Christ Himself; and in the following terms: ' The law and the prophets were until John the Baptist; from that time the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. And if you can^ receive it, he is Elijah, who was to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.' ^ CHAP. LII. JACOB PREDICTED TVVO ADVENTS OF CHRIST.
" And it was prophesied by Jacob the patri- arch -♦ that there would be two advents of Christ, and that in the first He would suffer, and that after He came there would be neither prophet nor king in your nation (I proceeded), and that the nations who believed in the suffering Christ would look for His future appearance. And for this reason the Holy Spirit had uttered these truths in a parable, and obscurely: for," I added, " it is said, ' Judah, thy brethren have praised thee: thy hands [shall be] on the neck of thine enemies; the sons of thy father shall worship thee. Judah is a lion's whelp; from the germ, my son, thou art sprung up. Reclining, he lay down like a lion, and like [a lion's] whelp: who shall raise him up? A ruler shall not depart from Judah, or a leader from his thighs, until that which is laid up in store for him shall come; and he shall be the desire of nations, binding his foal to the vine, and the foal of his ass to the 1 Chap. 3txv.
2 "Are willing."
3 Matt. xi. 12-15.
These texts are frequently tendril of the vine. He shall wash his garments in wine, and his vesture in the blood of the grape. His eyes shall be bright with s wine, and his teeth white like milk.' ^ Moreover, that in your nation there never failed either prophet or ruler, from the time when they began until the time when this Jesus Christ appeared and suffered, you will not venture shamelessly to assert, nor can you prove it. For though you affirm that Herod, after ^ whose [reign] He suffered, was an Ashkelonite, nevertheless you admit that there was a high priest in your nation; so that you then had one who presented offerings according to the law of Moses, and observed the other legal ceremonies; also [you had] prophets in succession until John, (even then, too, when your nation was carried captive to Babylon, when your land was ravaged by war, and the sacred vessels carried off); there never failed to be a prophet among you, who was lord, and leader, and ruler of your nation. For the Spirit which was in the prophets anointed your kings, and es- tablished them. But after the manifestation and death of our Jesus Christ in your nation, there was and is nowhere any prophet: nay, further, you ceased to exist under your own king, your land was laid waste, and forsaken like a lodge in a vineyard; and the statement of Scripture, in the mouth of Jacob, ' And He shall be the desire of nations,' meant symbolically His two advents, and that the nations would believe in Him; which facts you may now at length dis- cern. For those out of all the nations who are pious and righteous through the faith of Christ, look for His future appearance. © CHAP. LIII. JACOB PREDICTED THAT CHRIST WOULD RIDE ON AN ASS, AND ZECHARIAH CON- FIRMS IT.
" And that expression, ' binding his foal to the vine, and the ass's foal to the vine tendril,' was a declaring beforehand both of the works wrought by Him at His first advent, and also of that belief in Him which the nations would re- pose. For they were like an unharnessed foal, which was not bearing a yoke on its neck, until this Christ came, and sent His disciples to in- struct them; and they bore the yoke of His word, and yielded the neck to endure all [hard- ships], for the sake of the good things promised by Himself, and expected by them. And truly our Lord Jesus Christ, when He intended to go into Jerusalem, requested His disciples to bring Him a certain ass, along with its foal, which was bound in an entrance of a village called Beth- phage; and having seated Himself on it. He 5 Or, " in comparison of." ' Gen. xlix. 8-12.
' a(j>' ov; many translated " under whom," as if (<(>' ov. This would be erroneous. Conjectured also i<i>vye for inadiv.
2 22 DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO.
entered into Jerusalem. And as this was done by Him in the manner in which it was prophe- sied in precise terms that it would be done by the Christ, and as the fulfilment was recognised, it became a clear proof that He was the Christ. And though all this happened and is proved from Scripture, you are still hard-hearted. Nay, it was prophesied by Zechariah, one of the twelve [prophets], that such would take place, in the following words: ' Rejoice greatly, daugh- ter of Zion; shout, and declare, daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King shall come to thee, righteous, bringing salvation, meek, and lowly, riding on an ass, and the foal of an ass.' ' Now, that the Spirit of prophecy, as well as the pa- triarch Jacob, mentioned both an ass and its foal, which would be used by Him; and, further, that He, as I previously said, requested His disciples to bring both beasts; [this fact] was a prediction that you of the synagogue, along with the Gentiles, would believe in Him. For as the unharnessed colt was a symbol of the Gentiles, even so the harnessed ass was a symbol of your nation. For you possess the law which was imposed [upon you] by the prophets. More- over, the prophet Zechariah foretold that this same Christ would be smitten, and His disciples scattered: which also took place. For after His crucifixion, the disciples that accompanied Him were dispersed, until He rose from the dead, and persuaded them that so it had been prophesied concerning Him, that He would suffer; and being thus persuaded, they went into all the world, and taught these truths. Hence also we are strong in His faith and doc- trine, since we have [this our] persuasion both from the prophets, and from those who through- out the world are seen to be worshippers of God in the name of that crucified One. The following is said, too, by Zechariah: ' O sword, rise up against My Shepherd, and against the man of My people, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite the Shepherd, and His flock shall be scattered.' ^ CHAP. LIV. — WHAT THE BLOOD OF THE GRAPE SIGNIHES.
" And that expression which was committed to writing ^ by Moses, and prophesied by the patriarch Jacob, namely, ' He shall wash His garments with wine, and His vesture with the blood of the grape,' signified that He would wash those that believe in Him with His own blood. For the Holy Spirit called those who receive remission of sins through Him, His gar- ments; amongst whom He is always present in power, but will be manifestly present at His ' Zech. ix. 9.
