations. He will come down like rain upon a fleece, and like a drop that drips upon the earth.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin quotes Psalm 72 from the Greek version, which sometimes differs from the Hebrew. In verse 5, for example, the Hebrew has “They will fear you as long as the sun endures,” where the Greek has “He will endure as long as the sun.”

34.4  “In his days righteousness will rise, and a fullness of peace, until the moon is taken away. He will rule from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the world. The Ethiopians will fall down before him, and his enemies will lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and the islands will bring gifts; the kings of the Arabians and of Sheba will bring gifts. All the kings of the earth will worship him, and all the nations will serve him, because he rescued the poor from the powerful, and the needy who had no helper.”
   [Translator’s note] “Will rise” translates anatellō, used of the sun rising and of plants springing up; the Hebrew of Psalm 72:7 reads “the righteous will flourish.”

34.5  “He will spare the poor and needy, and he will save the souls of the needy. He will redeem their souls from interest and from injustice, and his name will be honored in their sight. And he will live, and some of the gold of Arabia will be given to him. They will pray for him continually, and bless him all day long. There will be a support in the land; on the tops of the mountains he will be lifted up. His fruit will be higher than Lebanon, and people will blossom out from the city like the grass of the earth.”
   [Translator’s note] “A support in the land” follows Justin’s Greek (stērigma, “support” or “firm stay”). The Hebrew of Psalm 72:16 speaks instead of grain on the earth, on the tops of the mountains.

34.6  “His name will be blessed forever; his name endures before the sun. All the tribes of the earth will be blessed in him; all nations will call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wonders. Blessed be the name of his glory forever and ever, and the whole earth will be filled with his glory. So be it, so be it.” And at the end of this psalm that I have mentioned, it is written: “The hymns of David, son of Jesse, have come to an end.”
   [Translator’s note] The Hebrew of Psalm 72:20 reads “The prayers of David, son of Jesse, are ended.” Justin’s Greek has “hymns.”

34.7  I know that Solomon was a famous and great king, and that in his reign the temple known as the house in Jerusalem was built. But it is plain that none of the things said in the psalm happened to him. Not all the kings worshiped him, he did not reign to the ends of the world, and his enemies did not fall down before him and lick the dust.

34.8  Moreover, I dare to say what is written in the books of Kings about what he did: that because of a woman of Sidon he worshiped idols. People from the nations who have come to know God, the Maker of all things, through Jesus the crucified, cannot bear to do this. They endure every torture and punishment, even to the point of death, rather than worship idols or eat food offered to idols.
   [Translator’s note] See 1 Kings 11:1–8. Scripture speaks of Solomon’s many foreign wives and of his following Ashtoreth, “the goddess of the Sidonians.” It does not say he worshiped in Sidon itself.


CHAPTER 35

35.1  Trypho said, “And yet I hear that many of those who say they confess Jesus, and who are called Christians, eat food offered to idols, and say that they are not harmed by it.”

35.2  I answered, “The very fact that there are such men, who say they are Christians and confess the crucified Jesus as Lord and Christ, yet teach not his teachings but those of the spirits of error, makes us more faithful and more firm in the hope he announced. We are disciples of the true and pure teaching of Jesus Christ. For the things he said beforehand would happen in his name, we now see being fulfilled before our eyes, in actual fact.
   [Translator’s note] Compare 1 Timothy 4:1 (“deceiving spirits”) and 1 John 4:6 (“the spirit of error”).

35.3  For he said, ‘Many will come in my name, clothed outwardly in sheep’s skins, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.’ And, ‘There will be divisions and factions.’ And, ‘Beware of the false prophets who will come to you clothed outwardly in sheep’s skins, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.’ And, ‘Many false christs and false apostles will rise up, and they will lead many of the faithful astray.’
   [Translator’s note] Justin gives these as sayings of Jesus. The first joins “Many will come in my name” (Matthew 24:5) to the wording of Matthew 7:15. The third is close to Matthew 7:15. The last echoes Matthew 24:11, 24, though “false apostles” is Paul’s phrase (2 Corinthians 11:13), not a Gospel one. The saying about “divisions and factions” is not found in the Gospels in that form (compare 1 Corinthians 11:18–19, which uses the same two Greek words).
   [Scripture] Matthew 24:5; Matthew 7:15; 1 Corinthians 11:18-19; Matthew 24:24

35.4  So there are, and there have been, my friends, many who came in the name of Jesus and taught people to say and do godless and blasphemous things. And they are called by us after the name of the man from whom each teaching and opinion began.
   [Scripture] Matthew 24:5

35.5  For different teachers, each in his own way, teach people to blaspheme the Maker of all things, and the Christ whom He foretold would come, and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We have no fellowship with any of them. We know that they are godless, irreverent, unrighteous and lawless, and that instead of worshiping Jesus they only confess Him in name.

35.6  They call themselves Christians, just as people among the nations write the name of God on their man-made idols and take part in lawless and godless rites. Some of them are called Marcionites, others Valentinians, others Basilidians, others Saturnilians, and others by other names. Each is named after the founder of his school of thought, just as each of those who think they are practicing philosophy, as I said at the beginning, believes he should carry the name of his philosophy from the father of that teaching.
   [Translator’s note] “As I said at the beginning” refers back to Justin’s remarks on the philosophical schools in chapter 2.

35.7  So from these things, as I said, we know that Jesus foreknew what would happen after Him. We know it also from many other things He foretold would happen to those who believe in Him and confess Him as Christ. For all that we suffer, even being put to death by our own people, He told us beforehand would happen. So no word or act of His can in any way be found open to blame.
   [Translator’s note] Compare Matthew 10:21 and Luke 21:16, where Jesus warns that believers will be handed over and put to death by family members and friends.

35.8  For this reason we pray for you and for all other people who are hostile to us. We pray that you may repent along with us and not blaspheme Christ Jesus. He is blameless and beyond reproach in every respect, as shown by His works, by the mighty works done even now through His name, by the words of His teaching, and by the prophecies spoken about Him. We pray instead that you may believe in Him and be saved at His glorious second coming, and not be condemned by Him to the fire.
   [Scripture] Matthew 5:44


CHAPTER 36

36.1  Trypho answered, “Let it be as you say about these matters: that it was prophesied the Christ would suffer, and that He is called a stone. Let it also be so that, after His first coming, in which it was proclaimed He would appear as a sufferer, He will come in glory, and will then be judge of all, and eternal king and priest. But prove that this man is the one about whom these things were prophesied.”

36.2  I said, “As you wish, Trypho. I will come to the proofs you ask for at the proper place. For now, allow me first to recall the prophecies I want to cite. I want to show that the Christ is called both God and Lord of hosts, and is also called Jacob in a parable by the Holy Spirit. I also want to show that your interpreters, as God cries out, are senseless when they say these words were spoken not about the Christ but about Solomon, when he brought the tent of testimony into the temple he had built.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says “tent of testimony” (the tabernacle), not “ark of testimony” as in the older English. 1 Kings 8:4 records that the tent of meeting was brought up into the temple along with the ark.

36.3  “This is the psalm of David: ‘The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness of it, the world and all who live in it. He Himself founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Who will go up to the mountain of the Lord? Or who will stand in His holy place? The one who is innocent in his hands and clean in his heart, who has not given his soul to what is empty and has not sworn deceitfully to his neighbor.
   [Translator’s note] Psalm 24 (Psalm 23 in the Greek numbering), quoted in full from the Septuagint across 36.3–4.

36.4  “He will receive a blessing from the Lord and mercy from God his Savior. This is the generation of those who seek the Lord, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your gates, you rulers, and be lifted up, you everlasting gates, and the King of glory will come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty in battle. Lift up your gates, you rulers, and be lifted up, you everlasting gates, and the King of glory will come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.’
   [Translator’s note] Justin follows the Septuagint, “Lift up your gates, you rulers.” The Hebrew reads “Lift up your heads, O gates.” His argument in 36.5 about heavenly rulers depends on the Greek wording.

36.5  “It has therefore been shown that Solomon is not the Lord of hosts. It is our Christ. When He rose from the dead and was going up into heaven, the rulers stationed in the heavens by God were commanded to open the gates of heaven. They were to let Him in, He who is the King of glory, so that He might go up and sit at the right hand of the Father until He makes His enemies a footstool for His feet, as has been made clear through another psalm.”
   [Translator’s note] The “other psalm” is Psalm 110:1 (109:1 in the Greek numbering).
   [Scripture] Psalm 110:1

36.6  For when the rulers in heaven saw that he had a form that was unsightly, dishonored and without glory, they did not recognize him and asked, “Who is this King of glory?” And the Holy Spirit answers them, speaking either in the person of the Father or in his own: “The Lord of hosts, he himself is this King of glory.” For everyone will admit that none of those who stood at the gates of the temple in Jerusalem would have dared to ask, “Who is this King of glory?”, either about Solomon, glorious king though he was, or about the tent of testimony.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says “the tent (tabernacle) of testimony” (skēnē tou martyriou), not the ark.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:2-3


CHAPTER 37

37.1  “And in the interlude of the forty-sixth Psalm,” I said, “it is said of Christ: ‘God went up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing to our God, sing; sing to our King, sing. For God is king of all the earth; sing with understanding. God has reigned over the nations; God sits on his holy throne. The rulers of the peoples were gathered together with the God of Abraham, for the mighty ones of the earth belong to God; they have been greatly exalted.’”
   [Translator’s note] “Interlude” translates diapsalma. This is the Greek Psalms’ word for the Hebrew “Selah.” Its exact meaning is uncertain, but it probably marks a pause or a musical break.

37.2  And in the ninety-eighth Psalm the Holy Spirit reproaches you. He declares that the very one whom you refuse to have as king is king and Lord of Samuel, of Aaron, of Moses, and, in short, of all the others.
   [Translator’s note] This is Psalm 99 in English Bibles (Psalm 98 in the Greek Septuagint numbering).
   [Scripture] Psalm 99:6

37.3  These are the words of the Psalm: “The Lord has reigned; let the peoples be angry. He who sits on the cherubim, let the earth be shaken. The Lord is great in Zion, and he is high above all the peoples. Let them give thanks to your great name, for it is fearful and holy; and the king’s honor loves justice. You have prepared uprightness; you have worked justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at the footstool of his feet, for he is holy.

37.4  Moses and Aaron were among his priests, and Samuel among those who call on his name. They called on the Lord, the Scripture says, and he answered them. He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud. They kept his testimonies and the commandment he gave them. O Lord our God, you answered them; O God, you were gracious to them, though you took vengeance on all their practices. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship on his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.”


CHAPTER 38

38.1  Trypho said, “Sir, it would have been good for us to listen to our teachers, who made a rule that we should not talk with any of you, and that we should not share in these discussions with you. For you say many blasphemous things. You think you can persuade us that this crucified man was with Moses and Aaron and spoke to them in the pillar of cloud, and then became man, was crucified, went up into heaven, and comes again to earth, and is to be worshiped.”

38.2  I answered, “I know that, as the word of God says, this great wisdom of the Maker of all things, the almighty God, is hidden from you. So out of sympathy for you I am working hard to help you understand these strange teachings of ours. If you will not, then at least I myself will be innocent on the day of judgment. For you will still hear other words that seem even stranger. Do not be disturbed. Instead, become more eager as hearers and keep on examining what you hear. Despise the tradition of your teachers, since the prophetic Spirit proves them unable to understand what comes from God, and shows that they would rather teach their own ideas.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says “by the prophetic Spirit,” meaning the Holy Spirit speaking through the prophets.

38.3  “So in the forty-fourth Psalm these words are likewise said of Christ: ‘My heart has poured out a good word; I speak my works to the king. My tongue is the pen of a swift scribe. You are fairer in beauty than the sons of men; grace is poured out on your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword on your thigh, mighty one. In your splendor and your beauty, stretch your bow, prosper, and reign, for the sake of truth and meekness and righteousness; and your right hand will guide you marvelously. Your arrows are sharpened, mighty one (peoples will fall under you), sharpened for the heart of the king’s enemies.’”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek verb (enteinō) means to stretch or bend tight, as with a bow; the word “bow” is supplied in the English.

38.4  “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The rod of your kingdom is a rod of uprightness. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Myrrh and drops of perfume and cassia come from your garments, from ivory palaces, from which they have made you glad. Daughters of kings are among your honored ones. The queen stood at your right hand, clothed in garments woven with gold, richly embroidered. Listen, daughter, and see, and bend your ear. Forget your people and your father’s house, and the king will desire your beauty, because he is your lord. And they will worship him.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word staktē means fragrant drops, probably the oil that oozes from myrrh.

38.5  “And a daughter of Tyre will come with gifts. The rich among the people will seek your favor. All the glory of the king’s daughter is within, clothed in garments with golden fringes, richly embroidered. Virgins will be brought to the king behind him. Those near her will be brought to you. They will be brought with gladness and rejoicing. They will be led into the king’s temple. In place of your fathers, your sons have been born. You will appoint them rulers over all the earth. I will remember your name in every generation. Therefore peoples will give thanks to you forever, and forever and ever.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin’s Greek says the virgins are brought “behind him” (the king), whereas the Septuagint Psalm has “behind her”; the Greek also has “temple” (naos) and “golden fringes.”


CHAPTER 39

39.1  “It is no surprise,” I added, “that you hate us too, because we understand these things and expose your heart, which is always hard. Elijah, pleading with God about you, says: ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I alone was left, and they are seeking my life.’ And God answers him: ‘I still have seven thousand men who have not bent the knee to Baal.’”
   [Translator’s note] See 1 Kings 19:10, 18. Justin’s wording is very close to Paul’s quotation of the same exchange in Romans 11:3–4.
   [Scripture] Romans 11:3-4

39.2  “In the same way, then, that God did not bring his anger at that time because of those seven thousand, so he has not yet brought judgment, and is not bringing it now. He knows that every day some are becoming disciples in the name of his Christ and leaving the way of error. These also receive gifts, each as they are worthy, as they are enlightened through the name of this Christ. One receives a spirit of understanding, another of counsel, another of strength, another of healing, another of foreknowledge, another of teaching, and another of the fear of God.”
   [Translator’s note] The list of gifts echoes Isaiah 11:2–3 (in the Greek Old Testament: a spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, knowledge and godliness, and, in verse 3, the fear of God). Healing and teaching recall Paul’s list of gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:9, 28.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 11:2

39.3  At this Trypho said to me, “I want you to know that you are out of your mind to say these things.”

39.4  I answered him, “Listen, my friend. I am not raving, and I am not out of my mind. It was prophesied that after Christ went up into heaven he would take us captive away from error and would give us gifts. These are the words: ‘He went up on high, he led captivity captive, he gave gifts to men.’”
   [Translator’s note] This is Psalm 68:18 (67:19 in the Greek Old Testament). The Psalm itself says “you received gifts among men.” Justin, like Paul in Ephesians 4:8, has “he gave gifts to men.”
   [Scripture] Ephesians 4:8

39.5  “So we have received gifts from Christ, who went up on high. From the words of the prophets we show that you, who are wise in your own eyes and clever in your own sight, are senseless, and that you honor God and his Christ with your lips only. But we have been taught from the whole truth, and we honor them in deeds, in knowledge, and in heart, even to death.”
   [Translator’s note] “Wise in yourselves” and “honoring with the lips only” recall Isaiah 5:21 and 29:13. In the last clause (“we honor them”) the Greek gives no object. It is understood from the earlier phrase “God and his Christ.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 5:21; Isaiah 29:13

39.6  “But perhaps another reason you hesitate to confess that this man is the Christ, as the Scriptures and the things seen and done in his name prove, is to avoid being persecuted by the rulers. Under the working of the evil and deceiving spirit, the serpent, they will not stop killing and persecuting those who confess the name of Christ. This will go on until he comes again, destroys them all, and gives to each what he deserves.”

39.7  Trypho said, “Then give us the proof now that this man, whom you say was crucified and went up into heaven, is the Christ of God. The Scriptures you have already gone through show well enough that the Christ is proclaimed as one who suffers, that he will come again with glory, and that he will receive the eternal kingdom of all the nations, with every kingdom made subject to him. But show us that this man is the one.”
   [Translator’s note] “One who suffers” translates a Greek word meaning “capable of suffering” or “subject to suffering.”

39.8  I replied, “It has already been proved, gentlemen, to those who have ears, even from what you yourselves admit. But I do not want you to think I am at a loss, or unable to give proofs for what you ask. So I will give them, as I promised, in the proper place. For now I go back to the thread of what I was saying.”


CHAPTER 40

40.1  So the mystery of the lamb, which God commanded to be sacrificed as the Passover, was a type of Christ. Those who believe in him anoint their houses, that is, themselves, with his blood, in keeping with their faith in him. All of you can understand that the creature God formed, Adam, became a house for the breath that God breathed into him. And I will show you that this commandment too was only temporary.
   [Translator’s note] Justin is thinking of Genesis 2:7, where God forms man from the dust and breathes into him the breath of life.
   [Scripture] Exodus 12:7; Genesis 2:7

40.2  God does not allow the Passover lamb to be sacrificed anywhere except in the place where his name has been called upon. He knew that days would come, after Christ suffered, when the place at Jerusalem would be handed over to your enemies, and all offerings without exception would stop.
   [Translator’s note] See Deuteronomy 16:5–6, which forbids sacrificing the Passover in any town except the place the Lord chooses as a dwelling for his name.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 16:5-6

40.3  That lamb, which was commanded to be roasted whole, was a symbol of the suffering of the cross that Christ was going to undergo. For when the lamb is roasted, it is arranged in the shape of a cross. One spit is run straight up through it from the lowest parts to the head, and another goes across the back, and the lamb’s forelegs are fastened to it.
   [Translator’s note] The command to roast the lamb whole, head and legs included, is in Exodus 12:8–9. The cross-shaped arrangement of spits is Justin’s description and is not in Scripture.
   [Scripture] Exodus 12:9

40.4  The two goats that were commanded to be alike and to be offered at the fast were also a proclamation of the two comings of Christ. One goat was sent away, and the other was offered. The first coming is the one in which the elders of your people and the priests laid their hands on him, put him to death, and sent him away like the goat sent off into the wilderness. The second coming is the one in which you will recognize, in that same place, Jerusalem, the one you dishonored. He was an offering for all sinners who are willing to repent and who keep the fast that Isaiah describes, tearing apart the knots of violent contracts and keeping the other things he lists, which I have already quoted. These are the things that those who believe in Jesus do.
   [Translator’s note] The fast Isaiah describes is in Isaiah 58:6, which in the Greek Old Testament speaks of loosening “the knots of violent contracts.”
   [Scripture] Leviticus 16:7-10; Isaiah 58:6

40.5  And you know that the offering of the two goats, commanded at the fast, was likewise permitted nowhere else but in Jerusalem.


CHAPTER 41

41.1  “And the offering of fine flour, sirs,” I said, “which was handed down to be offered for those cleansed from leprosy, was a type of the bread of the Eucharist. Jesus Christ our Lord commanded us to do this in remembrance of the suffering he endured for people whose souls are cleansed from all wickedness. He did this so that we might give thanks to God for creating the world with everything in it for the sake of mankind. We also thank God for freeing us from the evil in which we were, and for completely destroying the rulers and authorities through the one who became capable of suffering according to his will.
   [Translator’s note] Justin’s word for the one who “became capable of suffering” (παθητός) stresses that Christ took on a nature able to suffer. “His will” in the Greek could mean either God’s will or Christ’s own.
   [Scripture] Leviticus 14:10; Luke 22:19

41.2  So God speaks through Malachi, one of the twelve prophets, as I said before, about the sacrifices you offered at that time: “I have no desire for you, says the Lord, and I will not accept your sacrifices from your hands. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name has been glorified among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice. For my name is great among the nations, says the Lord, but you profane it.”
   [Translator’s note] This quotes Malachi 1:10–12 in Justin’s own wording, which differs slightly from the usual Greek Old Testament text. For example, the Greek Old Testament has “the Lord Almighty.”
   [Scripture] Malachi 1:10-12

41.3  But about the sacrifices that we Gentiles offer to him in every place, that is, the bread of the Eucharist and likewise the cup of the Eucharist, he spoke in advance at that time. He said that we glorify his name, and that you profane it.
   [Scripture] Malachi 1:11-12

41.4  The commandment of circumcision, which ordered that those born be circumcised without fail on the eighth day, was a type of the true circumcision. By this we have been circumcised from error and wickedness through Jesus Christ our Lord, who rose from the dead on the first day of the week. For the first day of the week is the first of all the days. Yet when the days of the cycle are counted again, it is called the eighth, and it still remains the first.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says “the one of the sabbaths.” This is a Jewish way of saying the first day of the week, that is, Sunday, and the same phrase is used in the Gospels (for example, Matthew 28:1). The older translation’s “after the Sabbath” gives the sense. The eighth-day command is in Genesis 17:12.
   [Scripture] Genesis 17:12; Leviticus 12:3


CHAPTER 42

42.1  Moreover, the instruction handed down that twelve bells be hung from the full-length robe of the high priest was a symbol of the twelve apostles, who hang on the power of Christ, the eternal Priest. Through their voice the whole earth has been filled with the glory and grace of God and of his Christ. That is why David says, “Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Psalm 19:4 (Psalm 18:5 in the Greek Old Testament). Paul applies the same verse to the spread of the gospel in Romans 10:18.
   [Scripture] Exodus 28:33-34

42.2  Isaiah speaks as if in the person of the apostles. They tell Christ that people believe not because of their message but because of the power of the one who sent them. So he says: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We announced before him as a child, as a root in thirsty ground.” The rest of the prophecy follows, as I quoted it earlier.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek is ambiguous about who “believes.” It could also mean that the apostles themselves trust not in their own message but in the power of the one who sent them, which is how the older translation takes it.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:1-2

42.3  When the text speaks as if in the person of many (“We announced before him”) and then adds “as a child,” it shows that the wicked will become his subjects and serve his command, and that all will become as one child. You can see the same thing in a body. Many members are counted, yet all together are called one and are one body. In the same way a people or a church is made up of many individuals, yet they are called and addressed by a single name, as one thing.
   [Translator’s note] For the picture of many members making one body, compare 1 Corinthians 12:12.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:2; 1 Corinthians 12:12

42.4  “In short, gentlemen,” I said, “I could go through all the other things Moses commanded and show that they were types, symbols and announcements. They pointed to what would happen to Christ, to those who were foreknown to believe in him, and likewise to what Christ himself would do. But what I have listed so far seems to me enough, so I return to my argument in its proper order.”


CHAPTER 43

43.1  “Circumcision began with Abraham. The Sabbath, sacrifices, offerings and feasts began with Moses. I have shown that these were commanded because of the hardness of your people’s hearts. In the same way, according to the Father’s will, they had to come to an end in Christ, the Son of God. He was born of a virgin who came from the family of Abraham, from the tribe of Judah, and from David. He was proclaimed as the one who would come forth to the whole world as an eternal law and a new covenant, as the prophecies I quoted show.”
   [Translator’s note] The older translation has “everlasting covenant.” The Greek says “new covenant” (καινὴ διαθήκη).

43.2  “We, who have come to God through him, have not received this circumcision of the flesh. We have received a spiritual circumcision, which Enoch and others like him kept. We received it through baptism, because we had become sinners, and we received it by God’s mercy. It is open to everyone to receive it in the same way.”
   [Translator’s note] Compare Colossians 2:11–12, where Paul links a circumcision “not made with hands” to being buried with Christ in baptism.
   [Scripture] Colossians 2:11-12

43.3  “Since it is now urgent to speak about the mystery of his birth, I will do so. Isaiah said that the origin of Christ cannot be told by human beings, in the words I quoted earlier: ‘Who will declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth; because of the lawless deeds of my people he was led to death.’ He was going to die so that we sinful people might be healed by his wound. The Spirit of prophecy said these things because the generation of such a one cannot be told.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Isaiah 53:8 in its Greek form, and “healed by his wound” echoes Isaiah 53:5. Justin takes “generation” to mean Christ’s birth and origin. Modern readers often understand the verse differently.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:8; Isaiah 53:5

43.4  “Furthermore, so that people who believe in him might know how he came to be born into the world, the Spirit of prophecy, through the same Isaiah, foretold how it would happen. He said:”

43.5  “‘And the Lord went on to speak to Ahaz, saying: Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height. And Ahaz said: I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. And Isaiah said: Listen now, house of David. Is it a small thing for you to make trouble for men? And how do you make trouble for the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive in the womb and will bear a son, and his name will be called Emmanuel. Butter and honey he will eat.’”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Isaiah 7:10–15 in its Greek form. Its wording sometimes differs from English Bibles, which are translated from the Hebrew.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 7:10-15

43.6  “‘Before he knows or prefers evil, he will choose the good. For before the child knows good or evil, he refuses evil so as 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 before the king of the Assyrians. And the land will be seized, which you will bear heavily because of the two kings. But God will bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father’s house, days such as have not yet come upon you since the day Ephraim took away from Judah the king of the Assyrians.’”
   [Translator’s note] The last clause is obscure in the Greek and is kept literal. In the Hebrew of Isaiah 7:17, “the king of Assyria” stands as a separate phrase naming the coming disaster.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 7:15-16; Isaiah 8:4; Isaiah 7:16-17

43.7  “Now it is plain to everyone that no one in the fleshly descent of Abraham has ever been born of a virgin, or is said to have been, except this Christ of ours.”

43.8  “But you and your teachers dare to say that Isaiah’s prophecy does not say, ‘Look, the virgin will have a child in her womb,’ but, ‘Look, the young woman will conceive and bear a son.’ You explain the prophecy as being about Hezekiah, who was your king. On this point too I will try to answer you briefly. I will show that the prophecy was spoken about the one we acknowledge as Christ.
   [Translator’s note] Here Justin quotes the verse as “will have in the womb,” the wording found in Matthew 1:23 and in many copies of the Greek Isaiah. In 43.5 he quotes it as “will conceive.” The older English made both read “conceive.” The rendering “young woman” (Greek neanis) is the one found in later Greek translations used by Jews, such as those of Aquila and Theodotion.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 7:14


CHAPTER 44

44.1  “In this way, as far as you are concerned, I will be found completely free of blame, if I do my best to persuade you by giving proofs. But suppose you stay hard-hearted, or weak in resolve because of the death decreed for Christians, and refuse to agree with the truth. Then you will have only yourselves to blame. You are deceiving yourselves. You suppose that, because you are Abraham’s descendants by physical descent, you will surely inherit the good things God announced he would give through Christ.

44.2  No one can receive any of those things from anywhere, except those whose way of thinking has been made like the faith of Abraham and who have understood all the mysteries. I mean this: some commandments were laid down for reverence toward God and right living. Other commandments and practices were likewise given, either with a view to the mystery of Christ or because of the hardness of heart of your people. And that this is so, God declared in Ezekiel, speaking about this very thing: “If Noah and Jacob and Daniel ask for sons or daughters, it will not be given to them.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin is loosely recalling Ezekiel 14:14–20, which names Noah, Daniel and Job and says they could save neither sons nor daughters, only themselves; Justin (or the copyist of the one surviving manuscript) has Jacob in place of Job.

