the highest heavens, and again return to the same places, in order that you may recognise Him as God coming forth from above, and man living among men; and [how it is declared] that He will again appear, and they who pierced Him shall see Him, and shall bewail Him. [The words] are these: ' The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. They are not speeches or words whose voices are heard. Their sound has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the sun has he set his habitation; and he, like a bridegroom going forth from his chamber, will rejoice as a giant to run his race: from the highest heaven is his going forth, and he returns to the highest heaven, and there is not one who shall be hidden from his heat.' " 3 CHAP. LXV. THE JEW OBJECTS THAT GOD DOES NOT GIVE HIS GLORY TO ANOTHER. JUSTIN EX- PLAINS THE PASSAGE.
And Trypho said, " Being shaken * by so many Scriptures, I know not what to say about the Scrip- ture which Isaiah writes, in which God says that He gives not His glory to another, speaking thus: ' I am the Lord God; this is my name; my glory will I not give to another, nor my virtues.' " 5 ' Or, " to judge," as in chap, xxxiv.
* Ps. Ixxii. I, etc 3 Ps. xix. 1-6.
* Literally, " importuned." i Isa. xlii. 8.
And I answered, " If you spoke these words, Trypho, and then kept silence in simplicity and with no ill intent, neither repeating what goes before nor adding what comes after, }-ou must be forgiven; but if [you have done so] because you imagined that you could throw doubt on the passage, in order that I might say the Scriptures contradicted each other, you have erred. But I shall not venture to suppose or to say such a thing; and if a Scripture which appears to be of such a kind be brought forward, and if there be a pretext [for saying] that it is contrary [to some other], since I am entirely convinced that no Scripture contradicts another, I shall admit rather that I do not understand what is recorded, and shall strive to persuade those who imagine that the Scriptures are contradictory, to be rather of the same opinion as myself. With what intent, then, you have brought forward the difficulty, God knows. But I shall remind you of what the passage says, in order that you may recognise even from this very [place] that God gives glory to His Christ alone. And I shall take up some short passages, sirs, those which are in connection with what has been said by Trypho, and those which are also joined on in consecutive order. For I will not repeat those of another section, but those which are joined together in one. Do you also give me your attention. [The words] are these: ' Thus saith the Lord, the God that created the heavens, and made ^ them fast, that established the earth, and that which is in it; and gave breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them who walk therein: I the Lord God have called Thee in righteousness, and will hold Thine hand, and will strengthen Thee; and I have given Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out them that are bound from the chains, and those who sit in darkness from the prison-house. I am the Lord God; this is my name: my glory will I not give to another, nor my virtues to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass; new things which I announce, and before they are announced they are made manifest to you. Sing unto the Lord a new song: His sovereignty [is] from the end of the earth. [Sing], ye who descend into the sea, and continually sail ^ [on it]; ye islands, and inhabitants thereof. Rejoice, O wilderness, and the villages thereof, and the houses; and the inhabitants of Cedar shall rejoice, and the in- habitants of the rock shall cry aloud from the top of the mountains: they shall give glory to God; they shall publish His virtues among the islands. The Lord God of hosts shall go forth, He shall destroy war utterly, He shall stir up 7 Or, " ye islands which sail on it; " or without " continually.'
DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO.
231 zeal, and He shall cry aloud to the enemies with strength.' " ' And when I repeated this, I said to them, " Have you perceived, my friends, that God says He will give Him whom He has established as a light of the Gentiles, glory, and to no other; and not, as Trypho said, that God was retaining the glory to Himself? " Then Trypho answered, " We have perceived this also; pass on therefore to the remainder of the discourse."
CHAP. LXVI. HE PROVES FROM ISAIAH THAT GOD WAS BORN FROM A VIRGIN.