44.3  And in Isaiah God spoke on this same point: “The Lord God said: And they will go out and see the bodies of the men who transgressed. For their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched, and they will be a sight for all flesh.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Isaiah 66:24. The Greek word translated “bodies” literally means “limbs”; in the Greek Old Testament it is used for dead bodies.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 66:24

44.4  So you must cut this hope out of your souls. Be eager instead to learn by what way you can receive forgiveness of sins and hope of inheriting the good things that were promised. There is no other way than this: to come to know this Christ, to wash in the washing that Isaiah proclaimed for the forgiveness of sins, and from then on to live without sin.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says “washing” (or “bath”), not “fountain” as in the older English; Justin probably has in mind Isaiah 1:16 (“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean”), which he quotes about baptism in First Apology 61.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 1:16


CHAPTER 45

45.1  Trypho said, “I may seem to be interrupting these matters you are discussing, which do need to be examined. But the question I want to raise is urgent, so please bear with me first.” I said, “Examine whatever you like, as it comes to you. After the questions and answers, I will try to take up the discussion again and finish it.”

45.2  He said, “Then tell me: will those who lived by the law given through Moses live in the resurrection of the dead in the same way as Jacob, Enoch and Noah, or not?”

45.3  I answered him, “Sir, when I quoted what Ezekiel said, ‘Even if Noah and Daniel and Jacob ask for sons and daughters, it will not be given to them,’ but each will clearly be saved by his own righteousness, I was also saying that those who lived by the law of Moses will be saved in the same way. For in the law of Moses, those who obey it are commanded to do what is good, godly and just by nature. It is also written that other things were commanded because of the hardness of the people’s heart, and those under the law did these things as well.”

45.4  Those who did what is universally, naturally and eternally good are pleasing to God. So they too will be saved through this Christ in the resurrection, just like the righteous who lived before them: Noah, Enoch, Jacob, and any others. They will be saved together with those who have come to know this Christ, the Son of God. He existed before the morning star and the moon. He became flesh and submitted to being born of this virgin from the family of David. By this plan, the serpent who did evil from the beginning, and the angels who became like him, would be destroyed. Death would be despised, and at the second coming of Christ himself it would cease completely for those who believe in him and live in a way that pleases him, and afterward it would be no more. Then some will be sent to judgment and to condemnation in fire, to be punished without end. Others will live together in freedom from suffering, incorruption, freedom from grief, and immortality.
   [Translator’s note] “Plan” translates the Greek word oikonomia, often rendered “dispensation” (the older English). It means God’s arrangement for saving humanity through the incarnation.


CHAPTER 46

46.1  “But suppose some people even now want to live keeping the commands given through Moses, and they also believe in this Jesus who was crucified. They recognize that he is the Christ of God, that he has been given the right to judge everyone without exception, and that the eternal kingdom is his. Can they too be saved?” he asked me.

46.2  And I said again, “Let us also consider this together: whether it is possible to keep everything that was commanded through Moses now.” He answered, “No. We know that, as you said, it is impossible to sacrifice the Passover lamb anywhere else, or to offer the goats ordered for the fast, or, in short, any of the other offerings.” I said, “Then tell me yourself, please, what can be kept. You will be convinced that a person who does not keep these things, but has done what is eternally right, can certainly be saved.” He said, “I mean keeping the Sabbath, being circumcised, observing the rules about monthly periods, and being washed if one has touched any of the things Moses forbade, or after sexual intercourse.”
   [Translator’s note] “Monthly periods” translates a Greek word normally meaning menstruation, so Trypho probably means the purity laws of Leviticus 15:19–24. The older English “observe months” is a less likely reading.

46.3  I said, “What about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah and Job, and any others who were equally righteous before or after them? I include Sarah, the wife of Abraham, Rebekah, the wife of Isaac, Rachel, the wife of Jacob, and Leah, and all the other such women down to the mother of Moses, the faithful servant. None of them kept any of these things. Do you think they will be saved?” Trypho answered, “Were not Abraham and those after him circumcised?”
   [Translator’s note] “The faithful servant” echoes what is said of Moses in Numbers 12:7 and Hebrews 3:5.
   [Scripture] Numbers 12:7; Hebrews 3:5

46.4  I said, “I know that Abraham and those after him were circumcised. I explained at length in my earlier remarks why circumcision was given to them. If what I said does not convince you, let us examine the matter again. But you know that until Moses no righteous person at all kept any of the things we are asking about, or received a commandment to keep them, except for circumcision, which began with Abraham.” He said, “We know that, and we agree that those people are saved.”

46.5  I went on, “You understand that God commanded all such ordinances through Moses because of the hardness of your people’s hearts. By means of these many commands you were to keep God before your eyes in every action, and never begin to do wrong or to act impiously. He commanded you to wear a scarlet thread, so that you would not forget God. He also told you to wear a phylactery, made of very thin skins on which certain characters were written, which we agree are certainly holy. By these means he pressed you always to remember God, and at the same time to carry a rebuke in your hearts.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin says “scarlet thread.” The older English has “a fringe of purple dye.” Numbers 15:38–39 commands tassels with a blue cord so that Israel would remember God’s commands, so Justin’s color differs from Scripture. The phylactery comes from Deuteronomy 6:8 and 11:18.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 6:8

46.6  Yet you do not keep even a small remembrance of the worship of God, and even with all these reminders you were not persuaded to give up idolatry. In the time of Elijah, when God named the number of those who had not bent the knee to Baal, he said there were seven thousand. And in Isaiah he accuses you of making your own children a sacrifice to idols.
   [Translator’s note] The seven thousand who had not bowed to Baal are from 1 Kings 19:18 (quoted by Paul in Romans 11:4). The charge of sacrificing children is probably from Isaiah 57:5.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 57:5

46.7  But we endure the most severe punishments rather than sacrifice to the gods to whom we once sacrificed. We rejoice even when we are put to death, believing that God will raise us up through his Christ and make us incorruptible, free from suffering, and immortal. And we know that the commands given because of the hardness of your people’s hearts contribute nothing to doing what is right and to godliness.


CHAPTER 47

47.1  Trypho asked again, “But suppose someone knows that all this is so, and, besides knowing that this man is the Christ, has believed in him and obeys him, yet wants to keep these things as well. Will he be saved?” I said, “In my opinion, Trypho, such a person will be saved, as long as he does not try by every means to persuade other people to keep the same things. I mean the Gentiles who have been circumcised from error through Christ. He must not tell them that they will not be saved unless they keep these things, as you yourself did at the beginning of our talk, when you declared that I would not be saved unless I kept them.”
   [Translator’s note] “Circumcised from error” is Justin’s figure for Gentiles who have been cut free from error through Christ, a spiritual circumcision.

47.2  He said, “Then why did you say, ‘In my opinion such a person will be saved’? Are there some who say that such people will not be saved?” “There are, Trypho,” I answered. “They do not even dare to share conversation or a meal with such people. I do not agree with them. But suppose some, because of weakness of mind, want to keep now whatever they can of the commands of Moses, which we understand were given because of the hardness of the people’s hearts. Suppose they also hope in this Christ and want to keep the eternal and natural acts of righteousness and godliness. And suppose they choose to live together with the Christians and the faithful, as I said before, without trying to persuade them either to be circumcised as they are, or to keep the Sabbath, or to observe other such things. Then I declare that we must welcome them and share everything with them, as people of the same heart and as brothers.”
   [Translator’s note] The older English says these people “expect some virtue” from the observances, which is not in the Greek. The Greek says they act out of weakness of judgment.

47.3  But Trypho, suppose some from your own people who say they believe in this Christ try to force Gentile believers in this Christ to live in every respect by the law given through Moses. Or suppose they choose not to share their daily life with them. I do not accept these people either.
   [Translator’s note] Compare Galatians 2:12–14, where Paul rebukes Peter for withdrawing from table fellowship with Gentiles and for compelling Gentiles to live like Jews.

47.4  But those who are persuaded by them to take up life under the law, while still holding to their confession of God’s Christ, I suppose may perhaps be saved. But some have confessed and recognized that this man is the Christ, and then for whatever reason have gone over to life under the law, denying that he is the Christ, and have not repented before death. I declare that these will not be saved at all. In the same way, I declare that those of Abraham’s seed who live by the law and do not believe in this Christ before the end of their life will not be saved. This applies especially to those who in the synagogues have cursed, and still curse, those who believe in this very Christ so that they may obtain salvation and escape the punishment of fire.
   [Translator’s note] The older English says the synagogues curse “this very Christ, and everything by which they might obtain salvation.” The Greek says they curse those who believe in Christ, and the people who believe do so in order to obtain salvation.

47.5  For God’s kindness and love for humanity, and the boundless measure of his riches, count the one who repents of his sins as righteous and sinless, as he declares through Ezekiel. And he regards the one who turns from godliness and righteous living to injustice and godlessness as a sinner, unjust and ungodly. So our Lord Jesus Christ also said, “In whatever state I find you, in that I will also judge you.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin gives this saying of Jesus as a quotation, but it is not found in our Gospels. The Ezekiel reference is to Ezekiel 18:21–24 and 33:12–16.
   [Scripture] Ezekiel 18:21-24


CHAPTER 48

48.1  Trypho said, “We have heard what you think about these matters. So take up your argument again where you stopped, and finish it. For the claim seems to me strange and quite impossible to prove. You say that this Christ existed beforehand as God before the ages, and then submitted to be born and become a man, and yet that he is not a man born of men. That seems to me not only strange but foolish.”

48.2  To this I said, “I know that the statement seems strange, especially to those of your people. You have never been willing to understand or do what belongs to God, only what belongs to your teachers, as God himself cries out. Even so, Trypho,” I said, “the case that this man is God’s Christ does not fall apart if I cannot show that he also existed beforehand as Son of the Maker of all things, being God, and was born a man through the virgin.
   [Translator’s note] “As God himself cries out” probably refers to Isaiah 29:13, where God complains that the people honor him with their lips while teaching human commandments.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 29:13

48.3  “Since it has been fully proved that this man is the Christ of God, whoever he may be, suppose I do not prove that he existed beforehand and that, by the Father’s will, he submitted to be born a man with the same nature as ours, having flesh. Then it is right to say only that I have made a mistake on that point. It would not be right to deny that he is the Christ, even if he appears to have been born a man from men and is shown to have become the Christ by being chosen.

48.4  “For there are some, my friends,” I said, “from your own people who confess that he is the Christ but declare that he was a man born of men. I do not agree with them, and I would not, even if most of those who share my views said the same. For Christ himself commanded us to obey not human teachings but what was proclaimed by the blessed prophets and taught by him.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek text followed here reads “your race” (that is, Jewish people). The older translation has “our race,” which reflects a different reading of the text.
   [Scripture] Matthew 15:9; Mark 7:7


CHAPTER 49

49.1  Trypho said, “Those who say that he was a man, was anointed by choice, and so became Christ seem to me more persuasive than you who say what you are saying. For all of us expect the Christ to be a man born of men, and that Elijah will come and anoint him. But if this man appears to be the Christ, he must by all means be recognized as a man born of men. Yet since Elijah has not come, I declare that this man is not the Christ either.”

49.2  I asked him in turn, “Does not the word say through Zechariah that Elijah will come before this great and fearful day of the Lord?” He answered, “Certainly.” I said, “Then suppose the word compels us to admit that two comings of the Christ were prophesied. In one he would appear suffering, dishonored, and without beauty. In the other he would come glorious and as judge of all, as has been shown in many of the passages already cited. Shall we not understand that the word of God announced Elijah as the forerunner of the fearful and great day, that is, of his second coming?” “Certainly,” he answered.
   [Translator’s note] The promise that Elijah will come before the great and fearful day of the Lord is found in Malachi 4:5 (3:23 in Hebrew), not in Zechariah. The Greek text does name Zechariah, which is either Justin’s slip or a copyist’s error.
   [Scripture] Malachi 4:5; Isaiah 53:2-3

49.3  “And so our Lord,” I said, “handed this very thing down in his teaching as something that would happen, when he said that Elijah would also come. We know this will happen when our Lord Jesus Christ comes from heaven in glory. Before his first appearing, the Spirit of God who was in Elijah went ahead as a herald, in John, a prophet who arose among your people. After him no other prophet appeared among you. Sitting by the river Jordan, John cried out: ‘I baptize you with water for repentance. But one stronger than I is coming, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clear his threshing floor. He will gather the wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.’”
   [Translator’s note] John’s words follow Matthew 3:11–12 (compare Luke 3:16–17). The Lord’s saying that Elijah would come is in Matthew 17:11.
   [Scripture] Matthew 17:11; Luke 1:17; Matthew 3:11-12; Luke 3:16-17

49.4  “Your king Herod had shut this same prophet up in prison. When his birthday was being celebrated, his niece danced in a way that pleased him, and he told her to ask for whatever she wanted. The girl’s mother prompted her to ask for the head of John, who was in the prison. When she asked, Herod sent and ordered John’s head to be brought on a platter.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek exadelphē usually means “cousin,” though here it is rendered “niece.” According to Matthew 14:6 the girl was the daughter of Herodias, which made her Herod’s stepdaughter and grandniece, and Herodias herself was Herod’s niece. Justin is summarizing the Gospel story (Matthew 14:3–11; Mark 6:17–28) and does not name the women.

49.5  “So our Christ, while he was on earth, spoke to those who said that Elijah must come before the Christ: ‘Elijah will indeed come and restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted.’ And it is written: ‘Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.’”
   [Translator’s note] Both quotations come from Matthew 17:11–13.
   [Scripture] Matthew 17:11-13

49.6  Trypho said, “This also seems to me a strange thing to say: that the prophetic Spirit of God who was in Elijah was also in John.” I answered, “Don’t you think the same thing happened with Joshua son of Nun, who took over the leadership of the people after Moses? Moses was told to lay his hands on Joshua, and God himself said, ‘I will take some of the spirit that is in you and put it on him.’”
   [Translator’s note] The laying of hands on Joshua is in Numbers 27:18–23 (compare Deuteronomy 34:9). The words “I will take some of the spirit that is in you and put it on...” come from Numbers 11:17, where God says them about the seventy elders, not about Joshua. Justin joins the two passages.
   [Scripture] Numbers 27:18; Numbers 11:17

49.7  He said, “Certainly.” “Then,” I said, “while Moses was still living among men, God took some of the spirit in Moses and put it on Joshua. In the same way God was able to make the Spirit pass from Elijah to John. The purpose was this: Christ appeared without glory at his first coming. In the same way, the first coming of the Spirit that was in Elijah, a Spirit that always remains pure, as Christ’s does, would be understood as without glory.”
   [Translator’s note] The last sentence is compressed in the Greek. The sense seems to be that the Spirit’s first coming, in John, was without glory, matching Christ’s first coming. Justin has just argued that Elijah himself will come before Christ’s second, glorious coming.

49.8  “For it is said that the Lord fights against Amalek with a hidden hand, and you will not deny that Amalek fell. But suppose it is said that Amalek will be fought only at the glorious coming of Christ. Then what fruit would there be in the word that says, ‘God fights against Amalek with a hidden hand’? You can understand that the hidden power of God was in the crucified Christ. Demons shudder before him, and so do all the rulers and authorities of the earth, without exception.”
   [Translator’s note] “Demons shudder” echoes James 2:19.
   [Scripture] Exodus 17:16; James 2:19


CHAPTER 50

50.1  Trypho said, “You seem to me to have had a great deal of practice arguing with many people about all the questions under discussion. That is why you are ready to answer anything you are asked. Then answer me this first: how can you show that there is another God besides the Maker of all things? After that you will show that he also submitted to being born through the virgin.”

50.2  I said, “First allow me to quote some words from the prophecy of Isaiah. They speak about the forerunner’s work: how John, the Baptist and a prophet, went ahead of this Jesus Christ, our Lord.” He said, “I allow it.”

50.3  I said, “Isaiah spoke beforehand about John as forerunner like this: ‘And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, The word of the Lord that he spoke is good. Let there be peace and righteousness in my days.’ And: ‘Comfort the people. Priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem and comfort her, because her humiliation is fulfilled. Her sin has been pardoned, for she has received from the Lord’s hand double for her sins. A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the ways of the Lord; make straight the paths of our God. Every ravine will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low. All that is crooked will become straight, and the rough ground will become smooth roads. The glory of the Lord will be seen, and all flesh will see the salvation of God, for the Lord has spoken.
   [Translator’s note] Justin quotes the Greek Septuagint, which differs in places from English Bibles based on the Hebrew. For example, “priests” and “humiliation” in Isaiah 40:2 appear where the Hebrew has no “priests” and reads “warfare” or “hard service.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 39:8; Isaiah 40:1-5

50.4  A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man is like the flower of grass. The grass has withered, and its flower has fallen away, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up; do not be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!” Behold, the Lord comes with strength, and his arm comes with authority. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him. Like a shepherd he will tend his flock, and with his arm he will gather the lambs, and he will comfort her who is with young.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 40:6-11

50.5  Who has measured the water in his hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth in his fist? Who has set the mountains on a scale and the valleys on a balance? Who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has been his counselor, to instruct him? Or with whom did he take counsel, so that he taught him? Or who showed him justice? Or who made known to him the way of understanding? All the nations are reckoned like a drop from a bucket, like the tipping of a balance, and they will be counted like spittle. Lebanon is not enough for the fire, nor are the four-footed beasts enough for a whole burnt offering. All the nations are nothing, and they have been counted as nothing.’”
   [Translator’s note] “Spittle” follows the Greek Septuagint of Isaiah 40:15. Hebrew-based English Bibles read “fine dust.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 40:12-17


CHAPTER 51

51.1  When I had finished, Trypho said, “All the words of this prophecy you recite, sir, are ambiguous, and they contain nothing decisive to prove what you want to prove.” I answered, “Trypho, if the prophets had not ceased, and there had still been prophets in your nation after this John, perhaps you might think what is said was ambiguous.
   [Translator’s note] The older translation reverses the condition (“If the prophets had not ceased, so that there were no more…”) and adds “in reference to Jesus Christ.” Neither is in the Greek. Justin’s point is that prophecy stopped with John, which shows that John and Jesus fulfilled it.

51.2  John came first, crying out to people to repent. While he was still sitting by the river Jordan, Christ came and put an end to his prophesying and baptizing. Christ himself also preached the good news. He said that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and that he must suffer many things from the scribes and Pharisees, be crucified, and rise on the third day. He said that he would appear again in Jerusalem and would then eat and drink with his disciples again. He also foretold that in the time before his coming, as I said before, there would be sects and false prophets in his name, and this is plainly what we see. If all this is so, how can anyone still doubt, when the facts themselves can convince you?
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word haireseis means “sects” or “factions.” Later it came to mean “heresies.”
   [Scripture] Matthew 3:1-2; Matthew 16:21; Matthew 24:11; Matthew 26:29

51.3  He had also spoken about how there would no longer be any prophet in your nation. He spoke too of recognizing that the new covenant, which God had long ago announced he would establish, was already present, that is, Christ himself. He said it like this: “The law and the prophets were until John the Baptist. From then on the kingdom of heaven is taken by force, and violent men seize it. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. Let anyone who has ears to hear, hear.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word diatheke can mean both “covenant” and “testament” (a will). Here it means the new covenant, not the book.
   [Scripture] Matthew 11:12-15; Luke 16:16


CHAPTER 52

52.1  Through the patriarch Jacob it was also prophesied that there would be two comings of Christ, and that in the first he would suffer. I went on to say that after he came there would be neither prophet nor king in your nation, and that the Gentiles, believing in the suffering Christ, would look forward to his coming again. “And for this reason,” I said, “the Holy Spirit spoke these things in a parable and in veiled language.”

52.2  I added that he had spoken like this: “Judah, your brothers have praised you. Your hands will be on the back of your enemies; the sons of your father will worship you. Judah is a lion’s cub. From a shoot, my son, you have come up. Lying down, he slept like a lion and like a cub. Who will raise him up? A ruler will not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until the things stored up for him come. And he will be the expectation of the nations, binding his foal to the vine, and the foal of his donkey to the tendril. He will wash his robe in wine and his garment in the blood of the grape. His eyes are bright with wine, and his teeth are white as milk.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Genesis 49:8–12, in the Greek Septuagint form. At points this differs from the Hebrew. For example, “until the things stored up for him come” stands where the Hebrew has a hard phrase often rendered “until Shiloh comes,” and “expectation of the nations” stands where the Hebrew has “the obedience of the peoples.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 49:8-12

52.3  You will not dare, however shameless you are, to say that your nation ever lacked a prophet or a ruler from the time it began until this Jesus Christ was born and suffered. Nor can you prove it. You say that Herod, under whom he suffered, was from Ascalon. Even so, you say that there was a high priest in your nation. So at that time you had a high priest who, according to the law of Moses, presented offerings and kept the other legal requirements. You also had prophets in succession down to John. Even when your people were carried off to Babylon, when the land was ravaged by war and the sacred vessels were taken away, a prophet never ceased to be among you, one who was lord, leader and ruler of your people. For the Spirit in the prophets anointed your kings and set them in place.
   [Translator’s note] The Herod sentence is compressed, and its sense is uncertain. The words rendered “under whom he suffered” could also mean “from the time he suffered,” and the older English has “after whose [reign].” The point seems to be that even if the ruler, Herod, was of foreign descent, there was still a lawful high priest, so the line of leadership had not yet failed. A tradition that Herod’s family came from Ascalon is also preserved by the later writer Julius Africanus.

52.4  After the appearing and death of Jesus, our Christ, in your nation, there has been no prophet anywhere, and there is none now. Rather, you have ceased to live under a king of your own. On top of this, your land has been laid waste and left like a watchman’s hut in an orchard. When the word was spoken through Jacob, “And he will be the expectation of the nations,” it pointed in symbol to his two comings, and to the fact that the nations would believe in him. You can see this at last, late as it is. For we, from all the nations, who through faith in Christ have become devout and righteous, are waiting for him to come again.
   [Translator’s note] “Left like a watchman’s hut in an orchard” echoes Isaiah 1:8 in the Greek Septuagint, where the same word (oporophylakion) is used.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 1:8; Genesis 49:10


CHAPTER 53

53.1  The words “binding his foal to the vine, and the donkey’s foal to the tendril” were an advance announcement both of the works he did at his first coming and of the nations who would believe in him. For these nations were like an unharnessed foal with no yoke on its neck, until this Christ came and, by sending his disciples, made disciples of them. Then they took up the yoke of his word and bent their backs to endure everything, for the sake of the good things they expected and he had announced.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says literally that they placed their “back” (noton) under the yoke.
   [Scripture] Genesis 49:11

53.2  Our Lord Jesus Christ was about to enter Jerusalem. At the entrance of a village called Bethphage there was in fact a donkey tied up with her foal. He told His disciples to bring them to Him, and He mounted and rode into Jerusalem. It had been plainly prophesied beforehand that the Christ would do this. When He did it and people recognized what it meant, it made plain that He was the Christ. Yet although all this has happened and is proved from the Scriptures, you are still hard-hearted.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says only that He “sat on” and does not say on what. Of the four Gospels, only Matthew (21:1–7) mentions both a donkey and her foal. Mark, Luke and John speak of a single young animal.

53.3  Zechariah, one of the twelve prophets, foretold that this would happen, saying: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; shout aloud, proclaim it, daughter of Jerusalem. Look, your king will come to you, righteous and bringing salvation, gentle and poor, riding on a beast of burden and on a donkey’s foal.”
   [Translator’s note] “The twelve” means the twelve shorter prophetic books at the end of the Old Testament, not the apostles. The quotation is Zechariah 9:9.
   [Scripture] Zechariah 9:9

53.4  The Spirit of prophecy, together with the patriarch Jacob, names a donkey that was already a beast of burden, along with her foal, as belonging to Him. As I said before, He Himself also told His disciples to bring both animals. All this was an announcement ahead of time that people from your synagogue, together with people from the nations, would believe in Him. For just as the foal that had never carried a load was a symbol of those from the nations, so the donkey that carried a load was a symbol of those from your people. For you have the law laid on you through the prophets.
   [Translator’s note] The reference to Jacob is to Genesis 49:11, where Jacob speaks of the ruler from Judah tying his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, a verse Justin discussed just before this.
   [Scripture] Genesis 49:11; Matthew 21:2

53.5  Zechariah the prophet also foretold that this same Christ would be struck and His disciples scattered, and that is just what happened. After He was crucified, the disciples who had been with Him were scattered, until He rose from the dead and convinced them that it had been prophesied that He would suffer in this way. Convinced, they went out into the whole world and taught these things.
   [Scripture] Zechariah 13:7; Luke 24:25-27

53.6  So we also are firm in our faith in Him and in being His disciples. We have our conviction from the prophets, and from those throughout the world who are seen to have become devout worshippers of God in the name of that crucified One. These are the words Zechariah spoke: “Sword, awake against my shepherd and against the man of my people, says the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and his sheep will be scattered.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Zechariah 13:7. Jesus applies the same verse to Himself and His disciples in Matthew 26:31 and Mark 14:27.
   [Scripture] Zechariah 13:7


CHAPTER 54

54.1  Moses also recorded, and the patriarch Jacob prophesied, these words: “He will wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.” This showed that Christ would wash those who believe in Him with His own blood. For the Holy Spirit called “His robe” those who have received forgiveness of sins through Him. He is always present among them in power, and He will be plainly present at His second coming.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Genesis 49:11.
   [Scripture] Genesis 49:11

54.2  When the Word spoke of “the blood of the grape,” it showed by this skilful figure that Christ does have blood, but not from human seed. His blood comes from the power of God. Just as it was God and not man who produced the blood of the vine, so the prophecy foretold that the blood of Christ would come from the power of God and not from the human race. This prophecy that I quoted, gentlemen, shows that Christ is not a man born of men in the ordinary way that people are born.
   [Translator’s note] “The Word” (Greek logos) may mean the prophetic word of Scripture, or Christ the Word, who Justin believed spoke through the prophets; the Greek says the point was made “through art” or “skill,” meaning a deliberate figure of speech.
   [Scripture] Genesis 49:11


CHAPTER 55

55.1  Trypho answered, “We will remember this explanation of yours, if you also back up this difficult point with other arguments. But for now, take up your argument again and prove to us that the Spirit of prophecy acknowledges another God besides the Maker of all things. Be careful not to bring up the sun and the moon, which, it is written, God allowed the nations to worship as gods. The prophets, using the word in this loose way, often say, ‘Your God is God of gods and Lord of lords,’ and often add ‘the great and mighty and terrible.’
   [Translator’s note] The idea that God allotted the sun, moon and stars to the nations recalls Deuteronomy 4:19, and “God of gods and Lord of lords … the great, the mighty and the terrible” echoes Deuteronomy 10:17; the Greek verb here means God “allowed” or “conceded” this.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 4:19; Deuteronomy 10:17

55.2  “These words are not said as though there really were other gods. The saying is teaching us that, among those thought to be gods and lords, the one who truly is God, who made all things, is the only Lord. To expose this too, the Holy Spirit said through the holy David, ‘The gods of the nations, who are thought to be gods, are idols of demons and not gods.’ And He pronounces a curse on those who make them and worship them.”
   [Translator’s note] Trypho is still speaking here; the quotation is a loose form of Psalm 96:5 (Psalm 95:5 in the Greek Old Testament), which in the Greek reads “all the gods of the nations are demons.”

55.3  I said, “Trypho, I was not going to bring those proofs, which I know condemn people who worship such idols and things like them. I will give proofs that no one will be able to speak against. They will seem strange to you, even though you read them every day. From this you may understand that, because of your wickedness, God has hidden from you the ability to grasp the wisdom in his words. There are a few exceptions, to whom, by the grace of his great compassion, as Isaiah said, he has left a seed for salvation, so that your race should not be utterly destroyed like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. So pay attention to what I am going to recall from the holy Scriptures. They do not need to be explained, only heard.”
   [Translator’s note] The reference to Isaiah’s “seed” left for salvation is to Isaiah 1:9, as Paul also quotes it in Romans 9:29.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 1:9


CHAPTER 56

56.1  “Moses, then, the blessed and faithful servant of God, shows that the God who appeared to Abraham by the oak of Mamre was sent, together with the two angels who were with him to judge Sodom, by Another. That Other always remains in the regions above the heavens. He has never appeared to anyone or spoken with anyone in person, and he is the one we understand to be Maker and Father of all things.”
   [Translator’s note] In the Greek this sentence is grammatically unfinished. It has no main verb, and it runs straight into the quotation in the next section. It has been completed here so that it reads clearly.
   [Scripture] Numbers 12:7; Genesis 18:1

56.2  “For this is what he says: ‘God appeared to him by the oak of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent at midday. And he looked up and saw, and there were three men standing above him. When he saw them, he ran from the door of his tent to meet them, and bowed down to the ground and said...’” and so on, down to: “‘Abraham rose early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward the surrounding land, and he saw, and a flame was going up from the earth like the smoke of a furnace.’” When I stopped speaking, I asked them whether they had understood what was said.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Genesis 18:1–2 and 19:27–28; one word in the Greek text (the verb “stood”) is garbled in the source edition.
   [Scripture] Genesis 18:1-2; Genesis 19:27-28

56.3  They said they had understood it, but that the words quoted gave no proof that there is any other God or Lord besides the Maker of all things, or that the Holy Spirit speaks of one.

56.4  Then I answered again, “Since you have understood the Scriptures, I will try to persuade you of what I say: that there is, and is said to be, another God and Lord under the Maker of all things. He is also called an Angel, because he announces to people whatever the Maker of all things, above whom there is no other God, wants to announce to them.” Then I went back over the passage I had quoted and asked Trypho, “Do you think God appeared to Abraham under the oak of Mamre, as the text says?” He said, “Certainly.”

56.5  “Was he one of those three,” I asked, “whom the Holy Spirit of prophecy says Abraham saw as men?” Trypho answered, “No. God appeared to him before the vision of the three. Those three, whom the text calls men, were angels. Two of them were sent to destroy Sodom. The third was sent to announce to Sarah that she would have a child. When he had finished that task, he left.”

56.6  “Then how is it,” I said, “that the one of the three who was in the tent, who also said, ‘I will come back to you at this time, and Sarah will have a son,’ is shown coming back when Sarah’s son was born? And how does the prophetic word there also indicate that he is God? To make what I am saying clear to you, listen to what Moses expressly says.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 18:10; Genesis 18:14

56.7  These are his words: “When Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian slave girl, who had been born to Abraham, playing with Isaac her son, she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this slave girl and her son. For the son of this slave girl will not inherit with my son Isaac.’ But this word seemed very hard in Abraham’s eyes, because of his son. And God said to Abraham, ‘Do not let it seem hard in your eyes because of the boy and because of the slave girl. In everything Sarah tells you, listen to her voice, for it is through Isaac that your seed will be named.’”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Genesis 21:9–12. Paul quotes the last line (“through Isaac your seed will be named”) in Romans 9:7, and it also appears in Hebrews 11:18.
   [Scripture] Genesis 21:9-12

56.8  “Have you understood, then, that the one who said under the oak that he would return did come back, as it is written? He knew beforehand that it would be necessary to advise Abraham to do what Sarah wanted. And he is God, as the words show when they say, ‘God said to Abraham, Do not let it seem hard in your eyes because of the boy and because of the slave girl.’” That is what I asked.
   [Scripture] Genesis 21:12

56.9  Trypho said, “Certainly. But you have not shown from this that there is a God other than the one who appeared to Abraham, and who also appeared to the other patriarchs and prophets. What you have shown is that we were wrong to think that the three who came to Abraham in the tent were all angels.”

56.10  I answered again, “Suppose I could not prove to you from the Scriptures that one of those three is God, and is also called an Angel because, as I said before, he brings messages from God, the Maker of all things, to whomever God wishes. Then it would be reasonable for you to think that the one who appeared to Abraham on earth, in the form of a man like the two angels who came with him, was the God who existed even before the world was made. That is how your whole nation understands him.” “Quite so,” he said, “for that is what we have believed until now.”

56.11  Then I said, “I will go back to the Scriptures and try to persuade you that this one, who is said and written to have appeared to Abraham, to Jacob, and to Moses, and who is called God, is other than the God who made all things. I mean other in number, not in purpose. For I say he has never done or said anything except what the Maker of the world, above whom there is no other God, wanted him to do and to say.”
   [Translator’s note] “In number, not in purpose”: the Greek word for purpose (gnōmē) can also mean mind or will. Justin means they are two, not one, and yet they never differ in what they intend.

56.12  Trypho said, “Then prove that this is so, so that we can agree with you on this point too. For we take it that you are not saying he has done or spoken anything against the purpose of the Maker of all things.” I answered, “The passage I quoted earlier will make this plain to you. It says: ‘The sun rose over the earth, and Lot entered Zoar. And the Lord rained sulfur and fire on Sodom from the Lord out of heaven, and overthrew these cities and all the surrounding region.’”
   [Translator’s note] Genesis 19:23–25. Justin’s point is the double “Lord”: the Lord rains fire “from the Lord” out of heaven.
   [Scripture] Genesis 19:23-25

56.13  Then the fourth of those who had stayed with Trypho said, “So one of the two angels who went down to Sodom is the one whom the Scripture, speaking through Moses, calls Lord. That means we must speak of God himself, who appeared to Abraham, as someone besides him.”
   [Translator’s note] “The Scripture” translates the Greek ho logos, “the word.” Here it means the words of the account given through Moses, not Christ the Word.

56.14  “It is not for this reason alone,” I said, “that we must fully admit that the Holy Spirit calls someone else Lord besides the one understood as Maker of all things. It is so not only through Moses but also through David. For through David it is said, ‘The Lord says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet,’ as I said before. And again in other words: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The rod of your kingdom is a rod of uprightness. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions.’”
   [Translator’s note] The quotations are Psalm 110:1 and Psalm 45:6–7. Both are applied to Christ in the New Testament (for example, Matthew 22:44 and Hebrews 1:8–9).
   [Scripture] Psalm 110:1

56.15  “So if you say that the Holy Spirit speaks of someone else as God and Lord besides the Father of all and his Christ, then answer me. For I promise to prove to you from the Scriptures themselves that the one the Scripture calls Lord is not one of the two angels who went down to Sodom. He is the one who was with them, who is also called God, and who appeared to Abraham.”

56.16  Trypho said, “Prove it. As you see, the day is passing, and we are not ready to give answers on such dangerous ground, since we have never heard anyone examine, inquire into, or demonstrate these things. We would not have put up with you as you spoke, if you were not bringing everything back to the Scriptures. For you are eager to make your proofs from them, and you declare that there is no one who is God above the Maker of all things.”

56.17  I said, “You know, then, that the Scripture says, ‘And the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I truly give birth, now that I am old? Is any word impossible with God? At this time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah will have a son.’ And a little later: ‘The men rose up from there and looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah. And Abraham went with them, seeing them on their way. And the Lord said, I will not hide from Abraham my servant what I am about to do.’”
   [Translator’s note] Genesis 18:13–14 and 18:16–17, quoted from the Greek Old Testament.
   [Scripture] Genesis 18:13-14; Genesis 18:16-17

56.18  “And a little later it says again: ‘The Lord said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has grown loud, and their sins are very great. So I will go down and see whether they are doing everything according to the cry that has come to me, and if not, that I may know. And the men turned away from there and went to Sodom. But Abraham was standing before the Lord. And Abraham came near and said, Will you destroy the righteous along with the ungodly?’” And so on. I do not think it necessary to write out the same words again, since they have all been written above. I need only give those passages by which I made the proof to Trypho and his companions.
   [Translator’s note] Genesis 18:20–23. In this aside Justin steps out of the conversation and speaks as the writer of the account.
   [Scripture] Genesis 18:20-23

56.19  So I went on to the passages that follow, where these words are written: “‘And the Lord went away, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham went to his place. And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening. Lot was sitting by the gate of Sodom.’” I continued likewise as far as: “‘The men stretched out their hands and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut the door of the house.’” And what follows, down to: “‘And the angels took hold of his hand, and the hand of his wife, and the hands of his daughters, because the Lord was sparing him.’”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek here says only “and he went to his place,” with no name given, but Genesis 18:33 names Abraham, so the translation supplies “Abraham.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 18:33; Genesis 19:1; Genesis 19:10; Genesis 19:16

56.20  “‘And it came about, when they had brought them outside, that they said, Save, save your own life. Do not look behind you, and do not stop anywhere in the surrounding region. Escape to the mountain, or you will be swept away with them. And Lot said to them, I beg you, Lord, since your servant has found mercy before you, and you have magnified your righteousness, which you show to me by keeping my soul alive. But I cannot escape to the mountain, or the evil will overtake me and I will die.’”
   [Translator’s note] Lot speaks “to them,” which is plural, but he addresses them with the singular “Lord.” In 56.23 Justin argues that the one speaking with Lot is the Lord himself, not the two angels.
   [Scripture] Genesis 19:17-19

56.21  “‘Look, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is small. I will be saved there, since it is small, and my life will be spared.’ And he said to him, ‘See, I have shown you favor in this matter also, and I will not overthrow the city you spoke about. Hurry, and be saved there, for I cannot do anything until you have gone in.’ For this reason he named the city Zoar. The sun had risen over the earth, and Lot entered Zoar. And the Lord rained sulphur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven, and he overthrew these cities and all the surrounding region.’”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek literally says “I have marveled at your face,” a Septuagint rendering of the Hebrew idiom “to lift up someone’s face,” meaning to show favor or grant a request.
   [Scripture] Genesis 19:20-25

56.22  I paused again, and then went on: “Now do you not understand, my friends, that one of the three, who is both God and Lord and serves the One who is in the heavens, is Lord of the two angels? When the angels went on to Sodom, he stayed behind and spoke with Abraham, as Moses recorded. When he had finished speaking and left, Abraham returned to his place.
   [Scripture] Genesis 18:33

56.23  When he came to Sodom, it was no longer two angels who spoke with Lot, but he himself, as the account makes clear. He is Lord, and he received from the Lord in heaven, that is, the Maker of all things, the commission to bring on Sodom and Gomorrah the things the account lists. It says: ‘The Lord rained sulphur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven.’”
   [Translator’s note] This is Genesis 19:24. Justin takes the two mentions of “the Lord” in this verse as two distinct persons: the Lord on earth, and the Lord in heaven who is the Maker of all things.
   [Scripture] Genesis 19:24


CHAPTER 57

57.1  When I fell silent, Trypho said, “The Scripture clearly forces us to admit this. But there is a point that deserves to be puzzled over, and you would agree: it says that he ate what Abraham prepared and set before him.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 18:8

57.2  I answered, “It is written that they ate. But suppose we take it that all three are said to have eaten, and not only the two. Those two were truly angels, and it is plain to us that they are nourished in heaven, even if not with the same food we humans use. (Scripture says of the manna that fed your fathers in the desert that they ate ‘bread of angels.’) In that case I would say that the text, in saying they ate, speaks as we ourselves might say of fire that it consumed everything. We would not necessarily understand that they ate by chewing with teeth and jaws. So here too we need not be perplexed about anything, if we have even a little skill in figurative language.”
   [Translator’s note] The older translation ends with “and able to rise above them.” Nothing in the Greek corresponds to these words.

57.3  Trypho said, “That point too, about the manner of eating, can be settled in this way: the text says they ate in the sense that they consumed what Abraham had prepared. So now come and give us your explanation of how this God who appeared to Abraham, and who is a servant of God the Maker of all things, was born of the virgin and became a man subject to the same weaknesses as all people, as you said before.”

57.4  I said, “Allow me first, Trypho, to bring together at some length some other proofs on this main point, so that you may be convinced about this as well. After that I will give the explanation you ask for.” He said, “Do as you see fit. You will be doing what I very much want.”


CHAPTER 58

58.1  I said, “I am going to go through Scriptures for you. I am not eager to put on a display of words by skill alone. I have no such ability. God’s grace alone has been given to me to understand his Scriptures. I urge everyone to share in that grace freely and generously, so that I am not condemned for failing in this at the judgment that God, the Maker of all things, will carry out through my Lord Jesus Christ.”
   [Translator’s note] The older translation says that “they” (the others) might incur condemnation. In the Greek the subject is “I.” Justin fears that he himself will be judged if he does not share freely what God has given him.

58.2  Trypho said, “In this too you act in a way worthy of reverence for God. But you seem to me to be falsely modest when you say you have no skill in crafted argument.” I answered again, “Since that is how it seems to you, so be it. But I am convinced that what I said is true. Now, so that I may go on to present the rest of the proofs, pay attention.” He said, “Go on.”

58.3  I said, “Again it is written by Moses, my brothers, that the one who appeared to the patriarchs, who is called God, is also called Angel and Lord. I say this so that from these passages too you may recognize that he serves the Father of all things, as you have already agreed, and that, convinced by more evidence, you may stand firm.”

58.4  So the word of God, speaking through Moses about Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, says this: “And it happened, when the sheep were in heat and conceiving, that I saw them with my eyes in a dream. And look, the male goats and the rams that were mounting the sheep and the she-goats were white-streaked, spotted, and speckled with ash-colored flecks. And the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob, Jacob.’”
   [Translator’s note] “The word of God” (ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ) could mean Scripture or Christ the Word speaking through the prophet; Justin elsewhere says the prophets spoke as the divine Word moved them (1 Apology 36).
   [Scripture] Genesis 31:10-11

58.5  “And I said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and look at the male goats and the rams mounting the sheep and the she-goats, white-streaked, spotted, and speckled with ash-colored flecks. For I have seen everything that Laban is doing to you. I am the God who appeared to you in the place of God, where you anointed a pillar for me and made a vow there. Now then, get up and leave this land, and go to the land of your birth, and I will be with you.’”
   [Translator’s note] This is Genesis 31:12–13 (see 31:3 for “I will be with you”); Justin’s Greek, like the Septuagint at Genesis 31:13, reads “in the place of God” (ἐν τόπῳ θεοῦ) where the Hebrew has “Bethel.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 31:12-13

58.6  And again, in another passage about this same Jacob, it says: “And he got up that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and crossed the stream, and he brought across everything that was his. But Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until dawn. When he saw that he could not overcome him, he touched the broad part of his thigh, and the broad part of Jacob’s thigh went numb while he wrestled with him. And he said to him, ‘Let me go, for the day has broken.’”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Genesis 32:22–26; the Greek says “a man” (ἄνθρωπος), and Justin later identifies him as the one who is called angel, God, and Lord.
   [Scripture] Genesis 32:22-26

58.7  “But he said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ And he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Jacob.’ And he said to him, ‘Your name will no longer be called Jacob. Your name will be Israel, because you have prevailed with God, and you will be strong among men.’ Then Jacob asked him, ‘Tell me your name.’ And he said, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ And he blessed him there. And Jacob named that place ‘Form of God,’ for ‘I have seen God face to face, and my soul rejoiced.’”
   [Translator’s note] This is Genesis 32:26–30. Where the older translation gives the place name as “Peniel” (Hebrew, “face of God”), Justin’s Greek has “Eidos Theou” (“Form of God”), which is how the Greek Old Testament translates the name.
   [Scripture] Genesis 32:26-30

58.8  And again, in another place, it reports these things about the same Jacob: “Jacob came to Luza, which is in the land of Canaan, which is Bethel, he and all the people who were with him. And he built an altar there, and called the name of that place Bethel, because God appeared to him there when he was running away from his brother Esau. And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and was buried below Bethel under the oak, and Jacob called its name ‘Oak of Mourning.’ And God appeared to Jacob again in Luza, when he came from Mesopotamia of Syria, and he blessed him. And God said to him, ‘Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel will be your name.’”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Genesis 35:6–10.
   [Scripture] Genesis 35:6-10

58.9  He is called God, and he is God, and he will be God.

58.10  When they all nodded their heads in agreement, I said: “I think it is necessary to go on and tell you also the words that report how he was seen by Jacob when he was fleeing from his brother Esau. This is the one who is angel and God and Lord, who appeared to Abraham in the form of a man, and wrestled with Jacob in the form of a human being.”

58.11  “These are the words: ‘And Jacob left the well of the oath and went to Haran. And he came upon a certain place and slept there, for the sun had set. He took some of the stones of the place and put them at his head, and he slept in that place and had a dream. And look, a ladder was set firmly on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were going up and coming down on it, and the Lord stood firmly upon it.’”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Genesis 28:10–13.
   [Scripture] Genesis 28:10-13

58.12  And he said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and of Isaac. Do not be afraid. The land on which you are sleeping, I will give it to you and to your seed. Your seed will be like the sand of the earth, and it will spread out toward the sea, the south, the north and the east. In you and in your seed all the tribes of the earth will be blessed. And look, I am with you, guarding you on every road you travel, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done everything I have told you.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin is quoting Genesis 28:13–15 from the Greek Old Testament, which has “sand” where the Hebrew has “dust,” and “toward the sea” where English Bibles have “west”; in Hebrew idiom “the sea” (the Mediterranean) stands for the west.
   [Scripture] Genesis 28:13-15

58.13  Then Jacob woke up from his sleep and said, “The Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” He was afraid and said, “How fearful this place is! This is nothing other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Jacob got up in the morning and took the stone he had put under his head. He set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. Jacob called the name of the place “House of God.” The name of the city had formerly been Oulammaous.
   [Translator’s note] Genesis 28:16-19. The printed Greek reads ἔλαθε (“escaped notice”), which is an obvious slip for ἔλαβε (“took”), and we translate it as “took.” “House of God” is Bethel. The name Oulammaous comes from the Greek Old Testament, which ran together the Hebrew words “but Luz” as if they were one name. The Hebrew text says the city was formerly called Luz.
   [Scripture] Genesis 28:16-19


CHAPTER 59

59.1  When I had said this, I went on: “Bear with me while I also show you from the book of Exodus how this same one, who is angel and God and Lord, a man and a human being, and who appeared to Abraham and Jacob, appeared in a flame of fire out of a bush and spoke with Moses.” They said they would listen gladly, tirelessly and eagerly, and I continued:
   [Translator’s note] Justin uses two Greek words here, ἀνήρ (“man”) and ἄνθρωπος (“human being”). The Greek Old Testament uses the first for the “men” who visited Abraham (Genesis 18:2) and the second for the “man” who wrestled with Jacob (Genesis 32:24). Justin may be echoing both stories.
   [Scripture] Exodus 3:2

59.2  “These things are in the book titled Exodus: ‘After those many days the king of Egypt died, and the sons of Israel groaned because of their labors.’ And so on, down to this: ‘Go and gather the council of elders of Israel and say to them, “The Lord, the God of your fathers, appeared to me, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He said, ‘I am surely watching over you and over all that has happened to you in Egypt.’”’”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation runs from Exodus 2:23 to 3:16. “I am surely watching over” translates a Greek phrase that is literally “I am visiting you with a visitation.” It copies a Hebrew way of stressing a verb by repeating it.
   [Scripture] Exodus 2:23; Exodus 3:16

59.3  And I went on to add: “Men, have you understood that the one whom Moses calls an angel speaking to him in a flame of fire is himself God, and makes known to Moses that he is the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob?”
   [Scripture] Exodus 3:2; Exodus 3:6


CHAPTER 60

60.1  Trypho said, “We do not understand that from the words quoted earlier. What we understand is that the one who appeared in the flame of fire was an angel, but the one who spoke with Moses was God. So both an angel and God, two together, were present in that vision.”
   [Scripture] Exodus 3:2

60.2  I answered again: “Even if it happened that way, my friends, so that both an angel and God were together in the vision given to Moses, still, as has been shown to you from the passages quoted above, the God who told Moses he was the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob will not be the Maker of all things. He will be the one who was shown to you to have appeared to Abraham and Jacob, who serves the will of the Maker of all things, and who likewise served his purpose in the judgment of Sodom. So even if it is as you say, that there were two, an angel and God, no one with even a little sense will dare to say that the Maker and Father of all things left everything above the heavens and appeared in one small corner of the earth.”
   [Scripture] Exodus 3:6

60.3  Trypho said, “It has already been shown that the one who appeared to Abraham, called God and Lord, received from the Lord in the heavens the judgment that he brought on the land of Sodom. So now too, even if an angel was present with the God who appeared to Moses, we will understand that the God who spoke to Moses from the bush was not the Maker of all things. He was the one shown to have appeared to Abraham and Jacob. He is also called an angel of God the Maker of all things, and is understood to be one, because he announces to people what comes from the Father and Maker of all.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 19:24

60.4  I answered, “Now, Trypho, I will show that in the vision of Moses it was this same One alone, who is called an angel and who is God, who appeared to Moses and spoke with him. For the Scripture says: ‘The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush. And he sees that the bush is burning with fire, yet the bush was not being burned up. And Moses said, “I will go over and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned up.” And when the Lord saw that he was coming over to look, the Lord called to him out of the bush.’
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Exodus 3:2-4.
   [Scripture] Exodus 3:2-4

60.5  “Scripture calls the one who appeared to Jacob in his sleep an angel. Then it says that this same angel who appeared in his sleep said to him, ‘I am the God who appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau.’ In the case of Abraham, at the judgment of Sodom, it said that a Lord brought the judgment from the Lord who is in the heavens. In the same way, Scripture says here that an angel of the Lord appeared to Moses, and then shows that he is Lord and God. It is speaking of the same one it points to in many of the passages already cited: one who serves the God who is above the world, above whom there is no other.”
   [Translator’s note] The Sodom passage is Genesis 19:24: “the Lord rained … brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.” The appearance to Moses is Exodus 3:2–6.
   [Scripture] Genesis 31:13; Genesis 35:1; Genesis 19:24; Exodus 3:2


CHAPTER 61

61.1  “I will give you another testimony from the Scriptures, my friends,” I said. “Before all creatures, God begot from himself a certain rational power as a beginning. The Holy Spirit calls this power the Glory of the Lord, and at other times Son, at other times Wisdom, at other times Angel, at other times God, at other times Lord and Word. At another time he calls himself Commander-in-chief, when he appeared in human form to Joshua the son of Nun. He can be given all these names because he serves the Father’s will, and because he was begotten from the Father by the Father’s will.”
   [Translator’s note] “Commander-in-chief” (archistratēgos) is the title in the Greek Old Testament at Joshua 5:14, where the figure says he is “commander of the army of the Lord.” The older translation has “Captain.” It also calls Joshua “the son of Nave,” which is the Greek spelling of Nun.
   [Scripture] Proverbs 8:22; Joshua 5:14

61.2  “Do we not see something like this happening among ourselves? When we put forth a word, we beget a word, but not by cutting anything off, as if the word within us were made smaller when we put it forth. We also see something like it with fire. Another fire is kindled, yet the fire from which it was lit is not diminished but stays the same. And what was lit from it is plainly a fire in its own right, without making smaller the fire from which it was lit.”

61.3  “The Word of Wisdom will testify for me. He is himself this God, begotten from the Father of all things. He is Word, Wisdom, Power and Glory of the one who begot him. He says through Solomon: ‘If I tell you what happens day by day, I will remember to recount what has been from eternity. The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways, for his works. Before the age he established me, in the beginning, before he made the earth, before he made the depths, before the springs of water came forth, before the mountains were set in place. Before all the hills he begets me.’
   [Translator’s note] Justin quotes Proverbs 8:21–36 in the Greek (Septuagint) form. The opening line (“If I tell you what happens day by day…”) is found in the Greek but not in the Hebrew. The Greek reads “created me” in 8:22, where the meaning of the Hebrew verb is disputed (“acquired,” “possessed,” or “created”). It also reads “begets me” in 8:25.
   [Scripture] Proverbs 8:21-25

61.4  “‘God made the land, both the uninhabited and the highest inhabited places under heaven. When he was preparing the heaven, I was there with him. When he marked out his throne upon the winds, when he made the clouds above strong, and made the springs of the deep secure, when he made the foundations of the earth strong, I was beside him, fitting things together. I was the one in whom he delighted. Day by day I rejoiced in his presence, at every moment, because he rejoiced when he finished the inhabited world, and he rejoiced in the sons of men.’”
   [Scripture] Proverbs 8:26-31

61.5  “‘Now then, son, listen to me. Blessed is the man who will listen to me, and the person who will keep my ways, watching at my doors every day, guarding the posts of my entrances. For my goings out are goings out of life, and favor from the Lord has been prepared. But those who sin against me act wickedly against their own souls, and those who hate me love death.’”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek of Proverbs 8:35 reads literally “favor (thelēsis) from the Lord has been prepared”; here the word means God’s goodwill toward the one who finds Wisdom.
   [Scripture] Proverbs 8:32-36


CHAPTER 62

62.1  My friends, the word of God said this very same thing through Moses too. It made known to us that, when man was made, God spoke with this same meaning about the one it has pointed out. These are the words: “Let us make man in our image and likeness. And let them rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the earth, and all the creeping things that creep on the earth.” And God made man; in the image of God he made him; male and female he made them. And God blessed them, saying, “Increase and multiply, fill the earth, and have dominion over it.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin quotes Genesis 1:26–28.
   [Scripture] Genesis 1:26-28

62.2  Now you must not twist the words I have just quoted and say what your teachers say. They claim either that God was speaking to himself when he said “Let us make,” just as we often say “Let us make” to ourselves when we are about to do something. Or they claim that God said “Let us make” to the elements, that is, the earth and the other things from which we understand man was formed. So I will quote again the words Moses himself recorded. From them we can know beyond dispute that God was speaking with someone who was numerically distinct from himself and who was also rational.

62.3  These are the words: “And God said, Behold, Adam has become as one of us, to know good and evil.” So when he says “as one of us,” he points to a number of persons who are together, and at the very least two. For I would not say that the teaching of the sect among you is true. Nor would I say that its teachers can prove that God was speaking to angels, or that the human body was made by angels.
   [Translator’s note] Genesis 3:22. “Sect” translates the Greek “hairesis,” which can also mean a school of thought or party.
   [Scripture] Genesis 3:22

62.4  No, this offspring, truly brought forth from the Father, was with the Father before all created things, and the Father speaks to him. The word of Scripture made this plain through Solomon: the one whom Solomon calls Wisdom was begotten by God as a beginning before all created things, and as his offspring. The same thing was also stated in the revelation given to Joshua the son of Nun. So that what I say may be clear to you from this too, listen to the words from the book of Joshua.
   [Translator’s note] Justin is thinking of Proverbs 8:22–25, part of the passage from Proverbs 8 that he quoted in chapter 61.