And I, resuming the discourse where I had left off 2 at a previous stage, when proving that He was born of a virgin, and that His birth of a virgin had been predicted by Isaiah, quoted again the same prophecy. It is as follows: ' And the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, Ask for thyself a sign from the Lord thy God, in the depth or in the height. And Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. And Isaiah said. Hear then, O house of David; Is it no small thing for you to contend with men? And how do you contend with the Lord? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign; Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat; before he knows or prefers the evil he will choose out the good. For before the child knows ill or good, he rejects evil by choosing out the good. For before the child knows how to call father or mother, he shall receive the power of Damascus, and the spoil of Samaria, in presence of the king of Assyria. And the land shall be forsaken, which ^ thou shalt with difficulty endure in consequence of the presence of its two kings. But God shall bring on thee, and on thy people, and on the house of thy father, days which have not yet come upon thee since the day in which Ephraim took away from Judah the king of Assyria.' " ^ And I continued: " Now it is evident to all, that in the race of Abraham according to the flesh no one has been bora of a virgin, or is said to have been born [of a virgin], save this our Christ."
\CHAP. LXVII. — TRYPHO COMPARES JESUS WITH ^ PERSEUS; AND WOULD PREFER [tO SAY] THAT HE WAS ELECTED [tO BE CHRIST] ON ACCOUNT OF OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW. JUSTIN SPEAKS OF THE LAW AS FORMERLY.
And Trypho answered, " The Scripture has not, 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and bear a ' Isa. xlii. 5-13.
^ Chap, xliii.
3 riv, which is in chap, xliii., is here omitted, but ought to be inserted without doubt.
■♦ Isa. vii. 10-17, with Isa. viii. 4 inserted between vers. 16 and 17- son,' but, ' Behold, the young woman shall con- ceive, and bear a son,' and so on, as you quoted. But the whole prophecy refers to Hezekiah, and it is proved that it was fulfilled in him, according to the terms of this prophecy. Moreover, in the fables of those who are called Greeks, it is written that Perseus was begotten of Danae, who was a virgin; he who was called among them Zeus hav- ing descended on her in the form of a golden shower. And you ought to feel ashamed when you make assertions similar to theirs, and rather [should] say that this Jesus was born man of men. And if you prove from the Scriptures that He is the Christ, and that on account of having led a life conformed to the law, and perfect. He deserved the honour of being elected to be Christ, [it is well]; but do not venture to tell monstrous phenomena, lest you be convicted of talking foolishly like the Greeks."
Then I said to this, " Trypho, I wish to per- suade you, and all men in short, of this, that even though you talk worse things in ridicule and in jest, you will not move me from my fixed design; but I shall always adduce from the words which you think can be brought forward [by you] as proof [of your own views], the demon- stration of what I have stated along with the tes- timony of the Scriptures. You are not, however, acting fairly or truthfully in attempting to undo those things in which there has been constantly agreement between us; namely, that certain commands were instituted by Moses on account of the hardness of your people's hearts. For you said that, by reason of His living conforma- bly to law. He was elected and became Christ, if indeed He were proved to be so."
And Trypho said, " You admitted 5 to us that He was both circumcised, and observed the other legal ceremonies ordained by Moses."
And I replied, " I have admitted it, and do admit it: yet I have admitted that He endured all these not as if He were justified by them, but completing the dispensation which His Father, the Maker of all things, and Lord and God, wished Him [to complete]. For I admit that He endured crucifixion and death, and the in- carnation, and the suffering of as many afflic- tions as your nation put upon Him. But since again you dissent from that to which you but lately assented, Trypho, answer me: Are those righteous patriarchs who lived before Moses, who observed none of those [ordinances] which, the Scripture shows, received the commence- ment of [their] institution from Moses, saved, [and have they attained to] the inheritance of the blessed?"
S We have not seen that Justin admitted this; but it is not to be supposed that the passage where he did admit it has been lost, as Perionius suspected; for sometimes Justin refers to passages at other places, which he did not relate in their own place. — Maranus.
232 DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO.
And Tn-pho said, "The Scriptures compel me to admit it."
" Likewise I again ask you," said I, " did God enjoin your fathers to present the offerings and sacrifices because He had need of them, or be- cause of the hardness of their hearts and ten- dency to idolatry?"
"The latter," said he, "the Scriptures in like manner compel us to admit."
" Likewise," said I, "did not the Scriptures predict that God promised to dispense a new covenant besides that which [was dispensed] in the mountain Horeb?"
This, too, he replied, had been predicted.
Then I said again, "Was not the old cove- nant laid on your fathers with fear and trembling, so that they could not give ear to God?"