62.5  They are these: “And it happened, when Joshua was at Jericho, that he looked up and saw a man standing opposite him. Joshua went up to him and said, ‘Are you on our side or on our enemies’ side?’ And he said to him, ‘I am the commander of the army of the Lord. I have come now.’ Joshua fell on his face to the ground and said to him, ‘Master, what do you command your servant?’ And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, ‘Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ Now Jericho was shut up and fortified, and no one went out of it. And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Look, I am handing Jericho over to you, and its king who is in it, men mighty in strength.’”
   [Translator’s note] Joshua 5:13–6:2.
   [Scripture] Joshua 5:13-15; Joshua 6:1-2


CHAPTER 63

63.1  Trypho said, “You have proved this strongly and with many arguments, my friend. What remains is for you to prove that he submitted to being born a man through the virgin, according to the will of his Father, and to being crucified and dying. Show also that after this he rose again and went up into heaven.”
   [Translator’s note] The older translation reads “proved to me,” but the Greek “soi” here means “by you”: Trypho grants that Justin has proved his point.

63.2  I answered, “This too, gentlemen, has already been proved by me in the prophecies I recounted earlier. For your sake I will recall them and explain them again, and try to bring you to agree with me on this matter as well. Take the word Isaiah spoke: ‘Who will declare his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.’ Does it not seem to you that this was said of one whose origin was not from men, the one whom God said was handed over to death for the lawless deeds of the people? Moses also spoke of his blood, as I said before. Speaking in a parable, he said that he would wash his robe in the blood of the grape. He meant that his blood was not born of human seed but of the will of God.”
   [Translator’s note] The phrase “not of human seed but of the will of God” may echo John 1:13.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:8; Genesis 49:11; John 1:13

63.3  Consider also what David said: “In the splendors of your holy ones, from the womb before the morning star I have begotten you. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” Does this not show you that God, the Father of all things, intended him to be born from above, and through a human womb?
   [Translator’s note] Psalm 110:3–4 in the Greek (Septuagint) version. “From above” can also mean “from of old”; the older translation chose “from of old.”

63.4  And in other words, which I have also quoted already, David says: “Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the rod of your kingdom is a rod of uprightness. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Myrrh, sweet resin and cassia come from your garments, from ivory palaces, by which they made you glad. Daughters of kings are in your honor. The queen stood at your right hand, clothed in a garment woven with gold, in many colors. Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father’s house; and the King will desire your beauty, for he is your Lord, and you will worship him.”
   [Translator’s note] “Sweet resin” translates the Greek “staktē,” a fragrant resin (oil of myrrh).

63.5  These words also state plainly that he is to be worshiped, and that he is God and Christ, as the one who made these things bears witness. The same words also announce, just as clearly, that the word of God speaks as to a daughter to those who believe in him, since they are one soul, one assembly and one church. This is the church that came into being through his name and shares his name (for we are all called Christians). The words teach us also to forget our old ancestral customs, and they read: “Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father’s house; and the King will desire your beauty, for he is your Lord, and you will worship him.”
   [Translator’s note] “Assembly” translates the Greek “synagogue,” which here simply means a gathering.


CHAPTER 64

64.1  Then Trypho said: “Let him be acknowledged as Lord and Christ and God, as the Scriptures indicate, by you who are from the Gentiles, all of you who have come to be called Christians after his name. But we are worshipers of the God who made even this man himself, and we have no need to confess him or to worship him.”

64.2  I answered: “Trypho, if I were as fond of quarreling and as empty-headed as you are, I would no longer stay to share these discussions with you. You do not set yourselves to understand what is said. You only sharpen yourselves to say something back. But as it is, I fear the judgment of God, and so I do not rush to declare of anyone from your people that he cannot be among those who can be saved by the grace of the Lord of hosts. So even if you act wickedly, I will stay and answer whatever you put forward and whatever objection you raise. I do the same for all people, of every nation, who want to discuss or ask me about these things.”
   [Translator’s note] “Lord of hosts” translates the Greek “Lord Sabaoth” (the Hebrew title). The older translation has “Lord of Sabaoth.”

64.3  “If you had paid attention to the Scriptures I have already quoted, you would have understood by now that those from your people who are saved are saved through him and have their share in him. You would not have needed to ask me about this. So I will say again what I quoted earlier from David. I ask you to take it in so that you understand, and not to stir yourselves up only to act wickedly and contradict.”

64.4  “These, then, are the words that David speaks: ‘The Lord has become king; let the peoples be angry. He who sits upon the cherubim, let the earth be shaken. The Lord is great in Zion, and high above all the peoples. Let them give thanks to your great name, for it is fearful and holy; and the honor of the king loves justice. You have prepared uprightness; you have done justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at the footstool of his feet, for he is holy. Moses and Aaron were among his priests, and Samuel among those who call on his name. They called on the Lord, and he answered them. He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud, because they kept his testimonies and the commands he gave them.’”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Psalm 99:1–7 (Psalm 98 in the Greek Old Testament).

64.5  “There are also other words spoken through David, which I have set out before as well. You foolishly say they were spoken about Solomon, because they carry the heading ‘for Solomon.’ Yet these words show that they were not spoken about Solomon. They show that he existed even before the sun, and that those from your people who are saved will be saved through him.”
   [Translator’s note] The psalm in question is Psalm 72 (71 in the Greek Old Testament), whose heading reads “for Solomon.” Justin quoted it in full and argued that it is not about Solomon earlier in the Dialogue, in chapter 34.

64.6  The words are these: “O God, give your judgment to the king, and your righteousness to the king’s son. He will judge your people in righteousness, and your poor in judgment. Let the mountains take up peace for the people, and the hills righteousness. He will judge the poor of the people and save the children of the needy, and he will humble the slanderer. He will remain alongside the sun, and before the moon, to generations of generations.” The passage goes on like this until: “Before the sun his name endures. And in him all the tribes of the earth will be blessed; all nations will call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wonders. Blessed be the name of his glory forever and ever, and the whole earth will be filled with his glory. So be it, so be it.”
   [Translator’s note] “So be it, so be it” translates the Greek “genoito, genoito,” which is how the Greek Old Testament renders the Hebrew “Amen, Amen” at Psalm 72:19.

64.7  Remember also the other words I quoted earlier, spoken in the same way through David. They revealed that he was going to come forth from the ends of the heavens and go up again to the same places. This is so that you may recognize him as God who came forth from above and became a man among men. It is also so that you may recognize that he will come again, and that those who pierced him will see him and mourn.
   [Translator’s note] “Those who pierced him will see him and mourn” echoes Zechariah 12:10. John 19:37 and Revelation 1:7 also apply this verse to Christ.
   [Scripture] Zechariah 12:10

64.8  The words are these: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands. Day pours out speech to day, and night announces knowledge to night. There are no speeches or words whose voices are not heard. Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the sun he has set his tent. And he, like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, will rejoice, strong as a giant, to run his course. His going out is from the end of heaven, and his circuit reaches to the end of heaven, and there is no one who will be hidden from his heat.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Psalm 19:1–6 (Psalm 18 in the Greek Old Testament). The Greek reads “in the sun he has set his tent,” while the Hebrew says God set a tent for the sun in the heavens.


CHAPTER 65

65.1  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.’”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 42:8

65.2  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.”

65.3  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.

65.4  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.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek genos means “race” or “people”; the Hebrew has “a covenant of the people.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 42:5-7

65.5  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] “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.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 42:8-10

65.6  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] “Hosts” is literally “powers” (Greek dynameis).
   [Scripture] Isaiah 42:11-13

65.7  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.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 42:6


CHAPTER 66

66.1  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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 7:14

66.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] This is Isaiah 7:10–15 in the Greek (Septuagint) version.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 7:10-15

66.3  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.’”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 7:15-16; Isaiah 8:4; Isaiah 7:17

66.4  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

67.1  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 7:14

67.2  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.”

67.3  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.

67.4  “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.”

67.5  Trypho said, “But you admitted to us that he was circumcised and kept the other legal ordinances commanded through Moses.”

67.6  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.”
   [Translator’s note] “Plan” translates oikonomia, which can also be rendered “dispensation” or “arrangement.” It means God’s ordered purpose for salvation.

67.7  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?

67.8  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.”

67.9  “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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Jeremiah 31:31-32

67.10  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] “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.”

67.11  “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

68.1  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.”

68.2  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.”

68.3  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?”

68.4  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?”
   [Translator’s note] “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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:8

68.5  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?”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Psalm 132:11

68.6  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 7:14

68.7  “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.
   [Translator’s note] 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).

68.8  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.

68.9  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.


CHAPTER 69

69.1  “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.
   [Translator’s note] Justin is referring to Pharaoh’s magicians (Exodus 7–8) and the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18).

69.2  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?
   [Translator’s note] 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).
   [Scripture] Genesis 49:11

69.3  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?
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Psalm 19:5 (Psalm 18:6 in the Greek numbering).

69.4  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.
   [Translator’s note] “Had eyes and did not see” echoes Jeremiah 5:21 (compare Isaiah 6:9–10).

69.5  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.

69.6  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.

69.7  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.


CHAPTER 70

70.1  “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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Daniel 2:34; Daniel 2:45

70.2  “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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 33:13-16

70.3  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.’
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 33:16-19

70.4  “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.
   [Translator’s note] “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.
   [Scripture] Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25; Isaiah 33:16-17

70.5  “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

71.1  “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.
   [Translator’s note] The ‘seventy elders’ are the traditional translators of the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament.

71.2  “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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.

71.3  “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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 7:14

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


CHAPTER 72

72.1  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.’
   [Translator’s note] “On a sign” translates the Greek literally. The older translation has “on a standard,” and Justin probably means the cross.

72.2  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.”
   [Translator’s note] “Put wood into his bread” follows the Greek. English Bibles, translating the Hebrew, usually have “let us destroy the tree with its fruit.”
   [Scripture] Jeremiah 11:19

72.3  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.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation from Isaiah is Isaiah 53:7.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:7; Jeremiah 11:19

72.4  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.


CHAPTER 73

73.1  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Psalm 96:10

73.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] The older translation reads “freed from [the grave],” supplying words in brackets. The Greek says only that he “has been saved, having risen.”

73.3  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.

73.4  “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.”

73.5  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.”

73.6  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] The older translation said “retained by us.” The Greek says “preserved among you,” meaning among the Jews.


CHAPTER 74

74.1  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.”

74.2  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.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Psalm 96:1–3 (Psalm 95 in the Greek Old Testament); parallel lines appear in 1 Chronicles 16:23–24.

74.3  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 . . .
   [Translator’s note] 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.

74.4  . . . 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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 31:16-18


CHAPTER 75

75.1  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.”
   [Scripture] Exodus 6:3; Exodus 23:20-21

75.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek has an active verb, “he renamed Jacob,” with the one who spoke to Moses as the apparent subject.
   [Scripture] Exodus 23:21; Numbers 13:16; Genesis 32:28

75.3  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.
   [Translator’s note] “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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 6:8

75.4  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.
   [Translator’s note] “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.


CHAPTER 76

76.1  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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).
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:13-14; Daniel 2:34

76.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:8; Genesis 49:11

76.3  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:
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 9:6

76.4  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] Matthew 8:11–12.
   [Scripture] Matthew 8:11-12

76.5  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.”
   [Scripture] Matthew 7:22-23; Matthew 25:41

76.6  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Luke 10:19; Luke 24:25-27

76.7  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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”).
   [Scripture] Luke 9:22; Mark 8:31


CHAPTER 77

77.1  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.

77.2  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.’
   [Translator’s note] 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.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 8:4

77.3  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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 8:4; Isaiah 7:14

77.4  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.’
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Matthew 2:1-2; Ezekiel 16:3


CHAPTER 78

78.1  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Matthew 2:2; Matthew 2:6; Micah 5:2

78.2  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.
   [Scripture] Matthew 2:11; Matthew 2:12

78.3  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.
   [Scripture] Matthew 1:19; Matthew 1:20

78.4  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Matthew 1:24; Luke 2:2; Luke 2:4; Matthew 2:13

78.5  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Luke 2:7

78.6  “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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.

78.7  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.
   [Scripture] Matthew 2:12; Matthew 2:16

78.8  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 2:18

78.9  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.
   [Translator’s note] Justin reads Isaiah 8:4 as a prophecy about the Magi. “Plundered” plays on the word for “spoils” in the quotation.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 8:4

78.10  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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).

78.11  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 29:13-14


CHAPTER 79

79.1  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.”

79.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] The reference is to Daniel 7:13–14.
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:13-14

79.3  “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.’
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 30:1-5

79.4  “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.’”
   [Translator’s note] 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.”
   [Scripture] Zechariah 3:1-2; Job 1:6; Genesis 3:13-14


CHAPTER 80

80.1  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?”

80.2  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.

80.3  “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.”

80.4  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] The closing words echo Isaiah 29:13 (compare Matthew 15:8).
   [Scripture] Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:8

80.5  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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).


CHAPTER 81

81.1  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 65:17-20

81.2  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 65:21-25

81.3  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 65:22; Genesis 2:17; 2 Peter 3:8

81.4  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Revelation 20:4-6; Luke 20:35-36


CHAPTER 82

82.1  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.
   [Scripture] 2 Peter 2:1; Matthew 7:15

82.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] Compare Matthew 24:5, 9, 11 and 24.
   [Scripture] Matthew 24:9; Matthew 24:5; Matthew 24:11; Matthew 24:24

82.3  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Ezekiel 3:17-19

82.4  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.
   [Translator’s note] The rulers’ quotation is a shortened form of Isaiah 1:23 in the Greek Septuagint.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 1:23


CHAPTER 83

83.1  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.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Psalm 110:1. For the events with Hezekiah and the Assyrians, see 2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37.
   [Scripture] Psalm 110:1; Isaiah 37:36

83.2  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.”

83.3  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?

83.4  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.
   [Translator’s note] “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.


CHAPTER 84

84.1  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?
   [Translator’s note] The prophecy is Isaiah 7:14.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 7:14

84.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] “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).
   [Scripture] Colossians 1:15; Genesis 2:21-22

84.3  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 7:14

84.4  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.
   [Scripture] Genesis 21:2; Luke 1:57


CHAPTER 85

85.1  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.
   [Translator’s note] “Hosts” translates the Greek “dynameis” (powers), which can also mean armies or heavenly powers.
   [Scripture] Psalm 24:7; Isaiah 53:2

85.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] “Firstborn of all creation” quotes Colossians 1:15.
   [Scripture] Colossians 1:15

85.3  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.
   [Translator’s note] “Binding spells” translates “katadesmoi,” a word for magical spells that “bind” a person or spirit. The older translation’s “incantations” is looser.

85.4  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.

85.5  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!

85.6  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.

85.7  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.
   [Translator’s note] Jesus’ command to love enemies is found in Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:27.
   [Scripture] Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27

85.8  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 66:5-7

85.9  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.’”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 66:8-11


CHAPTER 86

86.1  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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).
   [Scripture] Genesis 2:9; Exodus 14:16; Exodus 15:25; Exodus 17:6

86.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Genesis 30:37-38; Genesis 32:10; Genesis 28:12-13; Genesis 31:13

86.3  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.
   [Translator’s note] “Angel” (angelos) also means “messenger.” Justin uses it as a title for the Son, as the one who carries the Father’s message.

86.4  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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).
   [Scripture] Numbers 17:8; Isaiah 11:1

86.5  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Genesis 18:1; Exodus 15:27

86.6  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Genesis 38:25


CHAPTER 87

87.1  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.

87.2  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?”
   [Translator’s note] 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.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 11:1-3

87.3  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.
   [Translator’s note] Justin takes “rest” (Isaiah’s word) to mean “come to an end,” and he builds his argument on that sense.

87.4  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] “The twelve” means the twelve shorter prophetic books (Hosea to Malachi).

87.5  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] “Dispensation” translates oikonomia, God’s plan or arrangement, here meaning Christ’s coming in the flesh.

87.6  “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.’”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Ephesians 4:8; Joel 2:28-29


CHAPTER 88

88.1  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.

88.2  “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.”
   [Scripture] Luke 3:23

88.3  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10

88.4  “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.”
   [Scripture] Luke 3:22

88.5  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] “Free from corruption” translates aphthartous (incorruptible, not subject to decay). The older translation’s “free from death” gives the general sense.

88.6  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] The prophecy of the king riding on a donkey is Zechariah 9:9 (see Matthew 21:4–5).

88.7  “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.’”
   [Translator’s note] 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).
   [Scripture] Matthew 3:4; Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:15-16; John 1:20-23

88.8  “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.’”
   [Translator’s note] “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.
   [Scripture] Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 53:2; Luke 3:23; Mark 6:3


CHAPTER 89

89.1  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.”
   [Translator’s note] “Nun” is written “Nave” in Justin’s Greek (the Septuagint form). Joshua and Jesus are the same name in Greek.

89.2  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] The law’s statement is in Deuteronomy 21:23, about a person hanged on a tree.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 21:23

89.3  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.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin is drawing on Isaiah 53 in its Greek form (see especially verses 3, 7, 8 and 12).
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:7-8; Isaiah 53:12


CHAPTER 90

90.1  “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.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:7; Deuteronomy 21:23

90.2  “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.”

90.3  “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.

90.4  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Exodus 17:8-12

90.5  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says the stone also carries a symbolic meaning pointing to Christ, whom Justin has earlier shown Scripture calls “the stone.”
   [Scripture] Exodus 17:12


CHAPTER 91

91.1  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 33:13-17

91.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.

91.3  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Exodus 17:8-13

91.4  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Numbers 21:8-9; John 3:14-15; Genesis 3:14; Isaiah 27:1


CHAPTER 92

92.1  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.

92.2  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?
   [Translator’s note] After the revolt of AD 132–135 the emperor Hadrian barred Jews from Jerusalem. Justin refers to this elsewhere (Dialogue 16; First Apology 47).

92.3  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.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Genesis 15:6. Paul makes the same argument from it in Romans 4:9–11.
   [Scripture] Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:10-11

92.4  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.

92.5  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.
   [Translator’s note] The last words echo Deuteronomy 32:4, which Justin quotes loosely.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 32:4

92.6  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

93.1  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.

93.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] By “that angel” Justin probably means Christ. Elsewhere in the Dialogue he calls Christ the angel (messenger) of God.
   [Scripture] Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:30-31; Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18

93.3  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.
   [Scripture] Mark 12:30-31; Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18

93.4  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.

93.5  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

94.1  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?
   [Translator’s note] The references are to Exodus 20:4 and Numbers 21:8–9.
   [Scripture] Exodus 20:4; Numbers 21:8-9

94.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] “As I said before” refers to chapter 91, where Justin first explained the bronze serpent as a figure of the cross.

94.3  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.
   [Translator’s note] One word in the Greek is damaged here, in the phrase translated “why.” The sense is clear from the context.
   [Scripture] Numbers 21:8-9; Exodus 20:4

94.4  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.”

94.5  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.”
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 21:23


CHAPTER 95

95.1  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?
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 27:26; Galatians 3:10

95.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] The older English says only that “His Father” caused him to suffer. The Greek says that “his Father, and he himself” brought it about.

95.3  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.
   [Translator’s note] “Healed by his wound” echoes Isaiah 53:5 (the Greek uses the word for a bruise or stripe).
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:5

95.4  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

96.1  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13

96.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] “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.

96.3  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.”
   [Scripture] Matthew 5:44; Matthew 5:45; Luke 6:35; Luke 6:36


CHAPTER 97

97.1  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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).
   [Scripture] Exodus 17:12

97.2  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.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotations are from Isaiah 65:2, Isaiah 57:2, and Isaiah 53:9, broadly following the wording of the Greek Old Testament.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 65:2; Isaiah 57:2; Isaiah 53:9

97.3  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.
   [Translator’s note] “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.

97.4  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.
   [Translator’s note] The older translation says “King or Christ.” The Greek has only “king.”


CHAPTER 98

98.1  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.

98.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.”

98.3  “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.
   [Translator’s note] The mockers’ words are echoed by the chief priests at the cross in Matthew 27:43.

98.4  “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.
   [Translator’s note] “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.”

98.5  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] “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.”


CHAPTER 99

99.1  When I had said this, I went on: “I will show you that the whole psalm was spoken about Christ, by going through it again and explaining it. Look at what it says right at the start: ‘O God, my God, attend to me; why have you forsaken me?’ This foretold long beforehand what Christ was going to say. For when he was crucified he said, ‘O God, O God, why have you forsaken me?’
   [Translator’s note] Compare Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34. In Justin’s Greek, the cry from the cross reads “O God, O God,” without “my.”
   [Scripture] Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46

99.2  “Then come the following words: ‘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.’ These words were spoken in advance, just like the things he was going to do. On the day he was to be crucified, he took three of his disciples to the hill called Olivet, which lies right next to the temple in Jerusalem, and prayed: ‘Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.’ Then he went on praying: ‘Not as I want, but as you want.’ By this he showed that he had truly become a man who could suffer.
   [Translator’s note] Compare Matthew 26:36–44 and Mark 14:32–39 (Gethsemane, on the Mount of Olives, with Peter, James, and John).
   [Scripture] Matthew 26:39

99.3  “But so that no one would say, ‘Then he did not know he was going to suffer,’ the psalm adds at once: ‘and it is not for lack of understanding in me.’ God was not ignorant when he asked Adam where he was, or asked Cain where Abel was. He asked in order to expose what sort of man each one was, and so that knowledge of everything might reach us by being written down. In the same way Christ indicated that the lack of understanding was not his own. It belonged to those who thought he was not the Christ. They supposed they would put him to death and that he would stay in Hades like any ordinary man.
   [Translator’s note] See Genesis 3:9 and 4:9.
   [Scripture] Genesis 3:9; Genesis 4:9


CHAPTER 100

100.1  “The next words are: ‘But you dwell in the holy place, you the praise of Israel.’ This showed that he would do something worthy of praise and wonder. After being crucified he was going to rise from the dead on the third day, and this he has received from his Father. I have already shown that Christ is called both Jacob and Israel. I also showed that what concerns him was proclaimed in a mystery, and not only in the blessings of Joseph and Judah. It is also written in the Gospel that he said: ‘All things have been handed over to me by the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, nor the Son except the Father and those to whom the Son reveals him.’
   [Translator’s note] Judah’s blessing is Jacob’s in Genesis 49:8–12. Joseph’s blessing is probably Moses’ blessing in Deuteronomy 33:13–17, which Justin discussed earlier in the Dialogue. Both blessings are treated earlier in the work.
   [Scripture] Matthew 11:27

100.2  “So he has revealed to us everything that we have also come to understand from the Scriptures by his grace. We know him as the firstborn of God and before all created things. We know him also as the son of the patriarchs, since he was made flesh through the virgin who came from their family. He endured becoming a man without beauty, without honor, and able to suffer.
   [Translator’s note] “Firstborn ... before all created things” echoes Colossians 1:15–17. “Without beauty” echoes the description of the Servant in Isaiah 53:2–3.
   [Scripture] Colossians 1:15; Isaiah 53:2-3

100.3  That is why, when he spoke in his teaching about his coming suffering, he said: “The Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the Pharisees and scribes, be crucified, and rise on the third day.” So he called himself Son of Man. One reason may be his birth through the virgin, who was, as I said, from the family of David, Jacob, Isaac and Abraham. Or the reason may be that Adam himself was the father of those I have just listed, from whom Mary traces her descent. For we know that the fathers of women are also the fathers of the children their daughters bear.
   [Translator’s note] The older translation makes Adam the father “both of Himself and of those” listed. The Greek more naturally says “Adam himself was the father of these.” The argument still works: Adam is the ancestor of Mary’s forefathers, and so, by the principle in the next sentence, of her child.
   [Scripture] Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22

100.4  For he gave the name Peter to one of his disciples, who had earlier been called Simon, because that disciple, by revelation from the Father, recognized him as the Christ, the Son of God. We find it written in the memoirs of his apostles that he is the Son of God, and we call him Son. So we have understood that before all created things he came forth from the Father by the Father’s power and will. (In the words of the prophets he is called by various names, in one way and another: Wisdom, Day, East, Sword, Stone, Rod, Jacob and Israel.) We have also understood that he became man through the virgin, so that the disobedience that began with the serpent might be undone by the same road by which it began.
   [Translator’s note] “East” translates the Greek anatolē, meaning the “rising” of the sun and so “the East.” In the Greek Old Testament it stands for the Hebrew word “Branch” in Zechariah 3:8 and 6:12, and elsewhere in the Dialogue (e.g. ch. 106) Justin applies Zechariah 6:12 to Christ. Here he lists the titles without citing particular verses.
   [Scripture] Matthew 16:16-18

100.5  For Eve was a virgin and undefiled. She conceived the word of the serpent and gave birth to disobedience and death. But the virgin Mary received faith and joy. When the angel Gabriel brought her the good news that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her, and that therefore the holy thing born from her is the Son of God, she answered, “Let it be to me according to your word.”
   [Translator’s note] Luke 1:35, 38. Luke has “the Holy Spirit will come upon you”; Justin writes “the Spirit of the Lord.”
   [Scripture] Luke 1:35; Luke 1:38

100.6  And through her was born the one about whom we have shown that so many Scriptures speak. Through him God destroys the serpent and the angels and people who have become like him. But for those who repent of their evil deeds and believe in him, God brings release from death.


CHAPTER 101

101.1  Now the next words of the psalm are these: “Our fathers hoped in you; they hoped, and you rescued them. They cried out to you and were saved. They hoped in you and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man, a reproach of men and an object of contempt to the people.” These words show that he acknowledges as his fathers those who hoped in God and were saved by him. These were also the fathers of the virgin, through whom he was born and became man. He also declares that he himself will be saved by the same God, and he does not boast of doing anything by his own will or strength.
   [Translator’s note] Psalm 22:4–6 (21:5–7 in the Greek Old Testament).

101.2  For he did the same thing on earth. When someone said to him, “Good teacher,” he answered, “Why do you call me good? There is one who is good, my Father in heaven.” And when he says, “I am a worm and not a man, a reproach of men and an object of contempt to the people,” he was foretelling things that are clearly true of him and are happening to him. For everywhere he is a reproach to us, the people who believe in him. And he is an object of contempt to the people, because he was despised and dishonored by your people and suffered the things you did to him.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek reads literally “he is a reproach to us, the men who believe in him.”
   [Scripture] Matthew 19:16-17; Mark 10:17-18; Luke 18:18-19

101.3  And the words that follow: “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.’” He foretold that these same things would happen to him. For those who saw him crucified each shook his head and twisted his lips. They sneered at one another and said in mockery the words that are also written in the memoirs of his apostles: “He said he was the Son of God. Let him come down and walk about. Let God save him.”
   [Translator’s note] Psalm 22:7–8. The mockery in the Gospels is at Matthew 27:39–43 (compare Mark 15:29–32). The words “and walk about” are not found in our Gospels.
   [Scripture] Matthew 27:39-43; Mark 15:29-31


CHAPTER 102

102.1  And what comes next: “My hope has been from my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon you from the womb. From my mother’s belly you are my God, for there is no one to help me. Many calves have surrounded me; fat bulls have closed me in. They opened their mouths against me like a lion tearing its prey and roaring. All my bones were poured out like water and scattered. My heart has become like wax melting in the middle of my belly. My strength has dried up like a piece of pottery, and my tongue is stuck to my throat.” In these words he was announcing in advance what has happened.
   [Translator’s note] Psalm 22:9–15. Justin’s quotation passes over the words “Do not be far from me, for trouble is near” (verse 11) before “for there is no one to help me.”

102.2  Take first the words “My hope has been from my mother’s breasts.” As soon as he was born in Bethlehem, as I said earlier, King Herod learned about him from the Magi who came from Arabia and plotted to kill him. By God’s command Joseph took him, together with Mary, and went away to Egypt. For the Father had decided that the one he had begotten would be put to death only after he had grown to manhood and proclaimed the word that came from him.
   [Translator’s note] “Arabia” is Justin’s usual description of the Magi’s home. Matthew 2:1 says only “from the east.” For the flight to Egypt, see Matthew 2:13–14.
   [Scripture] Matthew 2:1-3; Matthew 2:13-14

102.3  But suppose someone says to us, “Could God not rather have killed Herod?” I answer in advance: could God not have removed even the serpent at the very beginning, so that he did not exist, instead of saying, “And I will put enmity between him and the woman, and between his seed and her seed”? Could he not have made a great crowd of people all at once?
   [Translator’s note] The Greek phrase rendered “at the very beginning” can also mean “at all.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 3:15

102.4  But because he knew it was good that things be this way, he made both angels and men free to practice righteousness. He also set limits of time, for as long as he knew it was good for them to have that freedom. And because he knew that this was likewise good, he carried out judgments, both general and particular, while still keeping their freedom intact. This is why the Word says the following about the building of the tower and the many voices and changing of languages: “And the Lord said, Behold, there is one race and one language for all, and this is what they have begun to do. And now none of all that they set their hands to do will fail them.”
   [Translator’s note] The older translation has “destruction of the tower.” The Greek word usually means “laying down” or “foundation,” so “building” is used here.
   [Scripture] Genesis 11:6

102.5  The words “My strength dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue has stuck to my throat” were likewise a prediction of what he would do according to the Father’s will. His mighty word had power, and by it he always refuted the Pharisees and scribes who argued with him, and, in short, the teachers of your people. That power was halted, like a full and powerful spring whose water has been turned away. This happened when he fell silent and, before Pilate, no longer wished to give any answer to anyone, as is shown in the memoirs of his apostles. It happened so that what was said through Isaiah might bear effective fruit, where it says, “The Lord gives me a tongue, so that I may know when I must speak a word.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotations are Psalm 22:15 and Isaiah 50:4.
   [Scripture] Matthew 27:14; Mark 15:5; Isaiah 50:4

102.6  His saying, “You are my God, do not stand far from me,” also teaches that everyone must hope in God, who made all things, and must look for salvation and help from him alone. They must not think, as the rest of men do, that they can be saved through birth, wealth, strength or wisdom. You too have always acted like that. At one time you made a calf, and you have always shown yourselves ungrateful, murderers of the righteous, and puffed up because of your descent.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Psalm 22:10–11. The calf refers to Exodus 32.

102.7  The Son of God is shown saying that he cannot be saved on the ground that he is a son, or strong, or wise. Instead he says that, sinless as he is, he cannot be saved without God. Isaiah says that he did not sin even in what he said: “for he did no lawlessness, nor was there deceit in his mouth.” If that is so, how can you, or the others who expect to be saved without this hope, not see that you are deceiving yourselves?
   [Translator’s note] The Greek of this sentence is compressed; the phrase rendered “sinless as he is” literally reads “with respect to being sinless.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:9


CHAPTER 103

103.1  What the psalm says next is this: “For trouble is near, for there is no one to help me. Many calves have surrounded me; fat bulls have closed in on me. They opened their mouth against me like a lion tearing its prey and roaring. All my bones were poured out like water and scattered.” This too was a prediction of what happened to him. On that night, men from your people came against him on the Mount of Olives, sent by the Pharisees, scribes and teachers. They surrounded him, and these are the ones the Word called goring calves, doomed to an early end.
   [Translator’s note] The meaning of the rare Greek word translated “doomed to an early end” is uncertain. The older translation has “prematurely destructive.”

103.2  By saying, “Fat bulls have closed in on me,” he foretold the men who did the same as the calves when he was led to your teachers. The Word called these men bulls because we know that bulls are the cause of there being calves. Just as bulls are the fathers of calves, so your teachers were the cause of their children going out to the Mount of Olives to seize him and bring him to them. The words “there is no one to help” also point to what happened. Not even one man was there to help him, sinless as he was.

103.3  The words “They opened their mouth against me like a roaring lion” point to the king of the Jews at that time, who was also called Herod. He was the successor of the Herod who killed all the children born in Bethlehem at the time Christ was born. That earlier Herod did it because he supposed that the child the Magi from Arabia had told him about must be among them. He did not know the plan of the One who is stronger than all. That One had ordered Joseph and Mary to take the child and go away to Egypt. They were to stay there until it was revealed to them that they should return to their own country. They went and stayed there until Herod, who had killed the children in Bethlehem, died and Archelaus took his place. Archelaus also died before Christ came to carry out the plan that was to be fulfilled by his being crucified, according to the Father’s will.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Psalm 22:13. Matthew 2:1 says only that the Magi came “from the east”; Justin is the earliest known writer to say they came from Arabia.
   [Scripture] Matthew 2:13; Matthew 2:16; Matthew 2:22

103.4  Then Herod, who succeeded Archelaus, received the authority given to him. Pilate, to do him a favor, sent Jesus to him bound. God had foreseen this and said beforehand: “And they bound him and carried him off to the Assyrian as a gift to the king.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Hosea 10:6 in the Greek version. In Hosea the words describe the calf idol of Samaria being carried off to Assyria. Justin applies them to Jesus being sent to Herod.
   [Scripture] Luke 23:7; Hosea 10:6

103.5  Or else, by the lion roaring against him, the Psalm meant the devil. Moses calls him the serpent. In Job and Zechariah he is called the devil, and Jesus addressed him as Satan. By that name Jesus showed that the devil had acquired a compound name from what he had done. In the language of the Jews and Syrians, “sata” means apostate, and “nas” is the word that, when translated, means serpent. From these two words together comes the single name Satanas.
   [Translator’s note] Justin’s explanation of the word is not accurate. In Hebrew, “satan” means “adversary,” and the usual Hebrew word for serpent is “nachash.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 3:1; Job 1:6; Zechariah 3:1

103.6  For it is written in the memoirs of the apostles that as soon as Jesus came up from the river Jordan, when the voice said to him, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you,” this devil came to him and tempted him. He went so far as to say to him, “Worship me.” Christ answered him, “Get behind me, Satan. You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.” For just as the devil had led Adam astray, he said he could do something against Christ as well.
   [Translator’s note] The words at the Jordan match Psalm 2:7. They also match the reading of Luke 3:22 in a few ancient manuscripts. Most manuscripts have “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.” The temptation is in Matthew 4:1–11 and Luke 4:1–13, and Jesus’ answer quotes Deuteronomy 6:13.
   [Scripture] Psalm 2:7; Luke 3:22; Matthew 4:9-10; Luke 4:8

103.7  The words “My bones were all poured out like water and scattered; my heart became like wax melting in the middle of my belly” were a prediction of what happened to him that night, when men went out against him to the Mount of Olives to seize him.

103.8  It is written in the memoirs, which I say were composed by his apostles and those who followed them, that sweat poured down from him like thick drops while he prayed and said, “If it is possible, let this cup pass.” His heart was plainly trembling, and his bones as well, and his heart was like wax melting inside his belly. This was so that we would know that the Father willed that his own Son should truly go through such sufferings for our sake. It was also so that we would not say that he, being the Son of God, did not feel what was being done to him and what was happening to him.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says only “like clots” or “thick drops” (thromboi). The older translation adds “of blood,” as in Luke 22:44. Luke 22:43–44 is missing from some early manuscripts, and Justin’s words here are an early witness to the passage.
   [Scripture] Luke 22:44; Matthew 26:39

103.9  The words “My strength was dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue is stuck to my throat” were also a prediction, as I said before, of his silence. He had shown all your teachers to be without wisdom, yet on that occasion he answered nothing at all.
   [Scripture] Matthew 27:14


CHAPTER 104

104.1  The words “You brought me down to the dust of death, for many dogs surrounded me; a gathering of evildoers closed in on me. They dug into my hands and my feet; they counted all my bones. They themselves looked closely at me and stared at me. They divided my garments among themselves, and cast lots for my clothing” were, as I said, a prediction of the kind of death to which the gathering of evildoers would condemn him. He calls them dogs, and by that he shows that they were hunters. They were the very ones who hunted him down and gathered together, struggling to get him condemned. This too is written in the memoirs of his apostles as having happened.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Psalm 22:15–18 (Psalm 21 in the Greek numbering), quoted from the Greek version. “Dug into” translates the Greek verb ōryxan, which literally means “they dug.” The older translation and most English Bibles have “pierced.” The Hebrew wording of this line is disputed, and many Hebrew manuscripts read “like a lion.”

104.2  I have already shown that after he was crucified, those who crucified him divided his garments among themselves.
   [Scripture] Matthew 27:35; John 19:23-24


CHAPTER 105

105.1  The next part of the Psalm reads: “But you, Lord, do not keep your help far from me; attend to my aid. Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only-begotten from the hand of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion, and my humiliation from the horns of the unicorns.” Again this is teaching and foretelling of what was true of him and what was going to happen to him. I have already shown that he was the only-begotten of the Father of all things, begotten from him in a unique way as Word and Power, and that he afterward became man through the virgin, as we have learned from the memoirs.
   [Translator’s note] “Memoirs” is Justin’s usual name for the Gospels.

105.2  It was likewise foretold that he would die by crucifixion. For the words “Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only-begotten from the hand of the dog; save me from the mouth of the lion, and my humiliation from the horns of the unicorns” also point to the kind of suffering by which he was to die, that is, crucifixion. I have already explained to you that “the horns of the unicorns” represent the shape of the cross and nothing else.
   [Translator’s note] Justin’s earlier explanation is in chapter 91. There he says the horns of the unicorn in Deuteronomy 33:17 can stand only for the cross.

105.3  His asking that his soul be saved from the sword, the mouth of the lion and the hand of the dog was a request that no one should gain power over his soul. He asked this so that we too, when we come to the end of our life, may ask the same thing of God, who is able to turn away every shameless evil angel so that it cannot seize our souls.

105.4  I showed you that souls continue to exist from the fact that the soul of Samuel was called up by the medium, as Saul demanded. It also appears that the souls of all righteous men and prophets of that kind came under the power of such powers as the very facts show were at work in that medium.
   [Translator’s note] The idea that righteous souls before Christ fell under the power of evil spirits is Justin’s own inference from this story. Scripture does not state it.

105.5  For this reason God teaches us, through his Son as well, to strive by every means to become righteous, and at our departure to ask that our souls not fall under any such power. For when he gave up his spirit on the cross, he said, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” I learned this too from the memoirs.
   [Translator’s note] The words on the cross are from Luke 23:46, which quotes Psalm 31:5.
   [Scripture] Luke 23:46

105.6  It is also written in the memoirs that he urged his disciples to surpass the way of life of the Pharisees, and warned them that otherwise they should know they would not be saved. He said: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
   [Translator’s note] The saying is Matthew 5:20.
   [Scripture] Matthew 5:20


CHAPTER 106

106.1  The rest of the Psalm shows several things. He knew that his Father would give him everything he asked and would raise him from the dead. He urged all who fear God to praise God, because through the mystery of this crucified one God had shown mercy to every race of believing people. And he stood in the midst of his brothers, the apostles. After he rose from the dead, they were convinced by him that even before his suffering he had told them he must suffer these things, and that the prophets had announced them beforehand. They then repented of having deserted him when he was crucified. And while he was with them, he sang praise to God, as the memoirs of the apostles also show.

106.2  The words are these: “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing praise to you. You who fear the Lord, praise him; all the seed of Jacob, glorify him; let all the seed of Israel fear him.”
   [Translator’s note] Psalm 22:22–23 (Psalm 21:23–24 in the Greek Old Testament). “Congregation” translates “ekklēsia,” the same Greek word used for “church.”

106.3  It is also said that he gave one of the apostles the new name Peter, and this is written in his memoirs as having happened. It is also written that he gave two other brothers, the sons of Zebedee, the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder.” This was a sign that he is the one through whom the surname Israel was given to Jacob, and through whom Hoshea was given the name Jesus. By that name the people who were left of those who came out of Egypt were brought into the land promised to the patriarchs.
   [Translator’s note] For the new names Peter and Boanerges, see Mark 3:16–17. “His memoirs” may mean Peter’s memoirs rather than Jesus’ memoirs. Some scholars take this as a reference to Mark’s Gospel, which early tradition linked with Peter and which alone records “Boanerges.” The Greek is ambiguous.
   [Scripture] Mark 3:16-17; Genesis 32:28; Numbers 13:16

106.4  Moses also showed that he would rise like a star from the race of Abraham, saying: “A star will rise out of Jacob, and a leader out of Israel.” Another Scripture says: “Behold, a man; his name is Rising.” So when a star rose in heaven at the very time of his birth, as is written in the memoirs of his apostles, the Magi from Arabia recognized the sign from it, came, and worshiped him.
   [Translator’s note] For the star and the Magi, see Matthew 2:1–11. Matthew says only that the Magi came “from the east.” “From Arabia” is Justin’s own detail.
   [Scripture] Numbers 24:17; Zechariah 6:12; Matthew 2:1-2


CHAPTER 107

107.1  The memoirs also show that he was to rise on the third day after being crucified. It is written there that some of your own people were arguing with him and said, “Show us a sign.” He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah.” When he said this, his meaning was veiled: his hearers were to understand that after he was crucified he would rise on the third day.
   [Translator’s note] The “memoirs” are the Gospels. Justin says elsewhere (First Apology 66) that these memoirs are called Gospels. Compare Matthew 12:38–40.
   [Scripture] Matthew 12:38-39; Matthew 16:4

107.2  He was showing that your generation was more wicked and more adulterous than the city of Nineveh. When Jonah had been thrown up on the third day from the belly of the great fish, he preached to the Ninevites that after three days they would all be destroyed. Then they proclaimed a fast for every living creature, men and animals alike. They put on sackcloth and cried out earnestly, and they truly repented from the heart and renounced injustice. They believed that God is merciful and kind to all who turn from evil. Even the king of that city and his nobles put on sackcloth and kept up the fast and the pleading, and they obtained their request that their city not be overthrown.
   [Translator’s note] “Wicked and adulterous generation” echoes Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:39. Justin’s “three days” follows the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) at Jonah 3:4. The Hebrew text, followed by most English Bibles, has “forty days.” That is why the older translation adds “(in other versions, forty).”
   [Scripture] Jonah 2:10

107.3  But Jonah was upset that the city was not overthrown on the third day, as he had proclaimed. By God’s arrangement a gourd plant grew up for him out of the ground, and he sat under it and was shaded from the heat. The gourd came up suddenly: Jonah had neither planted nor watered it, but it sprang up at once to give him shade. By a further arrangement it then dried up, and Jonah grieved over it. So God rebuked him for being wrongly discouraged because the city of Nineveh had not been overthrown. He said:
   [Translator’s note] See Jonah 4:1–9.
   [Scripture] Jonah 4:1; Jonah 4:6-9

107.4  “You took pity on the gourd, though you did not labor over it, nor did you make it grow. It came in a night and perished in a night. And shall I not spare Nineveh, the great city, in which more than a hundred and twenty thousand people live, who do not know their right hand from their left, and many animals as well?”
   [Translator’s note] Jonah 4:10–11.
   [Scripture] Jonah 4:10-11


CHAPTER 108

108.1  All of your people know these things that happened with Jonah. Christ also cried out among you that He would give you the sign of Jonah. He was urging you that, at least after He had risen from the dead, you would repent of the evil things you had done. He wanted you to weep before God as the Ninevites did, so that your nation and your city would not be captured and destroyed, as they have been.
   [Translator’s note] For “the sign of Jonah,” see Matthew 12:39–41, 16:4, and Luke 11:29–30.
   [Scripture] Matthew 12:39

108.2  Yet when you learned that He had risen from the dead, not only did you not repent, but, as I said before, you appointed chosen men and sent them out into the whole world. They announced: “A godless and lawless sect has arisen from a certain Jesus, a Galilean deceiver. We crucified him, but his disciples stole him by night from the tomb where he was laid after he was unnailed from the cross. Now they deceive people by saying that he has risen from the dead and gone up to heaven.” You also accused Him of having taught the godless, lawless and unholy things that you tell every race of people about those who confess Him to be Christ, Teacher, and Son of God.
   [Translator’s note] Justin made the same charge earlier, in chapter 17. The story that the disciples stole the body also appears in Matthew 28:11–15.
   [Scripture] Matthew 28:13

108.3  On top of this, even though your city has been captured and your land laid waste, you do not repent. You even dare to curse Him and all who believe in Him. We do not hate you, nor those who because of you have formed such opinions about us. Instead we pray that even now all of you will repent and receive mercy from God, the Father of all, who is tenderhearted and rich in mercy.
   [Translator’s note] The older English has “long-suffering” for the Greek “polyeleos,” which means “of much mercy.”


CHAPTER 109

109.1  Now, as for the Gentiles, bear with me while I say a few words from the prophecy of Micah, one of the Twelve. He foretold that they would repent of the evil in which they had lived in error, when they heard the word preached from Jerusalem by His apostles and learned it through them.
   [Translator’s note] “The Twelve” are the twelve shorter prophetic books, the Minor Prophets, counted as one.

109.2  These are his words: “And in the last days the mountain of the Lord will be plainly seen, established on the top of the mountains, lifted up above the hills. Peoples will make a river flow to it, and many nations will go and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob. They will give us light about His way, and we will walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion will go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples and will rebuke strong nations far away. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and they will not learn war any more.”
   [Translator’s note] Micah 4:1–3, which is nearly the same as Isaiah 2:2–4. Justin’s Greek says literally that peoples “will set a river” toward the mountain, a very literal rendering of the Hebrew verb for “flow,” which shares its root with the word for “river.” The usual Septuagint of Micah reads “peoples will hasten to it.”
   [Scripture] Micah 4:1-3

109.3  And each man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and there will be no one to frighten him, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all the peoples will walk in the name of their gods, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever. And in that day, I will gather her who was afflicted, and I will assemble her who was thrust out, and her whom I had brought low. I will make the afflicted one a remnant, and the crushed one a strong nation. And the Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion from now on and forever.
   [Translator’s note] Micah 4:4–7.
   [Scripture] Micah 4:4-7


CHAPTER 110

110.1  When I had finished these quotations, I added: I know, gentlemen, that your teachers admit that all the words of this passage were spoken about the Christ. I also know that they say he has not yet come. Or if they say he has come, they say it is not known who he is, but when he becomes visible and glorious, then, they say, it will be known who he is.

110.2  And then, they say, what is spoken in this passage will come to pass, as if no fruit at all had yet come from the words of the prophecy. You senseless people! You do not understand what has been shown through all these passages: that two comings of him have been announced. One is the coming in which he was proclaimed as suffering, without glory, without honor, and crucified. The other is the coming in which he will arrive from heaven with glory. That will be when the man of apostasy, who also speaks outrageous things against the Most High, will dare to do lawless things on the earth against us Christians. We have come to know the worship of God from the law and the word that went out from Jerusalem through the apostles of Jesus, and we have fled for refuge to the God of Jacob and the God of Israel.
   [Translator’s note] The older English has “the true worship of God”; the Greek has only “the worship of God” (θεοσέβεια).
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:25; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; Micah 4:2

110.3  We were filled with war, mutual slaughter, and every kind of wickedness. But every one of us, all over the earth, has changed our weapons of war: our swords into plows, and our spears into farming tools. Now we farm godliness, righteousness, love for humanity, faith, and the hope that comes from the Father himself through the one who was crucified. Each of us sits under his own vine; that is, each of us has relations only with his own lawfully married wife. For you know that the prophetic word says, “And his wife is like a thriving vine.”
   [Translator’s note] The swords, plows and vine come from Micah 4:3–4, quoted in chapter 109. Justin reads the “vine” as a man’s own wife, supporting this with Psalm 128:3 (127:3 in the Greek Old Testament), which reads “your wife,” not “his wife.”
   [Scripture] Micah 4:3; Micah 4:4

110.4  It is plain that no one can frighten us or make us slaves, we who have believed in Jesus all over the earth. We are beheaded, crucified, thrown to wild beasts, and subjected to chains, fire, and all the other tortures, and it is clear that we do not abandon our confession. On the contrary, the more such things happen, the more other people, in ever greater numbers, become believers and worshippers of God through the name of Jesus. If someone cuts away the parts of a vine that have borne fruit, it sends up other shoots that are healthy and fruitful. The same thing happens with us. For the vine planted by God and by Christ the Savior is his people.
   [Scripture] Micah 4:4

110.5  The rest of the prophecy will be fulfilled at his second coming. As for “the afflicted and thrust-out one,” that is, thrust out of the world: as far as you and all other people are concerned, every Christian has been driven out not only from his own possessions but from the whole world, since you and they allow no Christian to live.
   [Translator’s note] Justin is quoting Micah 4:6, part of the prophecy given in chapter 109; in the Greek, “the afflicted and thrust-out one” is feminine, as in Micah.
   [Scripture] Micah 4:6

110.6  You say that this has happened to your own people. But if you were driven out after being attacked in war, you have suffered this justly, as all the Scriptures testify. We, however, have done nothing of the kind since coming to know the truth of God. Yet God testifies about us, together with Christ, the most righteous, the only one without stain or sin, that we are being taken away from the earth. For Isaiah cries out: “See how the righteous man has perished, and no one takes it to heart. Righteous men are taken away, and no one pays attention.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Isaiah 57:1.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 57:1


CHAPTER 111

111.1  I said earlier that Moses too foretold, in symbols, that there would be two comings of this Christ. I showed this through the symbol of the goats offered at the fast. Again, what Moses and Joshua did announced the same thing in advance, in symbol and in word. Moses stretched out his hands and stayed on the hill until evening, with his hands held up, and this shows a type of nothing other than the cross. The other, who had his name changed to Jesus, led the battle, and Israel won.
   [Translator’s note] “Jesus” and “Joshua” are the same name in Greek (Ἰησοῦς). Moses renamed Hoshea “Joshua” (Numbers 13:16), and Justin relies on this.
   [Scripture] Exodus 17:11-12; Numbers 13:16

111.2  It is possible to see that this happened in the case of both of those holy men, prophets of God: one of them was not able to carry both mysteries. I mean the type of the cross and the type of bearing the name. This power belongs to one alone. It was his, it is his, and it will be his. Every ruling power fears his name and is in agony, because they are going to be destroyed through him. So our Christ, who suffered and was crucified, was not cursed by the law. Rather, he showed that he alone would save those who do not fall away from faith in him.
   [Translator’s note] On the law’s curse, compare Deuteronomy 21:23 and Galatians 3:13; Justin discusses this curse at length in chapters 89–96.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 21:23

111.3  And when the firstborn of the Egyptians were being destroyed, the blood of the passover rescued those who were saved in Egypt. It had been smeared on both doorposts and on the lintel. For the passover was Christ, who was sacrificed later, as Isaiah also said: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.” It is written that you seized him on the day of the passover, and that you likewise crucified him at the passover. Just as the passover blood saved those in Egypt, so the blood of Christ will rescue from death those who have believed.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Isaiah 53:7. Compare 1 Corinthians 5:7: “Christ, our passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”
   [Scripture] Exodus 12:7; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Isaiah 53:7

111.4  Would God, then, have been mistaken if this sign had not been put on the doors? I do not say that. I say that God was announcing in advance the salvation that was going to come to the human race through the blood of Christ. The scarlet thread was a symbol in the same way. Joshua son of Nun sent spies to Jericho, and they gave the thread to Rahab the prostitute. They told her to tie it to the window through which she had let them down so that they would escape their enemies. This thread likewise showed the symbol of the blood of Christ. By that blood, people from all the nations who were once sexually immoral and unrighteous are saved. They receive forgiveness of sins and no longer sin.
   [Translator’s note] See Joshua 2:1, 15–21.
   [Scripture] Exodus 12:13; Joshua 2:15; Joshua 2:18


CHAPTER 112

112.1  But you explain these things in a lowly way, and so you charge God with great weakness. That is what happens if you hear them in this bare, literal way and do not examine the meaning of what was said. By that reasoning Moses too would be judged a lawbreaker. He commanded that no likeness be made of anything in heaven, on earth or in the sea. Yet he himself then made a bronze serpent, set it up on a standard, and told those who had been bitten to look at it. And they were saved by looking at it.
   [Translator’s note] See Exodus 20:4 and Numbers 21:8–9. The word for the “standard” or pole is σημεῖον, which also means “sign.” It is the word used in the Greek of Numbers 21:8, and Justin builds on it in the next section.
   [Scripture] Exodus 20:4; Numbers 21:8-9

112.2  Are we then to understand that the serpent saved the people at that time? As I said before, God cursed that serpent from the beginning, and he will destroy it with the great sword, as Isaiah cries out. Are we to accept such things as foolishly as your teachers say, and not as symbols? Shall we not rather refer the sign to the image of Jesus who was crucified? After all, Moses with his outstretched hands, together with the one who was called by the name Jesus (Joshua), brought about the victory of your people.
   [Translator’s note] For Moses’ outstretched hands and Joshua’s victory over Amalek, see Exodus 17:8–13.
   [Scripture] Genesis 3:14; Isaiah 27:1; Exodus 17:11-12

112.3  In this way we will stop being puzzled about what the lawgiver did. He was not abandoning God and persuading the people to put their hope in a beast, the creature through which transgression and disobedience began. This was done and said by the blessed prophet with great insight and mystery. And there is nothing at all in what any of the prophets said or did that anyone can justly blame, if you have the knowledge that is in them.