He admitted it.
"What then?" said I: "God promised that there would be another covenant, not like that old one, and said that it would be laid on them without fear, and trembling, and lightnings, and that it would be such as to show what kind of commands and deeds God knows to be eternal and suited to every nation, and what command- ments He has given, suiting them to the hard- ness of your people's hearts, as He exclaims also by the prophets."
" To this also," said he, " those who are lovers of truth and not lovers of strife must assuredly assent."
Then I replied, " I know not how you speak of persons very fond of strife, [since] you your- self oftentimes were plainly acting in this very manner, frequently contradicting what you had agreed to."
CHAP. LXVIII. — HE COMPLAINS OF THE OBSTINACY OF TRYPHO; HE ANSWERS HIS OBJECTION; HE CONVICTS THE JEWS OF BAD FAITH.
And Trypho said, "You endeavour to prove an incredible and well-nigh impossible thing; [namely], that God endured to be born and be- come man."
" If I undertook," said I, " to prove this by doctrines or arguments of man, you should not bear with me. But if I quote frequently Scrip- tures, and so many of them, referring to this point, and ask you to comprehend them, you are hard-hearted in the recognition of the mind and will of God. But if you wish to remain for ever so, I would not be injured at all; and for ever retaining the same [opinions] which I had before I met with you, I shall leave you."
And Trypho said, " Look, my friend, you made yourself master of these [truths] with much labour and toil.' And we accordingly must diligendy scrutinize all that we meet with, in ■ [Note the courteous admission of Trypho, and the consent of both parties to the duty of searching the Scriptures.]
order to give our assent to those things which the Scriptures compel us [to believe]."
Then I said to this, " I do not ask you not to strive earnestly by all means, in making an in- vestigation of the matters inquired into; but [I ask you], when you have nothing to say, not to contradict those things which you said you had admitted."
And Trypho said, " So we shall endeavour to do."
I continued again: " In addition to the ques- tions I have just now put to you, I wish to put more: for by means of these questions I shall strive to bring the discourse to a speedy termi- nation."
And Trypho said, " Ask the questions."
Then I said, " Do you think that any other one is said to be worthy of worship and called Lord and God in the Scriptures, except the Maker of all, and Christ, who by so many Scrip- tures was proved to you to have become man?"
And Trypho replied, " How can we admit this, when we have instituted so great an inquir}' as to whether there is any other than the Father alone?"
Then I again said, " I must ask you this also, that I may know whether or not you are of a different opinion from that which you admitted some time ago." ^ He replied, " It is not, sir."
Then again I, " Since you certainly admit these things, and since Scripture says, ' Who shall declare His generation? ' ought you not now to suppose that He is not the seed of a human race? " And Trypho said, " How then does the Word say to David, that out of his loins God shall take to Himself a Son, and shall establish His kingdom, and shall set Him on the throne of His glory? " And I said, " Trypho, if the prophecy which Isaiah uttered, " Behold, the virgin shall con- ceive,' is said not to the house of David, but to another house of the twelve tribes, perhaps the matter would have some difficulty; but since this prophecy refers to the house of David, Isaiah has explained how that which was spoken by God to David in mystery would take place. But per- haps you are not aware of this, my friends, that there were many sayings written obscurely, or parabolically, or mysteriously, and symbolical actions, which the prophets who lived after the persons who said or did them expounded."
" Assuredly," said Trypho.
" If, therefore, I shall show that this prophecy of Isaiah refers to our Christ, and not to Heze- kiah, as you say, shall I not in this matter, too, compel you not to believe your teachers, who venture to assert that the explanation which your * Tf«s: Vulg. vofia 8«<j>, vitioie. — Onxx DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO.