112.4  But suppose all your teachers explain to you only why female camels are not mentioned in this passage, or what the so-called female camels are, or why the offerings call for so many measures of fine flour and so many measures of oil. And suppose they explain these things in a lowly and earthbound way, while they never dare to speak of or explain the great matters that deserve inquiry. Or suppose that when we explain them, they order you not to listen at all and not to join in conversation with us. Will they not deserve to hear what our Lord Jesus Christ said to them? “Whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful outside and inside are full of dead men’s bones, paying tithes on mint but swallowing the camel, blind guides!”
   [Translator’s note] Justin combines phrases from Matthew 23:23–24, 27.
   [Scripture] Matthew 23:27; Matthew 23:23-24

112.5  So you must despise the teachings of those who exalt themselves and want to be called “Rabbi, Rabbi.” You must come to the words of the prophets with such firm resolve and understanding that you suffer from your own people the same things the prophets themselves suffered. Unless you do this, you can get no benefit at all from the writings of the prophets.
   [Translator’s note] Compare Matthew 23:7–8. Many manuscripts of Matthew 23:7 have the doubled “Rabbi, Rabbi.”
   [Scripture] Matthew 23:7


CHAPTER 113

113.1  Here is what I mean. As I have said many times, Moses gave the name Jesus (Joshua) to the man called Oshea, who was sent with Caleb to spy out the land of Canaan. You do not ask why he did this. You are not puzzled by it, and you do not care to find out. So Christ has escaped your notice. You read, but you do not understand. Even now, when you hear that Jesus is our Christ, you do not stop to reason that this name was not given to that man idly or by chance.
   [Translator’s note] Greek “Jesus” and Hebrew “Joshua” are the same name. Justin uses “Jesus” for both men, which is how the Greek Old Testament reads. “Oshea” here is Justin’s Αὐσῆς, i.e. Hoshea (Numbers 13:16).
   [Scripture] Numbers 13:16

113.2  But you offer theological explanations of why one alpha was added to Abraham’s first name. In the same way you make grand speeches about why one rho was added to Sarah’s name. Yet you do not ask in the same way why the name Oshea, the son of Nun, which his father had given him, was changed completely to Jesus.
   [Translator’s note] Justin’s Greek names the letters alpha (Abram to Abraham) and rho (Sarai to Sarah, which the Greek Old Testament spells Σάρα and then Σάρρα). See Genesis 17:5, 15.
   [Scripture] Genesis 17:5; Genesis 17:15

113.3  His name was not the only thing changed. He also became Moses’ successor. Of all the grown men who came out of Egypt, he alone led the people who were left into the holy land. Moses did not do this; he did. And he distributed the land by lot to those who entered with him. In the same way Jesus the Christ will bring back the scattered people and will give the good land to each one. But it will no longer be done in the same way.
   [Translator’s note] Justin says Joshua “alone” of the adults who left Egypt entered the land. Numbers 14:30 names Caleb as well.

113.4  For Joshua gave them a temporary inheritance, since he was not the Christ who is God, nor the Son of God. But Jesus Christ will give us an eternal possession after the holy resurrection. Joshua had earlier been renamed Jesus, and he had received strength from His Spirit when he made the sun stand still. For I have shown that it was Jesus who appeared to Moses, to Abraham, and to all the other patriarchs without exception, and who spoke with them, serving the Father’s will. He also came to be born as a man of the virgin Mary, and he exists forever.
   [Translator’s note] Joshua’s stopping of the sun is told in Joshua 10:12–14. “His Spirit” probably means the Spirit of Christ, though the Greek pronoun is ambiguous.
   [Scripture] Joshua 10:12-13

113.5  For this is the one from whom and through whom the Father will make the heaven and the earth new. This is the one who will shine as an eternal light in Jerusalem. This is the one who is king of Salem after the order of Melchizedek, and who is the eternal priest of the Most High.
   [Translator’s note] The eternal light in Jerusalem recalls Isaiah 60:19–20. Melchizedek appears as king of Salem and priest of the Most High God in Genesis 14:18, and as a priest “forever after the order of Melchizedek” in Psalm 110:4 (compare Hebrews 7). Justin applies both titles to Christ.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 60:19-20; Genesis 14:18

113.6  Joshua is said to have circumcised the people a second time with knives of stone. This was a proclamation in advance of the circumcision with which Jesus Christ himself has circumcised us from stones and other idols. He gathered into heaps those from the uncircumcision, that is, from the error of the world, who in every place have been circumcised with knives of stone. These knives are the words of Jesus our Lord. For I have shown that through the prophets Christ was proclaimed in parables as a stone and a rock.
   [Translator’s note] The second circumcision with stone knives is in Joshua 5:2–3. Justin’s word for “heaps” (thēmōnia, a stack, as of sheaves) is not the word the Greek Old Testament uses for the “hill of foreskins” in Joshua 5:3 (bounos). Still, he seems to have that scene in mind.
   [Scripture] Joshua 5:2-3

113.7  So we will understand the knives of stone to be his words. Through them so many who were wandering in error have been circumcised from their uncircumcision with a circumcision of the heart. From that time on, through Jesus (Joshua), God urged that even those who had the circumcision that began with Abraham should be circumcised in this way. He did so when he said that Jesus (Joshua) had circumcised those who entered that holy land a second time with knives of stone.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek perfect infinitive means Joshua “had circumcised” them, a completed past act (Joshua 5:2–3), so the older English rendering “would circumcise” does not match.
   [Scripture] Joshua 5:2


CHAPTER 114

114.1  Sometimes the Holy Spirit caused something to be done in plain sight which was a type of what was going to happen. Sometimes he spoke words about things that were still to come, speaking as if they were happening then or had already happened. Readers who do not know this skill will not be able to follow the words of the prophets as they should. So I will give some prophetic words as an example, so that you may follow what I am saying.

114.2  When he says through Isaiah, “He was led like a sheep to slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer,” he speaks as though the suffering had already happened. And when he says again, “I spread out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people,” and when he says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”, these words too are spoken as if announcing things already done. For I have shown that Scripture often calls Christ a stone in parable, and in figurative speech calls him Jacob and Israel.
   [Translator’s note] The quotations are Isaiah 53:7, Isaiah 65:2 and Isaiah 53:1. Elsewhere in the Dialogue Justin argues that Christ is figuratively called Jacob and Israel.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:7; Isaiah 65:2; Isaiah 53:1

114.3  And again, when he says, “I will see the heavens, the works of your fingers,” I must understand how he uses words, or I will not hear it with understanding. I would hear it the way your teachers claim it should be heard. They suppose that the Father of all, the unbegotten God, has hands, feet, fingers and a soul, like a composite living creature. For this reason they teach that it was the Father himself who appeared to Abraham and to Jacob.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Psalm 8:3 (8:4 in the Greek and Hebrew numbering).
   [Scripture] Psalm 8:3

114.4  Blessed are we, then, who have been circumcised a second time with knives of stone. Your first circumcision was and is done with iron, for you remain hard of heart. But our circumcision is the second in order, and it appeared after yours. It comes through sharp stones, that is, through the words of the cornerstone, the stone cut out without hands, spoken through the apostles. It circumcises us from idolatry and, in short, from every kind of wickedness. Our hearts have been so circumcised from evil that we even rejoice to die for the name of the good Rock. That Rock makes living water spring up in the hearts of those who through him have loved the Father of all, and it gives the water of life to drink to all who are willing.
   [Translator’s note] “Sharp stones” echoes the Greek of Joshua 5:2, where the stone knives are made from sharp rock. The “cornerstone” recalls Isaiah 28:16 and Psalm 118:22, and the “stone cut out without hands” recalls Daniel 2:34. Justin reads these as Christ, whose words come through the apostles’ preaching. The water of life for all who are willing echoes Revelation 22:17.
   [Scripture] Joshua 5:2; Isaiah 28:16; Daniel 2:34; Revelation 22:17

114.5  But you do not understand me when I say these things. You have not understood what was prophesied that the Christ would do, and you do not believe us when we point you to what has been written. For Jeremiah cries out like this: “Woe to you, because you have forsaken the living fountain and have dug for yourselves broken cisterns, which will not be able to hold water. Is the place where Mount Zion stands to be a desert? For I gave Jerusalem a certificate of divorce in front of you.”
   [Translator’s note] Only the words about the fountain and the broken cisterns come from Jeremiah 2:13. The rest of the quotation is not found in that passage. It seems to combine wording like Isaiah 16:1 (Mount Zion as a desert) with the certificate of divorce in Jeremiah 3:8 or Isaiah 50:1.
   [Scripture] Jeremiah 2:13; Isaiah 16:1; Jeremiah 3:8


CHAPTER 115

115.1  But you ought to believe Zechariah, who shows the mystery of the Christ in a parable and proclaims it in a hidden way. These are his words: “Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Zion, for look, I am coming, and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord. Many nations will be joined to the Lord on that day, and they will be my people. I will dwell in the midst of you, and they will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin quotes Zechariah 2:10–11 (2:14–15 in the Greek Old Testament), continuing in the next section to Zechariah 3:2.
   [Scripture] Zechariah 2:10-11

115.2  “The Lord will take possession of Judah and his portion in the holy land, and he will again choose Jerusalem. Let all flesh be in awe before the face of the Lord, for he has been roused from his holy clouds. And he showed me Jesus, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord. The devil stood at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to the devil, ‘May the Lord, who chose Jerusalem, rebuke you. Look, is this not a brand plucked out of the fire?’”
   [Translator’s note] Where Hebrew-based Bibles read “his holy dwelling,” the Greek Old Testament that Justin uses reads “his holy clouds.”
   [Scripture] Zechariah 2:12-13; Zechariah 3:1-2

115.3  Trypho was about to answer and argue with me, so I said: “First wait and hear what I have to say. I am not going to give the explanation you expect, as though there had been no priest named Jesus in the land of Babylon, where your people were captives. Even if I were to argue that way, I would show that there was indeed a priest named Jesus among your people. But the prophet did not see the man himself in his revelation. In the same way, he did not see the devil and the angel of the Lord with his own eyes while in his ordinary state. He saw them in a trance, when a revelation was given to him.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin does not deny that a priest named Joshua (Jesus) lived among the exiles. His point is that Zechariah saw him in a vision, not in person.

115.4  “But now I say this. It was said that the son of Nun, through the name Jesus, did certain mighty deeds and acts that announced in advance what our Lord would do. In the same way, I now come to show that the revelation given among your people concerning Jesus the priest in Babylon was an announcement in advance of what our Priest would do. He is God and Christ, the Son of the Father of all.”
   [Translator’s note] In the Greek Old Testament, Joshua son of Nun is called “Jesus son of Nave.” This is why Justin links his name to Christ.

115.5  “Indeed, I was already wondering,” I said, “why you stayed silent a little while ago when I was speaking, and why you did not catch me out when I said that the son of Nun was the only one of his own age group who came out of Egypt and entered the holy land, along with those listed as underage in that generation. For you rush to sores and settle on them like flies.”
   [Translator’s note] Numbers 14:29–31 says that Caleb as well as Joshua would enter the land, along with those under twenty. Justin’s earlier claim that Joshua alone entered left out Caleb, a slip Trypho could have seized on.

115.6  “For even if someone says ten thousand things well, if there is one small thing that does not please you, or that you do not understand, or that is not exact, you pay no attention to the many good things. You seize on the little remark and work hard to make it out to be impiety and wrong. So when God judges you by the same standard, you will have to give an account all the more for your own great acts of daring. These may be evil deeds or worthless interpretations, which you twist the text to produce. For it is just that you should be judged by the judgment with which you judge.”
   [Translator’s note] The last sentence echoes Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:2.
   [Scripture] Matthew 7:2


CHAPTER 116

116.1  But to give you the account of the revelation of the holy Jesus Christ, I take up my argument again. I say that this revelation too was given for us, who believe in Christ, this crucified One, as our High Priest. We were living in fornication and, simply put, in every kind of filthy practice. But through the grace that comes from our Jesus, according to the will of his Father, we have stripped off all the filthy evils we were clothed in. The devil stands over us continually as our opponent, wanting to drag everyone to himself. But the angel of God, that is, the power of God sent to us through Jesus Christ, rebukes him, and he withdraws from us.
   [Translator’s note] Justin is applying the vision of Joshua the high priest in Zechariah 3. There Satan stands to oppose him, and Joshua’s filthy clothes are taken off.
   [Scripture] Zechariah 3:1-4

116.2  And we are like people snatched out of a fire. We have been cleansed from our former sins, and rescued from the affliction and the fiery trial that the devil and all his servants bring on us. Jesus the Son of God snatches us out of these yet again. He has promised to clothe us in the garments prepared for us, if we keep his commandments, and he has promised to provide an eternal kingdom.
   [Translator’s note] The older translation says Jesus “has promised again to deliver us.” The Greek says he does rescue us again now. The promise concerns the garments and the kingdom.
   [Scripture] Zechariah 3:2

116.3  That Jesus, whom the prophet calls a priest, appeared wearing filthy clothes, because he is said to have taken a prostitute as a wife. He was called a brand snatched from the fire because he had received forgiveness of sins, and the devil who opposed him was rebuked. In the same way, we have believed in God, the maker of all things, through the name of Jesus, as one man. Through the name of his firstborn Son we have taken off the filthy clothes, that is, our sins. We were set on fire by the word of his calling, and we are the true high-priestly race of God. God himself bears witness to this when he says that in every place among the Gentiles people offer him pure sacrifices that please him. God accepts sacrifices from no one except through his priests.
   [Translator’s note] God’s words about pure sacrifices offered in every place among the Gentiles come from Malachi 1:11.
   [Scripture] Zechariah 3:1-4; Malachi 1:11


CHAPTER 117

117.1  So God, speaking beforehand, testifies that all the sacrifices made through this name are pleasing to him. These are the sacrifices Jesus the Christ handed down for us to perform, that is, at the thanksgiving of the bread and the cup, which Christians offer in every place on earth. But he rejects the sacrifices made by you and by those priests of yours. He says: “I will not accept your sacrifices from your hands. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name has been glorified among the Gentiles, he says, but you profane it.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Malachi 1:10–12; “thanksgiving” translates eucharistia, the word from which “Eucharist” comes.
   [Scripture] Malachi 1:10-12

117.2  Yet even now, in your love of quarreling, you say this. You say that God does not accept the sacrifices offered in Jerusalem by the people who lived there at that time and were called Israelites. But you say that he said he accepts the prayers of the people of that race who were then scattered abroad, and that he calls their prayers sacrifices. Now I myself also say that prayers and thanksgivings, when offered by worthy people, are the only perfect sacrifices that please God.

117.3  These are the only sacrifices that Christians too have been taught to offer. They offer them at the memorial of their food, both dry and liquid, in which they also recall the suffering the Son of God endured for them. The chief priests and teachers of your people have caused his name to be profaned and blasphemed over all the earth. You have put filthy clothes on all who have become Christians through the name of Jesus. But God will show that these clothes are taken off us when he raises everyone. He will set some, incorruptible, immortal and free from grief, in an eternal kingdom that will never be dissolved, and he will send others away to the eternal punishment of fire.
   [Translator’s note] The “filthy clothes” recall Zechariah 3:3–5, where the filthy garments of Joshua the high priest are taken off him. Justin discussed that passage in the chapters just before this one.
   [Scripture] Matthew 25:46

117.4  You and your teachers deceive yourselves when you explain that the word spoke about people of your race in the dispersion, and that it meant their prayers and sacrifices, offered in every place, were pure and pleasing. Understand that you are lying and trying in every way to deceive yourselves. First of all, even now your race does not extend from the rising of the sun to its setting. There are nations among whom not one of your race has ever lived.
   [Scripture] Malachi 1:11

117.5  For there is no race of people at all among whom prayers and thanksgivings are not offered to the Father and Maker of all through the name of the crucified Jesus. This is true whether they are barbarians or Greeks or are called by any other name at all, whether they are wagon-dwellers, or people called homeless, or herdsmen living in tents. Next, when the prophet Malachi said this, your dispersion over the whole earth, as widely as you are now scattered, had not yet happened. The Scriptures themselves show this.


CHAPTER 118

118.1  So stop your love of quarreling, and repent before the great day of judgment comes. On that day all those from your tribes who pierced this Christ will mourn, as I showed from Scripture that it was foretold. I have also explained that the Lord swore “after the order of Melchizedek,” and what that statement means. I said earlier that Isaiah’s prophecy, “His burial has been taken away from the midst,” was about the Christ who was going to be buried and to rise again. And I have said in many places that this same Christ is the judge of all the living and the dead.
   [Translator’s note] The mourning of those who pierced him alludes to Zechariah 12:10–12 (compare Revelation 1:7). “After the order of Melchizedek” is from Psalm 110:4. “His burial has been taken away from the midst” is the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) of Isaiah 57:2, which Justin has quoted earlier in the Dialogue.
   [Scripture] Zechariah 12:10; Isaiah 57:2; Acts 10:42

118.2  Nathan likewise spoke of him to David and said: “I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me. I will not take my mercy away from him, as I did from those before him. I will establish him in my house and in his kingdom forever.” The prince in the house, of whom Ezekiel speaks, is none other than this same one. For the Christ, as Son of God, is the chosen priest and eternal king. Do not think that Isaiah or the other prophets say that at his second coming sacrifices of blood or drink offerings will be brought to the altar. They speak of true and spiritual praises and thanksgivings.
   [Translator’s note] The older translation puts a quotation in Ezekiel’s mouth (“There shall be no other prince in the house but He”). The Greek has only Justin’s paraphrase: Ezekiel’s “prince in the house” is none other than Christ. The “prince” (or “leader”) appears in Ezekiel’s vision of the new temple (for example Ezekiel 44:3).

118.3  It is not for nothing that we have believed in him, and we were not led astray by those who taught us this. It happened by God’s wonderful providence. Through the calling of the new and eternal covenant, that is, of Christ, we were to be found wiser and more devout than you. You are thought to be lovers of God and people of understanding, but you are not.
   [Translator’s note] “Providence” translates pronoia, God’s forethought and care.

118.4  Isaiah marveled at this and said: “Kings will shut their mouths. For those who were told nothing about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand. Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” I went on, “Trypho, in saying these things I am trying, as far as is possible, to say the same things again for the sake of those who have come with you today. But I am doing it briefly and in shortened form.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Isaiah 52:15–53:1 in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), which has “Lord” at the start of 53:1. Paul quotes these verses in Romans 15:21 and 10:16, and John quotes Isaiah 53:1 in John 12:38.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 52:15; Isaiah 53:1

118.5  He replied, “You do well. Even if you say the same things again at greater length, know that I and those with me are glad to listen.”


CHAPTER 119

119.1  Then I said again, “Gentlemen, do you think we could ever have understood these things in the Scriptures, if we had not received, by the will of the One who willed it, the grace to understand them? So that what was said by Moses might also come true:

119.2  ‘They provoked me with strange gods; with their abominations they embittered me. They sacrificed to demons whom they did not know. New and recent gods have come, whom their fathers did not know. You abandoned God who begot you, and forgot God who nourishes you. And the Lord saw, and was jealous, and was provoked to anger by the wrath of his sons and daughters. He said, “I will turn my face away from them, and I will show what will happen to them at the last. For they are a perverse generation, sons in whom there is no faith. They made me jealous with what is not God; they provoked me to anger with their idols. And I will make them jealous with what is not a nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke them to anger. For a fire has been kindled by my anger, and it will burn down to Hades. It will devour the earth and its produce, and set the foundations of the mountains ablaze. I will heap evils upon them.”’
   [Translator’s note] Deuteronomy 32:16–23, from the Song of Moses, quoted from the Greek Old Testament. Paul quotes verse 21 (“I will make them jealous with what is not a nation”) in Romans 10:19.

119.3  After that righteous one was put to death, we sprang up again as another people. We shot up as new and flourishing ears of grain, as the prophets said: “And many nations will take refuge with the Lord on that day, to be his people, and they will settle in the middle of the whole earth.” We are not only a people but a holy people, as we have already shown: “And they will call it a holy people, redeemed by the Lord.”
   [Translator’s note] The first quotation is close to Zechariah 2:11, though there the nations dwell “in your midst” rather than “in the middle of the whole earth.” The second is from Isaiah 62:12.
   [Scripture] Zechariah 2:11; Isaiah 62:12

119.4  So we are not a contemptible people, or a barbarian tribe, or a nation like the Carians or the Phrygians. God has chosen us too, and he made himself plain to those who did not ask after him. “Behold, I am God,” he says, “to a nation, to those who did not call on my name.” For this is the nation that God promised long ago to Abraham, when he announced that he would make him the father of many nations. He did not mean the Arabians, the Egyptians or the Idumeans, since Ishmael also became the father of a great nation, and so did Esau, and there is now a great multitude of Ammonites. Noah, moreover, was the father of Abraham himself and, put simply, of the whole human race, and different men were the forefathers of different peoples.
   [Translator’s note] “He made himself plain to those who did not ask after him” and the words that follow come from Isaiah 65:1, which Paul also quotes in Romans 10:20. Our texts of Isaiah read “Here I am” rather than “I am God.” The promise to make Abraham “the father of many nations” is Genesis 17:4–5.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 65:1; Genesis 17:5

119.5  What more, then, does Christ grant to Abraham here? This: he called him by his voice with a calling like ours, telling him to go out from the land in which he lived. By that same voice he has called all of us. We have already come out from the way of life in which we lived, spending our days in evil like the other inhabitants of the earth. With Abraham we shall inherit the holy land, and we shall receive the inheritance for endless ages, because we are children of Abraham through the same faith.
   [Translator’s note] The call to leave his land is Genesis 12:1. For believers as children of Abraham through faith, compare Galatians 3:7.
   [Scripture] Genesis 12:1; Galatians 3:7

119.6  Abraham believed the voice of God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. In the same way we have believed the voice of God, spoken again through the apostles of Christ and proclaimed to us through the prophets. We have renounced everything in the world, even to the point of death. So God promises Abraham a nation of like faith, God-fearing and righteous, one that gladdens the Father. He does not promise it to you, “in whom is no faith.”
   [Translator’s note] “Renounced” translates a Greek verb that means to say farewell to something or to bid it goodbye.
   [Scripture] Genesis 15:6; Deuteronomy 32:20


CHAPTER 120

120.1  Notice, though, that God promises the same things to Isaac and to Jacob. For he says to Isaac, “And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” To Jacob he says, “And in you all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed, and in your seed.” He does not say this to Esau, or to Reuben, or to anyone else. He says it only to those from whom Christ was to come, according to the plan carried out through the virgin Mary.
   [Translator’s note] The promises are Genesis 26:4 (to Isaac) and Genesis 28:14 (to Jacob).
   [Scripture] Genesis 26:4; Genesis 28:14

120.2  If you will also study the blessing of Judah, you will see what I mean. The seed is divided from Jacob and comes down through Judah, Phares, Jesse and David. This was a symbol that some of your race would be found to be children of Abraham and would be found in the portion of Christ. Others would be children of Abraham, but only like the sand on the seashore. That sand is barren and fruitless. There is a great deal of it, too much to count, yet it bears no fruit at all and only drinks the water of the sea. The great multitude in your race is shown to be like this. They drink down teachings of bitterness and godlessness, and they spit out the word of God.
   [Translator’s note] The blessing of Judah is Genesis 49:8–12. Phares is Perez, son of Judah (Genesis 38:29; Ruth 4:18–22). “Like the sand on the seashore” echoes the promise to Abraham in Genesis 22:17.
   [Scripture] Genesis 22:17

120.3  In the blessing of Judah it says: “A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until he comes for whom it is laid up, and he shall be the expectation of the nations.” It is clear that this was said not about Judah but about Christ. For all of us from all the nations do not look for Judah. We look for Jesus, who also led your fathers out of Egypt. For the prophecy was looking ahead to the coming of Christ when it said: “Until he comes for whom it is laid up, and he shall be the expectation of the nations.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin believes that Christ, before he was born as a man, was the one who led Israel out of Egypt. In chapter 75 he links this to Exodus 23:20–21, where God says of the angel sent before Israel, “my name is in him.” In Greek, “Jesus” and “Joshua” are the same name.
   [Scripture] Genesis 49:10

120.4  So he has come, as we have shown at length, and Jesus is expected to appear again above the clouds. You profane his name, and you work hard to have it profaned over all the earth. I could have argued with you, gentlemen, I said, about the wording that you explain as “Until the things laid up for him come.” The Seventy did not translate it that way. They wrote, “Until he comes for whom it is laid up.”
   [Translator’s note] The “Seventy” are the translators of the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint). Justin says they wrote “for whom it is laid up.” However, the wording he attributes to the Jews, “the things laid up for him,” is also widely found in surviving Septuagint manuscripts of Genesis 49:10. The difference is a matter of variant readings.
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:13; Genesis 49:10

120.5  But the words that follow show that this was said about Christ. For it reads: “And he will be the expectation of the nations.” So I am not coming to argue with you over a small point of wording. In the same way, I have not tried to prove my case about Christ from the Scriptures you do not accept, which I quoted earlier, from the words of the prophet Jeremiah, of Ezra, and of David. I have argued from the Scriptures you still accept to this day. If your teachers had understood those, be well assured they would have made them disappear. They did this with the account of the death of Isaiah, whom you sawed in two with a wooden saw. That too was a mystery pointing to Christ. He is going to cut your people in two. He will count the worthy, together with the holy patriarchs and prophets, fit for the eternal kingdom. As he has already said, he will send the others, together with similar disobedient and unrepentant people from all the nations, to the condemnation of the unquenchable fire.
   [Translator’s note] The Old Testament does not record how Isaiah died. The story that he was sawn in two comes from later Jewish tradition, and Hebrews 11:37 likely alludes to it (“they were sawn in two”).
   [Scripture] Genesis 49:10

120.6  “For they will come,” he said, “from the west and the east, and will recline at table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness.” I say this, I said, because I care about nothing except speaking the truth. I will not hold back out of regard for anyone, even if I must be torn limb from limb by you right now. I did not hold back even out of concern for anyone of my own people, I mean the Samaritans. When I addressed Caesar in writing, I said they were being led astray by trusting the magician Simon, who came from their own people. They say he is God above every rule, authority and power.
   [Translator’s note] Justin was born in Flavia Neapolis (modern Nablus) in Samaria. His family was probably Gentile, but he still calls the Samaritans his people. His written address to the emperor is his First Apology, which speaks of Simon in chapters 26 and 56. For Simon, compare Acts 8:9–10.
   [Scripture] Matthew 8:11-12; Ephesians 1:21


CHAPTER 121

121.1  While they stayed silent, I went on: My friends, when the Scripture speaks about this Christ through David, it no longer says that the nations will be blessed in his seed, but in him. It reads this way: “His name is for ever; it will rise above the sun; and in him all the nations will be blessed.” But if all the nations are blessed in Christ, and we from all the nations believe in him, then he is the Christ, and we are the ones blessed through him.
   [Translator’s note] Justin is quoting Psalm 72:17 (Psalm 71 in the Greek numbering) freely. The Septuagint reads “his name will endure before the sun.” “In his seed” refers to God’s promise to Abraham (Genesis 22:18).

121.2  God had earlier given the sun to be worshipped, as it is written. Yet no one has ever been seen to endure death out of faith in the sun. But for the name of Jesus you can see people of every race who have endured, and still endure, every kind of suffering rather than deny him. For the word of truth and wisdom is more fiery than the sun, and brighter than the sun’s powers, and it goes down into the depths of the heart and mind. So the word of Scripture said, “Above the sun his name will rise.” And again Zechariah says, “His name is the Rising.” And speaking about the same person he said, “Tribe by tribe they will mourn.”
   [Translator’s note] “Rising” (anatolē) can mean the rising of the sun, the east, or the dawn. In Zechariah 6:12 the Greek Old Testament uses it for the Hebrew word meaning “Branch.” “Tribe by tribe they will mourn” comes from Zechariah 12:12.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 4:19; Zechariah 6:12; Zechariah 12:12

121.3  Now at his first coming he was without honor, without beauty, and despised. Yet he shone and prevailed so much that he is unknown in no race. People from every race have repented of the old evil way of life of their own people. Even demons are subject to his name, and all rulers and kingdoms fear his name more than they fear all the dead. So at his glorious coming, will he not by every means destroy all who hated him and unjustly turned away from him? And will he not give rest to his own people, giving them everything they hope for?
   [Translator’s note] The words “without honor, without beauty, and despised” echo Isaiah 53:2–3.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:2-3; Luke 10:17

121.4  To us, then, it has been given to hear and understand, to be saved through this Christ, and to know all the things of the Father. This is why he said to him: “It is a great thing for you to be called my servant, to set up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the scattered people of Israel. I have made you a light for the nations, so that you may be their salvation to the end of the earth.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Isaiah 49:6 from the Greek Old Testament, slightly abridged. The Greek word “pais” can mean “servant” or “child.” Here it translates the Hebrew word for “servant.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 49:6


CHAPTER 122

122.1  You think these words were spoken about the “stranger” and the proselytes. In fact they were spoken about us, who have been enlightened through Jesus. Otherwise Christ would have borne witness to those people too. But as it is, “you become twice as much sons of Gehenna,” as he himself said. So what was said through the prophets was not said to them but to us. Of us the word says: “I will lead the blind by a way they did not know, and they will walk paths they never knew. And I am a witness, says the Lord God, and so is my servant whom I have chosen.”
   [Translator’s note] “Twice as much sons of Gehenna” echoes Jesus’ words to the scribes and Pharisees about their converts in Matthew 23:15. The prophetic quotations are Isaiah 42:16 and Isaiah 43:10.
   [Scripture] Matthew 23:15; Isaiah 42:16; Isaiah 43:10

122.2  Who, then, does Christ bear witness to? Clearly, to those who have believed. But the proselytes not only do not believe; they blaspheme his name twice as much as you do. They also want to kill and torture us who believe in him, for in every way they are eager to become like you.
   [Translator’s note] “Proselytes” are Gentiles who had converted to Judaism.

122.3  And again in other passages he cries out: “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness, and I will take hold of your hand and strengthen you, and I will appoint you as a covenant for a race, as a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out of their chains those who are bound.” Gentlemen, these words too were spoken to Christ and about the enlightened Gentiles. Or will you say again, “He is speaking of the law and the proselytes”?
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Isaiah 42:6–7. The older translation has “covenant of the people”; the Greek here says “covenant of a race” (genous).
   [Scripture] Isaiah 42:6-7

122.4  And some of those who had come on the second day cried out, as if they were in a theatre, “Well, what? Does he not speak of the law and of those who are enlightened by it? And these are the proselytes.”

122.5  “No,” I said, looking at Trypho. “If the law had the power to enlighten the nations and those who hold it, what need would there be of a new covenant? But God announced beforehand that he would send a new covenant, an everlasting law and a commandment. So we will not understand these words of the old law and its proselytes, but of Christ and his proselytes, that is, of us Gentiles, whom he has enlightened. As he says somewhere: ‘Thus says the Lord: In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation I helped you, and I gave you as a covenant of nations, to establish the earth and to inherit desolate places as an inheritance.’”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Isaiah 49:8 (Greek Septuagint), where the Greek has “covenant of nations” (diathēkēn ethnōn).
   [Scripture] Isaiah 49:8; Jeremiah 31:31

122.6  “What, then, is Christ’s inheritance? Is it not the nations? What is God’s covenant? Is it not Christ? As he says elsewhere: ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession.’”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Psalm 2:7–8.


CHAPTER 123

123.1  “Just as all these words were spoken to Christ and about the Gentiles, so you should suppose the earlier ones were too. For the proselytes have no need of a covenant, since one and the same law is laid down for all who are circumcised. About them the Scripture speaks like this: ‘And the stranger will also be added to them, and will be added to the house of Jacob.’ The proselyte who is circumcised, so as to join the people, is like a native-born Israelite. But we, though thought worthy to be called a people, are still Gentiles, because we are uncircumcised.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Isaiah 14:1. The point seems to be that a circumcised proselyte joins Israel under the one law and needs no new covenant, while Gentile Christians remain “nations” yet are called God’s people, so the prophecies of a covenant for the nations refer to them.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 14:1

123.2  “It is also ridiculous for you to think that the eyes of the proselytes have been opened but not yours, and that you are the ones called blind and deaf while they are the enlightened ones. It will become still more ridiculous if you claim that the law was given to the Gentiles, when you yourselves have not understood that law.”

123.3  “For if you had known it, you would have feared God’s anger, and you would not be lawless, wandering sons. You would be ashamed to hear him say, time after time: ‘Sons, in whom there is no faith’; and, ‘Who is blind, but my servants, and who is deaf, but those who rule over them? And the servants of God have been made blind. You have often seen, and you did not take heed; your ears are open, and you did not hear.’”
   [Translator’s note] The quotations are Deuteronomy 32:20 and Isaiah 42:19–20.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 32:20; Isaiah 42:19-20

123.4  “Is this God’s praise of you a fine one? Is this the kind of testimony God gives that suits servants? You are not ashamed, though you hear the same things again and again, and you do not shudder when God threatens you. You are a foolish and hard-hearted people. ‘Therefore, behold, I will go on to remove this people,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will remove them, and I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and hide the understanding of the prudent.’ And rightly so. For you are neither wise nor prudent, but shrewd and crafty. You are wise only in doing evil, but unable to know the hidden counsel of God, or the faithful covenant of the Lord, or to find the everlasting paths.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Isaiah 29:14, and “wise only in doing evil” echoes Jeremiah 4:22.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 29:14; Jeremiah 4:22

123.5  “That is why he says, ‘I will raise up for Israel and for Judah the seed of men and the seed of beasts.’ And through Isaiah he speaks like this about another Israel: ‘On that day there will be a third Israel among the Assyrians and the Egyptians, blessed in the land which the Lord of hosts blessed, saying: Blessed will be my people who are in Egypt and in Assyria, and Israel my inheritance.’”
   [Translator’s note] “Lord of hosts” translates “Lord of Sabaoth,” a Hebrew title meaning “Lord of hosts” (or armies).
   [Scripture] Jeremiah 31:27; Isaiah 19:24-25

123.6  So God blesses this people, calls them Israel, and declares aloud that they are his inheritance. Why, then, do you not repent of deceiving yourselves, as if you alone were Israel, and of cursing the people whom God has blessed? For when he was speaking to Jerusalem and the lands around it, he went on to say: “And I will bring forth men upon you, my people Israel, and they will inherit you, and you will be their possession, and you will never again be bereaved of them.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Ezekiel 36:12, from the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint).
   [Scripture] Ezekiel 36:12

123.7  “What then?” said Trypho. “Are you Israel? Is he saying these things about you?” I said to him: “If we had not already spent a long time on this subject, I might have doubted whether you were asking out of ignorance. But we have brought this question to a conclusion too, with proof and with your agreement. So I do not think you are ignorant of what was said earlier, or that you want to quarrel again. I think you are calling on me to give the same proof to these men as well.”

123.8  He signaled his agreement with his eyes, and I went on: “Again, in Isaiah, if you have ears to hear it, God speaks about the Christ in a figure and calls him Jacob and Israel. He says: ‘Jacob is my servant; I will uphold him. Israel is my chosen one; I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out, and no one will hear his voice in the streets. A crushed reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not put out. But he will bring it forth to truth. He will take up justice, and he will not be broken, until he has set justice on the earth. And in his name the nations will hope.’”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek manuscript of Justin reads “he will take up justice.” The Septuagint reads “he will bring forth justice in truth; he will shine out and not be broken,” and the older translation follows that. Here Justin’s text is translated as it stands.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 42:1-4

123.9  “Just as your whole race was called Jacob and Israel after that one man Jacob, who was also named Israel, so we too take our names from Christ, who gave us birth to God. Like him, we are called Jacob and Israel and Judah and Joseph and David. We are called true children of God, and that is what we are, we who keep the commandments of Christ.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek here is compressed. The older translation renders it “like Jacob, and Israel, and Judah, and Joseph, and David.” Justin seems to mean that Christians bear these names because Christ bears them in the prophets (he has just shown Christ called “Jacob” and “Israel”). The wording “are called… and are” may echo 1 John 3:1.
   [Scripture] 1 John 3:1


CHAPTER 124

124.1  When I saw that they were disturbed because I said that we too are children of God, I spoke before they could ask a question. I said: “Listen, gentlemen, to what the Holy Spirit says about this people: that they are all sons of the Most High, and that this very Christ will be present in their assembly, carrying out judgment on every race of people.”
   [Scripture] Psalm 82:1; Psalm 82:6

124.2  “These words were spoken through David, and as you translate them, they run like this: ‘God stands in the assembly of gods; in their midst he judges the gods. How long will you judge unjustly and show favor to sinners? Give judgment for the orphan and the poor; do justice to the lowly and the needy. Rescue the needy, and deliver the poor from the hand of the sinner. They did not know and did not understand; they walk about in darkness. All the foundations of the earth will be shaken. I said, “You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High. But you die like a man, and you fall like one of the rulers.” Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for you will take all the nations as your inheritance.’”
   [Translator’s note] “As you translate them” contrasts the Jews’ own rendering with the Septuagint wording that Justin gives next. It is not certain which Jewish version Justin had in mind.

124.3  “But in the Septuagint version it is written: ‘Behold, you die like men, and fall like one of the rulers.’ This is to show the disobedience of human beings, I mean Adam and Eve, and the fall of one of the rulers, that is, the one called the serpent, who fell with a great fall because he led Eve astray.”
   [Translator’s note] The “Seventy” are the translators of the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint. Their wording adds “Behold” and has “men” (plural) where the version in 124.2 has “a man.”

124.4  “But my argument now is not aimed at that point. I want to show you that the Holy Spirit rebukes human beings. They were made like God, free from suffering and death, if they kept his commands, and he counted them worthy to be called his sons. Yet they become like Adam and Eve and bring death on themselves. So take the interpretation of the psalm however you wish. Even so, it has been shown that they were counted worthy to become gods, and that all of them were counted worthy to be able to become sons of the Most High. It is also shown that they will be judged and condemned through their own fault, as Adam and Eve were. And that he also calls the Christ God has been shown in many places.”
   [Translator’s note] “Free from suffering” renders the Greek apatheis, “not subject to suffering.”
   [Scripture] Psalm 82:6


CHAPTER 125

125.1  “I wanted, gentlemen,” I said, “to learn from you what the name Israel means.” They stayed silent, so I went on: “I will tell you what I know. I do not think it right to keep quiet when I know something. Nor do I think it right to keep worrying about you, even if I suspect that you do know and are deceiving yourselves out of envy or out of inexperience. Rather, I should say everything plainly and without guile, as my Lord said: ‘The sower went out to sow the seed. Some fell on the road, some among the thorns, some on rocky ground, and some on good ground.’”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek of the phrase about envy and inexperience is difficult; apeiria normally means “inexperience.”
   [Scripture] Luke 8:5-8; Matthew 13:3-8

125.2  So I must speak in the hope that there is good ground somewhere. That Lord of mine is strong and powerful, and he will come and demand what is his from everyone. He will not condemn his steward if he recognizes him as faithful. Such a steward knows that his lord is powerful and will come to demand what is his. So he gives it out at every banker’s table and has not buried it for any reason at all.”
   [Translator’s note] In the Greek, “if he recognizes him” could also mean “if the steward acknowledges him.” I have followed the more natural reading, in which the lord is still the subject.
   [Scripture] Luke 19:23

125.3  “Now the name Israel means this: a man who overcomes power. For ‘isra’ means ‘a man overcoming,’ and ‘el’ means ‘power.’ This was foretold through the mystery of the wrestling match in which Jacob wrestled with the one who appeared. He appeared because he served the Father’s will, but he was God because he is the firstborn child of all created things. In this way it was prophesied that Christ, once he became man, would also struggle.”
   [Translator’s note] This is Justin’s explanation of the name. Modern scholars usually explain “Israel” differently, as something like “God strives” or “he struggles with God.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 32:24; Colossians 1:15

125.4  “For when he became man, as I said before, the devil came to him. I mean that power which is also called the serpent and Satan. He tempted him and tried to bring him down by demanding that he worship him. But Christ broke him and threw him down. He proved the devil wicked, since, contrary to the Scripture, he demanded to be worshipped as God, having become a rebel against God’s purpose. For Christ answered him, ‘It is written: You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone.’ Then the devil, defeated and exposed, withdrew.”
   [Translator’s note] The temptation is told in Matthew 4:1–11 and Luke 4:1–13. Jesus’ reply quotes Deuteronomy 6:13 in the form found in Matthew 4:10 and Luke 4:8.
   [Scripture] Matthew 4:10; Luke 4:8; Deuteronomy 6:13

125.5  “But our Christ was also going to be ‘numbed,’ that is, to be in pain and to feel his suffering, when he was about to be crucified. He announced this in advance too, by touching Jacob’s thigh and making it go numb. Israel, however, had been his name from of old. He gave this name to the blessed Jacob, blessing him with his own name. By this he also proclaimed that all who take refuge in the Father through him are the blessed Israel. But you have understood none of this and are not preparing to understand it. Because you are children of Jacob by physical descent, you expect to be saved no matter what. But I have shown in many places that you deceive yourselves in this too.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word translated “from of old” (anōthen) can mean either “from the beginning” or “from above.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 32:25; Genesis 32:28


CHAPTER 126

126.1  “But who is this one? If you knew, Trypho,” I said, “you would not blaspheme him, now that he has come, been born, suffered and ascended into heaven. He is called at one time the Angel of great counsel, and a Man through Ezekiel, and like a Son of Man through Daniel, and a Child through Isaiah. Through David he is called Christ and God to be worshipped. Through many he is called Christ and Stone, through Solomon Wisdom, and through Moses Joseph, Judah and a Star. Through Zechariah he is called the Rising, and through Isaiah again the Suffering One, Jacob and Israel. He has also been called a Rod, a Flower, a Cornerstone and the Son of God. He will be present again, and then your twelve tribes will mourn.”
   [Translator’s note] “The Rising” is the Greek word anatolē, which means the rising of the sun, or the east. In the Greek Old Testament it is used in Zechariah for the “Branch.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 9:6; Daniel 7:13; Isaiah 11:1; Matthew 24:30

126.2  “If you had understood what the prophets said, you would not have denied that he is God, the Son of the only, unbegotten and unutterable God. For it is said somewhere through Moses in Exodus: ‘The Lord spoke to Moses and said to him, I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as their God, and I did not make my name known to them, and I established my covenant with them.’”
   [Scripture] Exodus 6:2-4

126.3  “And again he speaks this way: ‘A man wrestled with Jacob.’ And he says that this was God, for he says that Jacob said, ‘I saw God face to face, and my soul was saved.’ He also recorded that Jacob named the place where the man wrestled with him, appeared to him and blessed him, ‘Form of God.’”
   [Translator’s note] “Form of God” (Greek Eidos theou) is how the Greek Old Testament renders the place name Peniel in Genesis 32:30; in Hebrew the name means “Face of God.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 32:24; Genesis 32:30

126.4  Moses also says that God appeared to Abraham in the same way, by the oak of Mamre, while Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent at midday. After saying this he continues: “And lifting up his eyes he saw, and behold, three men were standing over him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them.” A little later one of them promises Abraham a son: “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I really bear a child? I am old.’ Is any word impossible with God? At this time I will return, at the appointed season, and Sarah shall have a son.” And they depart from Abraham.
   [Translator’s note] Justin is quoting excerpts from Genesis 18:1–2 and 18:13–14 in the Greek Old Testament.
   [Scripture] Genesis 18:1-2; Genesis 18:13-14

126.5  Again he speaks of them in this way: “And the men rose up from there and looked down toward Sodom.” Then again the one who was and is speaks to Abraham in this way: “I will not hide from my servant Abraham what I am about to do.” I repeated what follows in the writings of Moses, as I had explained it before. By these passages, I said, it has been shown that this one who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the other patriarchs, and who is recorded as God, is placed under the Father and Lord and serves his will.
   [Translator’s note] The quotations are from Genesis 18:16–17; Justin had already gone through this passage earlier in the Dialogue (chapter 56).
   [Scripture] Genesis 18:16-17

126.6  I added something I had not said earlier: “So also, when the people longed to eat meat, Moses did not believe the one who in that passage too is called an angel, who promised that God would give them enough to be filled. And it is shown that he himself, being both God and an angel sent by the Father, said and did these things. For this is how the Scripture goes on: ‘And the Lord said to Moses, “Will the Lord’s hand not be enough? Now you will know whether my word will overtake you or not.”’ And again, in other words, it says: ‘But the Lord said to me, “You will not cross this Jordan. The Lord your God, who goes before your face, he will destroy the nations.”’”
   [Translator’s note] The two quotations are from Numbers 11:23 and Deuteronomy 31:2–3.
   [Scripture] Numbers 11:23; Deuteronomy 31:2-3


CHAPTER 127

127.1  Many other things of this kind are said by the lawgiver and the prophets. I think I have said enough to show this: when my God says, “God went up from Abraham,” or “The Lord spoke to Moses,” or “The Lord came down to see the tower which the sons of men had built,” or when “God shut Noah in the ark from outside,” you must not suppose that the unbegotten God himself came down or went up from anywhere.
   [Translator’s note] The quotations are from Genesis 17:22, the frequent phrase “The Lord spoke to Moses,” Genesis 11:5, and Genesis 7:16.
   [Scripture] Genesis 17:22; Genesis 11:5; Genesis 7:16

127.2  For the ineffable Father and Lord of all neither has arrived anywhere, nor walks, nor sleeps, nor rises. He remains in his own place, wherever it is, sharp in sight and sharp in hearing, not with eyes or ears but by an indescribable power. He oversees all things and knows all things, and none of us escapes his notice. He is not moved, for he cannot be contained by any place or by the whole world, since he existed even before the world came to be.

127.3  How then could he speak to anyone, or be seen by anyone, or appear in the smallest corner of the earth? The people at Sinai were not even able to look at the glory of the one he sent. Moses himself could not enter the tent he had made when it was filled with the glory from God. And the priest could not bear to stand before the temple when Solomon brought the ark into the house in Jerusalem which Solomon himself had built.
   [Translator’s note] See Exodus 40:35 (Moses could not enter the tent of meeting) and 1 Kings 8:10–11 (the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud and the glory).
   [Scripture] Exodus 40:35

127.4  So neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor any other human being saw the Father, the ineffable Lord of absolutely all things, and of Christ himself. They saw the one who, by the Father’s will, is God, his Son, and is an angel because he serves the Father’s purpose. He is the one whom the Father also willed to be born a man through the virgin, and who once became fire when he spoke with Moses from the bush.
   [Scripture] Exodus 3:2

127.5  If we do not understand the Scriptures in this way, it will follow that the Father and Lord of all was not in heaven when it was said through Moses: “And the Lord rained on Sodom fire and sulfur from the Lord out of heaven.” The same would follow when it was said through David: “Lift up your gates, you rulers, and be lifted up, you everlasting gates, and the King of glory will come in,” and again when he says: “The Lord says to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’”
   [Translator’s note] The quotations are Genesis 19:24, Psalm 24:7 and Psalm 110:1. In Psalm 24:7 Justin follows the Greek Old Testament, which reads “Lift up your gates, you rulers,” where the Hebrew has “Lift up your heads, O gates.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 19:24; Psalm 24:7; Psalm 110:1


CHAPTER 128

128.1  Christ is Lord, and God, the Son of God. He appeared in power at an earlier time as a man and an angel, and in the glory of fire as at the bush. He also appeared at the judgment carried out on Sodom. All this has been demonstrated in much of what has been said. Then I went back over everything I had set out earlier from Exodus, about the vision at the bush and the naming of Jesus (Joshua), and I went on:
   [Translator’s note] In Greek, “Jesus” and “Joshua” are the same name. Earlier in the Dialogue (ch. 75), Justin argued from Exodus 23:20–21 (“my name is in him”) that the angel sent before Israel bore this name, the name Moses gave to Hoshea (Numbers 13:16).

128.2  Gentlemen, do not suppose that I say these things so often out of mere wordiness. I know that some want to head off my argument. They say that the power from the Father of all which appeared to Moses, or to Abraham, or to Jacob is called an angel as it goes forth to men, because through it the Father’s messages are announced to men. They say it is called glory because it sometimes appears in a vision too great to be contained. They say it is sometimes called a man or a human being because it appears shaped in whatever forms the Father wishes. And they call it the Word because it carries the Father’s words to men.

128.3  They insist, however, that this power cannot be cut off or separated from the Father. They compare it to the light of the sun on earth, which they say cannot be cut off or separated from the sun in heaven. When the sun sets, the light goes away with it. In the same way, they say, the Father makes his power spring forth when he wishes, and when he wishes draws it back into himself. They teach that this is also how he makes the angels.
   [Translator’s note] This is the view of Justin’s opponents, not his own. In the next section (128.4) he rejects it, arguing that this power is distinct in number from the Father and not like the sun’s light, and that angels exist permanently.

128.4  But it has been shown that there are angels, and that they remain always and are not dissolved back into that from which they came. This power is called God by the prophetic word, as has likewise been shown from many passages, and it is also called Angel. I examined briefly, in what I said earlier, how it is not distinct in name only, like the sun’s light, but is something different in number as well. I said that this power has been begotten from the Father by his power and will, but not by being cut off, as if the Father’s essence were divided. Everything else that is divided and cut is not the same afterward as it was before. By way of example, I had taken up the case of fires kindled from a fire. We see that they are other fires, yet the fire from which many can be kindled is not made any less, but stays the same.


CHAPTER 129

129.1  Now I will repeat once more the words I used to prove this. When it says, “The Lord rained fire from the Lord out of heaven,” the prophetic word shows that there are two in number. One is on earth, and it says he came down to see the outcry of Sodom. The other is in heaven. He is also the Lord of the Lord on earth, as his Father and God. He is the cause of his being powerful, and Lord, and God.
   [Translator’s note] The last phrase in the Greek can also be read as “the cause of his existence, and of his being powerful, Lord and God.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 19:24; Genesis 18:21

129.2  Again, the word says that God said in the beginning, “Behold, Adam has become as one of us.” These words, “as one of us,” also point to number. They do not allow a figurative meaning, though the sophists try to explain them that way. They can neither state the truth nor understand it.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Genesis 3:22.
   [Scripture] Genesis 3:22

129.3  And it is said in Wisdom: “If I announce to you what happens day by day, I will remember to recount what has been from eternity. The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways, for his works. Before the age he founded me, in the beginning, before he made the earth, and before he made the depths, and before the springs of water came forth, before the mountains were settled. Before all the hills he begets me.”
   [Translator’s note] “Wisdom” here means the book of Proverbs, quoted from the Greek Old Testament (Proverbs 8:21a–25). The first sentence appears in the Greek version but not in the Hebrew text.
   [Scripture] Proverbs 8:22-25

129.4  When I had said this, I added: Understand, my hearers, if you really give your minds to it. The word made clear that this offspring was begotten by the Father before absolutely all created things. And anyone at all would agree that what is begotten is different in number from the one who begets.


CHAPTER 130

130.1  When they all agreed, I said: I could now give some passages that I did not mention before. They were spoken in a veiled way by the faithful servant Moses. They read: “Rejoice, O heavens, together with him, and let all the angels of God worship him.” And I went on with the rest of the passage: “Rejoice, O nations, with his people, and let all the angels of God be strong in him. For he avenges the blood of his sons, and will avenge, and will repay vengeance to his enemies, and will repay those who hate him, and the Lord will cleanse the land of his people.”
   [Translator’s note] This is from the Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:43), in the Greek form Justin used, which differs from the Hebrew text.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 32:43

130.2  Having said this, he says that we, the nations, rejoice with his people. By his people I mean Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the prophets, and in short all those of that people who are pleasing to God, as we agreed earlier. But we will not take it to mean everyone of your race. For we know from Isaiah that the limbs of those who have transgressed will be devoured by worm and unquenchable fire, yet remain undying, so that they become a sight for all flesh.
   [Translator’s note] The reference to the worm and fire is Isaiah 66:24.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 66:24

130.3  “I want to add to these, gentlemen,” I said, “some other words, taken from Moses’ own words. From them you can understand that from the beginning God scattered all people, with their nations and languages. Out of all the nations he took your nation for himself, a useless, disobedient and faithless nation. And he showed that those from every nation who choose to obey his purpose through Christ, whom he also calls Jacob and names Israel, must be Jacob and Israel, as I said earlier in many places.
   [Translator’s note] The scattering of the nations refers to Deuteronomy 32:8, part of the passage (Deuteronomy 32:7–9) that Justin goes on to quote.