233 seventy elders that were with Ptolemy the king of the Egyptians gave, is untrue in certain re- spects? For some statements in the Scriptures, which appear explicitly to convict them of a foolish and vain opinion, these they venture to assert have not been so written. But other state- ments, which they fancy they can distort and harmonize with human actions,' these, they say, refer not to this Jesus Christ of ours, but to him of whom they are pleased to explain them. Thus, for instance, they have taught you that this Scripture which we are now discussing refers to Hezekiah, in which, as I promised, I shall show they are wrong. And since they are com- pelled, they agree that some Scriptures which we mention to them, and which expressly prove that Christ was to suffer, to be worshipped, and [to be called] God, and which I have already recited to you, do refer indeed to Christ, but they ven- ture to assert that this man is not Christ. But they admit that He will come to suffer, and to reign, and to be worshipped, and to be God; ^ and this opinion I shall in like manner show to be ridiculous and silly. But since I am pressed to answer first to what was said by you in jest, I shall make answer to it, and shall afterwards give replies to what follows.
CHAP. LXIX. THE DEVIL, SINCE HE EMULATES THE TRUTH, HAS INVENTED FABLES ABOUT BAC- CHUS, HERCULES, AND ^SCULAPIUS.
" Be well assured, then, Trypho," I continued, " that I am established in the knowledge of and faith in the Scriptures by those counterfeits which he who is called the devil is said to have per- formed among the Greeks; just as some were wrought by the Magi in Egypt, and others by the false prophets in Elijah's days. For when they tell that Bacchus, son of Jupiter, was begotten by [Jupiter's] intercourse with Semele, and that he was the discoverer of the vine; and when they relate, that being torn in pieces, and having died, he rose again, and ascended to heaven; and when they introduce wine ^ into his mysteries, do I not perceive that [the devil] has imitated the prophecy announced by the patriarch Jacob, and recorded by Moses? And when they tell that Hercules was strong, and travelled over all the world, and was begotten by Jove of Alcmene, and ascended to heaven when he died, do I not perceive that the Scripture which speaks of Christ, ' strong as a giant to run his race,' "♦ has been in like manner imitated? And when he [the devil] brings forward ^sculapius as the raiser of the dead and healer of all diseases, may I not say that in this matter likewise he has ' The text is corrupt, and various emendations have been proposed.
* Or, " and to be worshipped as God."
3 Or, " an ass." The ass was sacred to Bacchus; and many fluctu- ate between oivov and ofok.
* Ps. xix. 5.
imitated the prophecies about Christ? But since I have not quoted to you such Scripture as tells that Christ will do these things, I must neces- sarily remind you of one such: from which you can understand, how that to those destitute of a knowledge of God, I mean the Gentiles, who, ' having eyes, saw not, and having a heart, under- stood not,' worshipping the images of wood, [how even to them] Scripture prophesied that they would renounce these [vanities], and hope in this Christ. It is thus written: ' Rejoice, thirsty wilderness: let the wilderness be glad, and blossom as the lily: the deserts of the Jor- dan shall both blossom and be glad: and the glory of Lebanon was given to it, and the honour of Carmel. And my people shall see the exal- tation of the Lord, and the glory of God. Be strong, ye careless hands and enfeebled knees. Be comforted, ye faint in soul: be strong, fear not. Behold, our God gives, and will give, re- tributive judgment. He shall come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then the lame shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the stam- merers shall be distinct: for water has broken forth in the wilderness, and a valley in the thirsty land; and the parched ground shall become pools, and a spring of water shall [rise up] in the thirsty land.' 5 The spring of living water which gushed forth from God in the land desti- tute of the knowledge of God, namely the land of the Gentiles, was this Christ, who also ap- peared in your nation, and healed those who were maimed, and deaf, and lame in body from their birth, causing them to leap, to hear, and to see, by His word. And having raised the dead, and causing them to live, by His deeds He com- pelled the men who lived at that time to recog- nise Him. But though they saw such works, they asserted it was magical art. For they dared to call Him a magician, and a deceiver of the people. Yet He wrought such works, and per- suaded those who were [destined to] believe on Him; for even if any one be labouring under a defect of body, yet be an observer of the doc- trines delivered by Him, He shall raise him up at His second advent perfectly sound, after He has made him immortal, and incorruptible, and free from grief.
CHAP. LXX. so ALSO THE MYSTERIES OF MITHRAS ARE DISTORTED FROM THE PROPHECIES OF DANIEL AND ISAIAH.
"And when those who record the mysteries of Mithras say that he was begotten of a rock, and call the place where those who believe in him are initiated a cave, do I not perceive here that the utterance of Daniel, that a stone with- J Isa. XXXV. 1-7.
234 DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO.
out hands was cut out of a great mountain, has been imitated by them, and that they have at- tempted likewise to imitate the whole of Isaiah's' words?^ For they^ contrived that the words of righteousness be quoted also by them.^ But I must repeat to you the words of Isaiah referred to, in order that from them you may know that these things are so. They are these: ' Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; those that are near shall know my might. The sinners in Zion are remo\'ed; trembling shall seize the impious. ^Vho shall announce to you the everlasting place? The man who walks in righteousness, speaks in the right way, hates sin and unrighteousness, and keeps his hands pure from bribes, stops the ears from hearing the unjust judgment of blood, closes the eyes from seeing unrighteousness: he shall dwell in the lofty cave of the strong rock. Bread shall be given to him, and his water [shall be] sure. Ye shall see the King with glory, and your eyes shall look far off. Your soul shall pursue diligently the fear of the Lord. Where is the scribe? where are the counsellors? where is he that numbers those who are nourished, — the small and great people? with whom they did not take counsel, nor knew the depth of the voices, so that they heard not. The people who are become depreciated, and there is no under- standing in him who hears.' 5 Now it is evident, that in this prophecy [allusion is made] to the bread which our Christ gave us to eat,*^ in re- membrance of His being made flesh for the sake of His believers, for whom also He suffered; and to the cup which He gave us to drink,^ in remembrance of His own blood, with giving of thanks. And this prophecy proves that we shall behold this very King with glory; and the very terms of the prophecy declare loudly, that the people foreknown to believe in Him were fore- known to pursue diligently the fear of the Lord. Moreover, these Scriptures are equally explicit in saying, that those who are reputed to know the writings of the Scriptures, and who hear the prophecies, have no understanding. And when I hear, Trypho," said I, " that Perseus was be- ' The text here has toOto noiricrai. ofiotiof. Maranus suggests 'Haaiov for Ti-oiijo-ai; and so we have translated.
^ Justin says that the priests of Mithras imitated all the words of Isaiah about to be quoted; and to prove it, is content with a single example, namely, the precepts of righteousness, which they were wont to relate to him, as in these words of Isaiah: " He who walks in righteousness," etc. Justin omitted many other passages, as easy and obvious. P'or since Mithras is the same as fire, it manifestly answers to the fire of which Isaiah speaks. And since Justin reminded them who are initiated, that they are said to be initiated by Mithras him- self, it was not necessary to remind them that the words of Isaiah are imitated in this: "You shall see the King with glory." Bread and water are referred to by Isaiah: so also in these mysteries of Mithras, Justin testifies that bread and a cup of water are placed before them (Apol. i.). — Maranus.
^ i.e., the devils.
* Literally, " to do," noielv. [The horrible charge of banqueting on blood, etc., constantly repeated against Christians, was probably based on the Eucharist. See Kaye's Illustrations from Tatian, Athenagorus, and Tlieoph. Antiocli., cap. ix. p. 153.]
gotten of a virgin, I understand that the deceiv- ing serpent counterfeited also this.
CHAP. LXXI. THE JEWS REJECT THE INTERPRETA- TION OF THE LXX., FROM WHICH, MOREOVER, THEY HAVE TAKEN AWAY SOME PASSAGF„S.
" But I am far from putting reliance in your teachers, who refuse to admit that the interpre- tation made by the seventy elders who were with Ptolemy [king] of the Egyptians is a correct one; and they attempt to frame another. And I wish you to observe, that they have altogether taken away many Scriptures from the translations effected by those seventy elders who were with Ptolemy, and by which this very man who was crucified is proved to have been set forth ex- pressly as God, and man, and as being crucified, and as dying; but since I am aware that this is denied by all of your nation, I do not address myself to these points, but I proceed ^ to carry on my discussions by means of those passages which are still admitted by you. For you assent to those which I have brought before your atten- tion, except that you contradict the statement, ' Behold, the virgin shall conceive,' and say it ought to be read, ' Behold, the young woman shall conceive.' And I promised to prove that the prophecy referred, not, as you were taught, to Hezekiah, but to this Christ of mine: and now I shall go to the proof."