130.4  For when he says, ‘Rejoice, you nations, with his people,’ he assigns them the same inheritance and gives them the same name. But by speaking of them as ‘nations’ who rejoice with his people, he speaks to the shame of your nation. You provoked him to anger by worshiping idols. In the same way he has deemed these people, who were idolaters, worthy to know his purpose and to inherit the inheritance that is with him.
   [Translator’s note] Justin is alluding to Deuteronomy 32:21, where God says Israel provoked him with idols and he will provoke them with “a people that is no people.”
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 32:43


CHAPTER 131

131.1  “I will also give the words that show God divided all the nations. They are these: ‘Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High divided the nations, as he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the sons of Israel. And the Lord’s portion became his people Jacob, and Israel the measured share of his inheritance.’” After saying this, I added that the Seventy translated it, “He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God.” But my argument loses nothing from this either, so I gave your interpretation.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Deuteronomy 32:7–9. “The Seventy” are the translators traditionally credited with the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint). In verse 8 most Septuagint manuscripts read “angels of God,” while the standard Hebrew text reads “sons of Israel.” A Hebrew copy found among the Dead Sea Scrolls reads “sons of God.” Justin treats “sons of Israel” as the Jewish reading and “angels” as the Seventy’s.
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 32:7-9

131.2  “And you yourselves, if you are willing to confess the truth, must admit that we are more faithful to God. God called us through the despised mystery of the cross, which is full of shame. Because of our confession, our obedience and our reverence, punishments even to the point of death have been inflicted on us by the demons and the devil’s army, with the help you have given them. We endure everything rather than deny Christ even in word, the Christ through whom we were called to the salvation that the Father prepared beforehand. We are more faithful—

131.3  than you, who were redeemed from Egypt with an upraised arm and a visitation of great glory. The sea was divided for you and became a dry road. On it God killed those who pursued you with a very great force and splendid chariots, by flooding over them the sea that had been made into a road for your sake. A pillar of light shone for you, so that, unlike every other people in the world, you might have your own light, which never failed and never set. He rained down bread for you to eat, the manna, through heavenly angels, so that you would not even need to make bread or go looking for it. And the water at Marah was made sweet.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says the manna was given “through heavenly angels”; compare Psalm 78:25, where the manna is called “bread of angels.”
   [Scripture] Exodus 13:21; Exodus 16:4; Exodus 15:23-25

131.4  A sign of the one who was going to be crucified also came about with the serpents that bit you, as I said before. God was giving you all these mysteries ahead of their proper times, yet you are always proved to have been ungrateful to him. It came about also through the type of Moses’ outstretched hands, when he and the man who was given the name Jesus were fighting Amalek. God said that the event should be written down. He said the name of Jesus was to be placed in your ears, saying, “This is the one who will wipe out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
   [Translator’s note] The serpents are in Numbers 21:6–9, and Moses’ outstretched hands in Exodus 17:8–13. In Exodus 17:14 God tells Moses to write the event down and recite it in Joshua’s ears, and God says, “I will blot out the memory of Amalek.” Justin reads this as placing the name of Jesus in Israel’s ears, and as saying that Jesus himself will blot out Amalek.
   [Scripture] Numbers 21:8-9; Exodus 17:11-12; Exodus 17:14

131.5  It is plain that the memory of Amalek remained even after the son of Nun. But through Jesus who was crucified, God makes it plain that the demons are going to be destroyed and to fear his name. All rulers and kingdoms will likewise be wary of him. And those from every race of people who believe in him will be shown to be God-fearing and peaceable. Those symbols were advance announcements of everything concerning him. The things I related earlier, Trypho, point to the same thing.
   [Translator’s note] “Son of Nun” is Joshua. The Greek has “Naue,” the Septuagint spelling of Nun, which the older translation gives as “Nave.”
   [Scripture] Exodus 17:14

131.6  So many quails were given to you when you craved meat that they could not be counted. For you, water also burst out of the rock. A cloud followed you to give shade from the heat and protection from the cold. It declared the pattern of another, new heaven and announced it in advance. The straps of your sandals did not break, your sandals did not wear out, and your clothes did not wear away. Even the clothes of the younger ones grew along with them.
   [Translator’s note] Deuteronomy 8:4 says Israel’s clothes did not wear out in the wilderness, and 29:5 says their clothes and sandals did not wear out. The idea that the children’s clothes grew with them is not in the Bible; it seems to reflect a Jewish tradition.
   [Scripture] Numbers 11:31-32; Exodus 17:6; Deuteronomy 29:5


CHAPTER 132

132.1  And besides this, you made a calf. You were eager to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of foreigners and to worship idols. Then later the land was handed over to you with such great power that you saw the sun stand still in the sky at the command of that man who was given the name Jesus, and not set for thirty-six hours. You also saw all the other mighty acts done for you from time to time. I think it good to recount one more of these now, because it helps you understand from it Jesus, whom we too have recognized as Christ, the Son of God. He was crucified, rose again, went up into the heavens, and will come again as judge of all people without exception, right back to Adam himself.
   [Translator’s note] The calf is in Exodus 32, and the daughters of foreigners in Numbers 25:1–3. “Jesus” here is Joshua son of Nun. Joshua 10:13 says the sun did not hurry to set “for about a whole day.” The figure of thirty-six hours is not in the Joshua account, and it is unclear where Justin got it.
   [Scripture] Exodus 32:4; Numbers 25:1-2; Joshua 10:12-13

132.2  “You know, then,” I said, “that the tent of testimony was seized by the enemies around Ashdod, and a terrible, incurable plague struck them. They decided to put it on a cart, harnessing to it cows that had just calved. They wanted to test whether they had been struck by God’s power because of the tent, and whether God wanted it taken back to the place it had been seized from.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin writes “tent of testimony,” but the story is the capture of the ark of the covenant by the Philistines (1 Samuel 4–6). The older translation renders it “ark.”

132.3  When they had done this, the cows, with no one leading them, did not go back to the place the tent had been taken from. Instead they went to the field of a man called Ause. He had the same name as the man whose name was changed to Jesus, as I said earlier, the man who brought the people into the land and gave it to them as an inheritance. The cows came to that field and stayed there. This also showed you that they were guided by the name of power, just as, earlier, the people who survived from those who came out of Egypt had been led into the land by the man who took the name Jesus and was first called Ause.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek here says “the tent” (skēnē), where the older translation says “the ark.” I have kept “tent.”
   [Scripture] Numbers 13:16


CHAPTER 133

133.1  These and all such strange and wonderful things were done among you and seen by you from time to time. Yet the prophets convict you of going so far as to sacrifice your own children to demons. On top of all this, you have dared to do such things against the Christ, and you still dare to do them. Even so, after all this, may you receive mercy from God and his Christ and be saved.

133.2  For God knew beforehand that you would do these things, and through the prophet Isaiah he pronounced this curse: “Woe to their soul! They have planned an evil plan against themselves, saying, ‘Let us bind the righteous man, because he is troublesome to us.’ So they will eat the fruit of their own deeds. Woe to the lawless man! Evil will come on him according to the works of his hands. My people, your tax collectors strip you bare like gleaners, and those who demand payment will rule over you.
   [Translator’s note] Isaiah 3:9–12, quoted from the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint). The Hebrew of Isaiah 3:10 reads differently: “Tell the righteous that it will be well with them.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 3:9-12

133.3  “My people, those who call you blessed lead you astray and confuse the path of your ways. But now he will bring his people to judgment, and the Lord himself will come into judgment with the elders of the people and their rulers. But you, why have you set my vineyard on fire, and why is the plunder of the poor in your houses? Why do you wrong my people and put the face of the lowly to shame?”
   [Translator’s note] Isaiah 3:12–15, from the Greek Old Testament.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 3:12-15

133.4  In another passage the same prophet again spoke to the same effect: “Woe to those who drag their sins along as with a long rope, and their lawless acts as with the strap of a heifer’s yoke. They say, ‘Let his speed draw near, and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, so that we may know it.’ Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who make light darkness and darkness light, who make bitter sweet and sweet bitter. Woe to those who are wise in themselves and clever in their own sight.”
   [Translator’s note] Isaiah 5:18–21.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 5:18-21

133.5  “Woe to the strong among you, who drink wine, and to the powerful, who mix strong drink. They declare the wicked righteous for the sake of gifts, and take away the right of the righteous. Therefore, as stubble will be burned by a coal of fire and consumed by a blazing flame, so their root will be like chaff and their blossom will rise up like dust. For they did not want the law of the Lord of Hosts, but provoked the word of the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. The Lord of Hosts burned with anger. He laid his hands on them and struck them, and he was provoked against the mountains. Their corpses lay in their midst like dung on the road. And in all this they did not turn back, but their hand is still raised high.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word chnous can mean fine dust, chaff, or down. “Provoked” translates paroxynan, meaning they angered God by rejecting his word.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 5:22-25

133.6  For truly your hand is still raised high to do evil. You killed the Christ, and even so you do not repent. Instead, whenever you get the power, you hate and murder us, who through him have believed in God, the Father of all. You also curse him without ceasing, and those who belong to him. Yet all of us pray for you and for all people without exception. This is what our Christ and Lord taught us to do, when he commanded us to pray even for our enemies, to love those who hate us, and to bless those who curse us.
   [Translator’s note] Compare Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:27–28.
   [Scripture] Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27-28


CHAPTER 134

134.1  If, then, the teachings of the prophets and of Christ himself put you to shame, it is better for you to follow God than your senseless and blind teachers. Even to this day they allow each of you to have four or five wives. And if a man sees a beautiful woman and desires her, they recount the deeds of Jacob, who was called Israel, and of the other patriarchs, and say that those who do the same things do no wrong. In this too they are wretched and foolish.
   [Translator’s note] “Christ himself” translates a Greek phrase meaning “that one himself.” Where the older translation says the teaching “moves” you, the Greek verb (dysōpei) usually means to put to shame. It can also mean to move someone through a sense of shame.

134.2  As I said before, in each such action some planned purpose involving great mysteries was being carried out. I will tell you what plan was being carried out, and what was being foretold, in the marriages of Jacob. Then you will see that in this matter too your teachers never looked to the more divine purpose for which each action took place. Instead they looked only to low, earthly things and to corrupting passions. So pay attention to what I say.
   [Translator’s note] “Planned purpose” and “plan” translate oikonomia, God’s ordering of events. The older translation renders it “dispensation.”

134.3  The marriages of Jacob were types of the work that Christ was going to complete. For it was not permitted for Jacob to marry two sisters at the same time. He served Laban for the daughters, and when he was deceived over the younger one, he served again for seven years. Now Leah is your people and the synagogue, and Rachel is our church. For these, and for the servants in both, Christ serves even to this day.
   [Translator’s note] The story is in Genesis 29:15–30. The Law of Moses, given long after Jacob’s time, forbids marrying a woman’s sister while the wife is still alive (Leviticus 18:18).
   [Scripture] Genesis 29:30

134.4  Noah gave the offspring of his third son to the other two sons as slaves. Now, on the other hand, Christ has come to restore both the free children and the slaves among them. He counts worthy of the same honor all who keep his commandments. In the same way, all who were born to Jacob, whether from the free wives or from the servant wives, became his sons and were equal in honor. But what each one would be, according to rank and according to foreknowledge, was declared beforehand.
   [Translator’s note] See Genesis 9:25–27. There Noah curses Canaan, the son of Ham, and makes him a servant to Ham’s brothers Shem and Japheth. Justin’s phrase “the offspring of the third” refers to Canaan as Ham’s son. Justin discusses this passage more fully in chapter 139.
   [Scripture] Genesis 9:25-27

134.5  Jacob served Laban for the speckled and many-colored flocks. Christ also served, even to the slavery of the cross, for people of every race, varied and of many kinds. He won them by the blood and the mystery of the cross. Leah’s eyes were weak, and the eyes of your souls are very weak indeed. Rachel stole Laban’s gods and hid them, and they are hidden to this very day. For us too, our ancestral and material gods have been lost.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek text printed here begins with a word meaning “advised” or “planned” (ebouleusen). This is almost certainly a slip for the very similar “served” (edouleusen), which the context requires and the older translation follows. See Genesis 30:31–43 (the flocks), 29:17 (Leah’s eyes), and 31:19, 34–35 (the stolen gods).
   [Scripture] Genesis 30:32; Genesis 29:17; Genesis 31:19; Genesis 31:34

134.6  Jacob was hated by his brother the whole time. In the same way we now, and our Lord himself, are hated by you and by other people generally, though all are brothers by nature. Jacob was given the further name Israel. And it has been shown that the Christ, who is and is called Jesus, is also Israel.
   [Scripture] Genesis 27:41; Genesis 32:28


CHAPTER 135

135.1  And when the Scripture says, “I am the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, who revealed Israel as your king,” will you not hear this as truly spoken of the Christ, the eternal King? For you know that Jacob, the son of Isaac, never became a king. For this reason the Scripture explains to us again whom it means by the king called Jacob and Israel, and speaks as follows:
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Isaiah 43:15 in the Greek version (the Septuagint).
   [Scripture] Isaiah 43:15

135.2  “Jacob is my servant; I will take hold of him. Israel is my chosen one; my soul will welcome him. I have put my Spirit on him, and he will bring out justice for the nations. He will not cry out, and his voice will not be heard outside. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not put out, until he brings out victory and takes up judgment. He will not be broken until he sets justice on the earth. And in his name the nations will hope.”
   [Translator’s note] The older translation reads “He shall shine.” The Greek printed here has “he will take up judgment” (analēpsei), which may be a copying error for the Septuagint’s “he will shine forth” (analampsei). The words “until he brings out victory” are closer to Matthew 12:20 than to the Septuagint of Isaiah.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 42:1-4

135.3  Do the Gentiles, then, and you yourselves as well, put their hope in Jacob the patriarch and not in Christ? So just as the text calls Christ both Israel and Jacob, we too, who were cut out of the womb of Christ, are the true Israelite race. But let us pay closer attention to the text itself.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word translated “cut out” is used of stone cut from a quarry. It may echo Isaiah 51:1, “Look to the rock from which you were hewn.” The older translation says “quarried out from the bowels of Christ.”

135.4  “And I will bring out,” he says, “the seed from Jacob and from Judah. It will inherit my holy mountain. My chosen ones and my servants will inherit it and live there. In the woodland there will be folds for flocks, and the valley of Achor will be a resting place for herds, for the people who sought me. But you who abandon me and forget my holy mountain, who set a table for the demons and fill a cup of mixed wine for the demon, I will hand you over to the sword. All of you will fall in slaughter, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen. You did evil before me and chose what I did not want.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Isaiah 65:9–12 in the Greek Septuagint.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 65:9-12

135.5  That is what the Scripture says. Now think it through for yourselves: the “seed from Jacob” mentioned here is something different, and it is not spoken of the people, as someone might suppose. For it makes no sense that those born of Jacob should leave room for a further bringing-in of those sown from Jacob. Nor can it be that God reproaches the people as unworthy of the inheritance and then promises it again to the same people, as though he had taken them back.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek of the second sentence is difficult; the sense seems to be that the promised “seed from Jacob” must be a different group from the natural descendants rebuked in the same passage.

135.6  Rather, just as the prophet says in that other place, “And now, house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord. For he has let go of his people, the house of Jacob, because their land was filled, as from the beginning, with divinations and omens.” In the same way we must understand here that there are two seeds of Judah and two races, just as there are two houses of Jacob. One is born of blood and flesh, the other of faith and the Spirit.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Isaiah 2:5–6 in the Greek Septuagint.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 2:5-6


CHAPTER 136

136.1  Look at how he is speaking to the people now. A little earlier he said: “As a grape will be found in the cluster, and they will say, ‘Do not spoil it, for there is a blessing in it,’ so I will do for the sake of my servant. For his sake I will not destroy them all.” After this he adds: “And I will bring out what is from Jacob and from Judah.” It is clear, then, that if he is this angry with those people and threatens to leave very few of them, he is promising to bring out certain others, who will live on his mountain.
   [Translator’s note] Justin’s Greek here has only “what is from Jacob and from Judah,” though Isaiah 65:9 itself says “seed from Jacob.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 65:8-9

136.2  These are the ones he said he would sow and beget. For you will not put up with him when he calls, and you do not listen when he speaks. Instead you have done evil before the Lord. The height of your wickedness is this: you hate the Righteous One whom you murdered, and you also hate those who have received from him what they now are, people who are godly, righteous and kind to others. So the Lord says, “Woe to their soul, for they have devised an evil plan against themselves. They said, ‘Let us take away the righteous one, because he is troublesome to us.’”
   [Translator’s note] “You will not put up with him when he calls… you have done evil” echoes Isaiah 65:12. The “woe” is quoted from Isaiah 3:9–10.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 65:12; Isaiah 3:9-10

136.3  For it is not that you, like your fathers, sacrificed to Baal, or made cakes in shady places or on high places for the host of heaven. It is that you did not receive his Christ. Whoever does not know him does not know God’s purpose. Whoever insults and hates him clearly also hates and insults the one who sent him. And if anyone does not believe in him, he does not believe the message of the prophets, who preached the good news of him and proclaimed him to all.
   [Translator’s note] The cakes for “the host of heaven” recall Jeremiah 7:18 and 19:13. On hating the one who sent him, compare Luke 10:16 and John 15:23.
   [Scripture] Jeremiah 7:18


CHAPTER 137

137.1  So, my brothers, do not say anything evil against that crucified man, and do not mock his wounds, by which everyone can be healed, as we were healed. It would be good if, persuaded by these words, you would be circumcised from your hardness of heart. I do not mean the circumcision you hold to by a notion that has grown up among you. That was given as a sign, not as a work of righteous living, as these words force us to admit.
   [Translator’s note] “His wounds, by which… we were healed” echoes Isaiah 53:5 (compare 1 Peter 2:24).
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:5

137.2  So agree with me, and do not revile the Son of God. Do not let Pharisee teachers persuade you ever to mock the King of Israel, as the heads of your synagogues teach you to do after your prayers. For if the one who touches those who are not pleasing to God is like one who touches the apple of God’s eye, how much more is the one who attacks the Beloved! That this is he has already been sufficiently demonstrated.
   [Translator’s note] “Apple of God’s eye” renders Greek “pupil (literally ‘girl’) of God” and echoes Zechariah 2:8. “Not pleasing to God” sits oddly with the argument, and the text may be faulty here.
   [Scripture] Zechariah 2:8

137.3  While they kept silent, I said: “My friends, I am now quoting the Scriptures as the Seventy interpreted them. When I quoted them earlier as you have them, I was testing how you were already disposed in mind. I cited the Scripture that says, ‘Woe to them, for they have devised an evil plan against themselves, saying,’ and then I went on, as the Seventy translated it, ‘Let us take away the righteous one, because he is troublesome to us.’ But at the start of our discussion I had quoted the wording you prefer, ‘Let us bind the righteous one, because he is troublesome to us.’
   [Translator’s note] Most surviving manuscripts of the Septuagint (the Greek translation by “the Seventy”) actually read “bind” at Isaiah 3:10, so it is unclear exactly which texts Justin is contrasting here.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 3:9-10

137.4  You were busy with other things, and you do not seem to me to have listened attentively to my words. But now the day is about to end, for the sun is already setting. I will add one thing to what I have said and then stop. I did say this very thing already, but it seems right to me to work it out again.


CHAPTER 138

138.1  “You know, then, gentlemen,” I said, “that in Isaiah God said to Jerusalem, ‘In the flood of Noah I saved you.’ What God meant is that the mystery of saved humanity took place in the flood. For the righteous Noah, together with the other people at the flood, that is, his wife, his three sons and his sons’ wives, were eight in number. They bore a symbol of the eighth day, on which our Christ appeared after rising from the dead. By its number it is the eighth day, but in power it is always the first.
   [Translator’s note] In the Greek, “always the first in power” is feminine and describes the eighth day, not Christ.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 54:9

138.2  For Christ, who is the firstborn of all creation, also became the beginning of another race, the one reborn by him through water, faith and wood, which holds the mystery of the cross. In the same way Noah was saved on wood, carried over the waters with his own family. So when the prophet says, ‘In the time of Noah I saved you,’ as I said before, he is speaking to the people who are likewise faithful to God and who have these symbols. For Moses, too, with a rod in his hand, led your people through the sea.
   [Translator’s note] “Firstborn of all creation” is from Colossians 1:15. Moses’ rod at the sea is from Exodus 14:16.
   [Scripture] Colossians 1:15; Isaiah 54:9; Exodus 14:16

138.3  But you suppose that he was speaking only to your race, or to the land. Yet the whole earth, as the Scripture says, was flooded, and the water rose fifteen cubits above all the mountains. So God clearly was not speaking to the land but to the people who obeyed him, for whom he had also prepared a rest in Jerusalem. I have already shown this from all the symbols of the flood. For I said that those who are prepared beforehand through water, faith and wood, and who repent of the sins they have committed, will escape the judgment of God that is going to come.
   [Translator’s note] “Fifteen cubits above all the mountains” comes from Genesis 7:20. The words Justin is explaining here come from Isaiah 54:9, where God compares his promise to his oath in Noah’s day.
   [Scripture] Genesis 7:19-20


CHAPTER 139

139.1  Another mystery was also prophesied in the time of Noah and has been fulfilled, and you do not know it. It is this. In the blessings with which Noah blessed his two sons, he also curses the son of his son. The Spirit of prophecy was not going to curse the son, since God had blessed him along with the others. But the penalty for the sin was going to fall on the whole line of the son who laughed at his father’s nakedness, so the curse was made to begin from that son’s son.
   [Translator’s note] The son who was blessed by God along with his brothers is Ham (Genesis 9:1). Noah’s curse falls instead on Ham’s son Canaan (Genesis 9:25). The Greek says only that the curse was made “from the son,” and it is not fully clear which son is meant. The older translation’s “originate with his son” keeps that ambiguity. Since the curse falls on Canaan, “that son’s son” seems to be the sense.

139.2  In what he said, Noah also foretold that Shem’s descendants would take possession of the lands and dwellings of Canaan. Again, he foretold that Japheth’s descendants would take possession of those same lands, which Shem’s descendants had received from the sons of Canaan and held. They would take them from Shem’s descendants, just as Shem’s descendants had held them after taking them from the sons of Canaan.

139.3  Listen to how this has come true. You, who trace your descent from Shem, came against the land of the sons of Canaan by God’s purpose and took possession of it. And it is plain that the sons of Japheth, who in turn came against you by God’s judgment, have taken your land from you and possess it. It was said like this: “Noah woke from the wine and learned what his younger son had done to him. And he said, ‘Cursed be Canaan, a servant; he shall be a household slave to his brothers.’ And he said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. May the Lord enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the houses of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.’”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Genesis 9:24–27 in the Greek Old Testament. The Greek word pais, used of Canaan, can mean “child” or “servant”; here it means servant.
   [Scripture] Genesis 9:24-27

139.4  So two peoples were blessed, those from Shem and those from Japheth. The descendants of Shem were known to be the first to take the houses of Canaan. The descendants of Japheth were foretold to take over those same possessions from them in turn. And the one people, that of Canaan, was handed over into slavery to the two peoples. Then Christ came, by the power given to him by the almighty Father. He called people to friendship, blessing, repentance and living together, the life together of all the saints that is to take place in that same land. As has already been shown, possession of it has been promised.

139.5  So people from every quarter, whether slave or free, who believe in Christ and recognize the truth in his words and in those of his prophets, know that they will be with him in that land and will inherit what is eternal and incorruptible.


CHAPTER 140

140.1  This is also why Jacob, as I said before, who was himself a type of Christ, married the two slave women of his two free wives and had sons by them. It was to show in advance that Christ would take to himself all those from Canaan who belong to the race of Japheth, just like the free, and would have them as children and fellow heirs. We are those people. But you cannot understand this, because you cannot drink from the living spring of God. You drink instead from broken cisterns that cannot hold water, as the Scripture says.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek phrase about Japheth and Canaan is awkward, and its exact meaning is uncertain. The rendering here follows the wording as it stands.
   [Scripture] Jeremiah 2:13

140.2  The broken cisterns that cannot hold water are the ones your own teachers have dug for you, as the Scripture says plainly: they are “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” On top of this, they deceive themselves and you. They suppose that the eternal kingdom will certainly be given to those who are of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, even if they are sinners, unbelieving and disobedient toward God. The Scriptures have shown that this is not so.
   [Translator’s note] The older translation has “those of the dispersion,” which is not in the Greek. The Greek says “those who are of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh.”
   [Scripture] Jeremiah 2:13; Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:9; Mark 7:7

140.3  If it were so, would Isaiah have said this: “Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah”? And Ezekiel: “Even if Noah and Jacob and Daniel ask for sons or daughters, it will not be given to them. Neither father for son nor son for father; but each will perish by his own sin, and each will be saved by his own righteous conduct.” And again Isaiah: “They will see the corpses of those who have transgressed. Their worm will not cease, and their fire will not be quenched, and they will be a sight for all flesh.”
   [Translator’s note] Modern editors print the lines about father and son as part of the Ezekiel quotation, and they do echo Ezekiel 18:20. In the older translation they read like Justin’s own comment.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 1:9; Ezekiel 14:20; Ezekiel 18:20; Isaiah 66:24

140.4  And our Lord, according to the will of the Father who sent him, the Master of all, would not have said: “They will come from west and east and will recline 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.” I have also shown earlier that those who are foreknown as going to be unrighteous, whether angels or men, do not become wicked through any fault of God. It is by his own fault that each one is what he will be shown to be.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Matthew 8:11–12 (compare Luke 13:28–29). Justin’s wording has “west and east” where Matthew has “east and west.”
   [Scripture] Matthew 8:11-12


CHAPTER 141

141.1  I do not want you to have an excuse for saying that Christ had to be crucified, or that there had to be transgressors in your nation, and that it could not have been otherwise. So I said briefly beforehand that God wanted angels and men to follow his will. He therefore chose to make them free to act righteously. He gave them reason, so that they might know who made them and to whom they owe their existence, when before they did not exist. And he gave them a law, by which they will be judged by him if they act against right reason. And so by our own fault, we men and angels will be convicted of wickedness, unless we repent beforehand.

141.2  But if the word of God foretells that some angels and men will certainly be punished, it foretold this because it foreknew that they would become wicked beyond any change. It did not say it because God made them such. So if they repent, all who wish to can obtain mercy from God. The word pronounces them blessed in advance, saying, “Blessed is he to whom the Lord will not count sin.” That means the man who has repented of his sins and received forgiveness of them from God. It does not mean what you, and some others like you in this, deceive yourselves into believing. They say that even if they are sinners, so long as they know God, the Lord will not count sin against them.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Psalm 32:2 (Greek Psalm 31:2), which Paul also quotes in Romans 4:8.

141.3  We have a proof of this in the one fall of David, which came about through his boasting. It was forgiven when he wept and mourned, as it is written. But if no forgiveness was given even to such a man before he repented, but only when this great king, anointed one and prophet had wept and acted as he did, how can the unclean and the utterly reckless have any hope that the Lord will not count sin against them, unless they mourn and beat their breasts and repent?
   [Translator’s note] As the next section shows, the “one fall” Justin means is David’s sin with Uriah’s wife. Scripture does not describe that sin as “boasting.” “As it is written” probably points to 2 Samuel 12 and Psalm 51.

141.4  “And this one act, David’s fall with the wife of Uriah, sirs,” I said, “shows that the patriarchs did not have many wives in order to commit fornication. Rather, a certain plan of God and all the mysteries were being fulfilled through them. Suppose it had been permitted to take whatever wife one wants, in whatever way and as many as one wants. That is what the men of your nation do in every land where they live or are sent, taking wives under the name of marriage. In that case David would much more have been permitted to do this.”
   [Translator’s note] Justin’s charge is polemical. Polygamy was still allowed under Jewish law in his time, but it seems to have been fairly uncommon.

141.5  When I had said this, my dear Marcus Pompeius, I stopped.
   [Translator’s note] Justin addresses his written account to this Marcus Pompeius, who is otherwise unknown.


CHAPTER 142

142.1  Trypho waited a little while and then said, “You see that we did not come to discuss these matters by design. I admit that I was especially pleased with the conversation, and I think these men feel the same as I do. For we found more than we expected, more than we could ever have hoped for. If we could do this more often, we would be helped more by examining these very words. But since you are about to leave and expect to sail any day now, do not hesitate to remember us as friends when you have gone.”
   [Translator’s note] “These very words” could mean the arguments themselves or the Scriptures discussed. The older translation takes it as “the Scriptures,” but the Greek does not say so.

142.2  “For my part,” I said, “if I were staying, I would want the same thing to happen every day. But I expect to set sail soon, if God permits and helps. So I urge you to take up this very great contest for your own salvation, and to be eager to value the Christ of the almighty God above your teachers.”

142.3  After this they left, wishing me safety on the voyage and safety from every evil. And I prayed for them and said, “I cannot pray for anything greater for you, sirs, than this: that you may recognize that it is by this way that happiness is given to every person, and that you will in every respect do as we do, and acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ of God.”
   [Translator’s note] These are the last words of the Dialogue. The Greek of the final sentence is awkward and may be damaged. It speaks of happiness or well-being (eudaimonein) being given to everyone through this way, not “intelligence” as the older translation has it.

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Greek text: Georges Archambault’s edition (Paris, 1909), via the First Thousand Years of Greek project (CC BY-SA 4.0). Modern English © SermonIndex, CC BY-SA 4.0. https://sermonindex.net/fathers/justin-dialogue/