- Zech. xiii. 7.
5 Literally, " inquired into."
second coming. That the Scripture mentions the blood of the grape has been evidently de- signed, because Christ derives blood not from the seed of man, but from the power of God. For as God, and not man, has produced the blood of the vine, so also [the Scripture] has predicted that the blood of Christ would be not of the seed of man, but of the power of God. But this prophecy, sirs, which I repeated, proves that Christ is not man of men, begotten in the ordinary course of humanity."
CHAP. LV. TRYPHO ASKS THAT CHRIST BE PROVED GOD, BUT WITHOUT METAPHOR. JUSTIN PROM- ISES TO DO SO.
And Trypho answered, " We shall remember this your exposition, if you strengthen [your solution of] this difficulty by other arguments: but now resume the discourse, and show us that the Spirit of prophecy admits another God be- sides the Maker of all things, taking care not to speak of the sun and moon, which, it is writ- ten,'* God has given to the nations to worship as gods; and oftentimes the prophets, employ- ing 5 this manner of speech, say that ' thy God is a God of gods, and a Lord of lords,' adding frequently, ' the great and strong and terrible [God].' For such expressions are used, not as if they really were gods, but because the Scrip- ture is teaching us that the true God, who made all things, is Lord alone of those who are reputed gods and lords. And in order that the Holy Spirit may convince [us] of this. He said by the holy David, ' The gods of the nations, reputed gods, are idols of demons, and not gods; ' ^ and He denounces a curse on those who worship them."
And I replied, " I would not bring forward these proofs, Trypho, by which I am aware those who worship these [idols] and such like are condemned, but such [proofs] as no one could find any objection to. They will appear strange to you, although you read them every day; so that even from this fact we ^ understand that, because of your wickedness, God has withheld from you the ability to discern the wisdom of His Scriptures; yet [there are] some excep- tions, to whom, according to the grace of His long-suffering, as Isaiah said, He has left a seed of* salvation, lest your race be utterly destroyed, like Sodom and Gomorrah. Pay attention, therefore, to what I shall record out of the holy Scriptures, which ^ do not need to be expounded, but only listened to.
* Deut. iv. 19, an apparent [i.e., evident] misinterpretation of the passage. [But.see St. John x. 33-36.]
5 Or, " misusing."
* Ps. xcvi. 5.
7 Com. reading, " you; " evidently wrong.
8 Literally, " for."
9 Two constructions, " which " referring either to Scriptures as I whole, or to what he records from them. Last more probable.
DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO.
2 2 ' CHAP. LVI. — GOD WHO APPEARED TO MOSES IS DISTINGUISHED FROM GOD THE FATHER.
" Moses, then, the blessed and faithful servant of God, declares that He who appeared to Abra- ham under the oak in Mamre is God, sent with the two angels in His company to judge Sodom by Another who remains ever in the superceles- tial places, invisible to all men, holding personal intercourse with none, whom we believe to be Maker and Father of all things; for he speaks thus: ' God appeared to him under the oak in Mamre, as he sat at his tent-door at noontide. And lifting up his eyes, he saw, and behold, three men stood before him; and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the door of his tent; and he bowed himself toward the ground, and said; "" (and so on; ) ^ " ' Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord: and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward the adjacent country, and beheld, and, lo, a flame went up from the earth, like the smoke of a furnace.' " And when I had made an end of quoting these words, I asked them if they had understood them.
And they said they had understood them, but that the passages adduced brought forward no proof that there is any other God or Lord, or that the Holy Spirit says so, besides the Maker of all things.
Then I replied, " I shall attempt to persuade you, since you have understood the Scriptures, [of the truth] of what I say, that there is, and that there is said to be, another God and Lord subject to 3 the Maker of all things; who is also called an Angel, because He announces to men whatsoever the Maker of all things — above whom there is no other God — wishes to announce to them." And quoting once more the previous passage, I asked Trypho, " Do you think that God appeared to Abraham under the oak in Mamre, as the Scripture asserts? " He said, " Assuredly."
"Was He one of those three," I said, "whom Abraham saw, and whom the Holy Spirit of prophecy describes as men?"
He said, " No; but God appeared to him, be- fore the vision of the three. Then those three whom the Scripture calls men, were angels; two of them sent to destroy Sodom, and one to an- nounce the joyful tidings to Sarah, that she would bear a son; for which cause he was sent, and having accomplished his errand, went away." ■♦ " How then," said I, " does the one of the three, who was in the tent, and who said, ' I shall return to thee hereafter, and Sarah shall have a ' Gen. xviii. i, 2.
^ Gen. xix. 27, 28; " and so on " inserted probably not by Justin, but by some copyist, as is evident from succeeding words. 3.Some, " besides; " but probably as abov«. * Or, " going away, departsd."
son,' 5 appear to have returned when Sarah had begotten a son, and to be there declared, by the prophetic word, God? But that you may clearly discern what I say, listen to the words expressly employed by Moses; they are these: ' And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian bond-woman, whom she bore to Abraham, sporting with Isaac her son, and said to Abraham, Cast out this bond-woman and her son; for the son of this bond-woman shall not share the inheritance of my son Isaac. And the matter seemed very grievous in Abraham's sight, because of his son. But God said to Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the son, and because of the bond-woman. In all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken to her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.'^ Have you perceived, then, that He who said under the oak that He would return, since He knew it would be neces- sary to advise Abraham to do what Sarah wished him, came back as it is written; and is God, as the words declare, when they so speak: ' God said to Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the son, and because of the bond-woman?'" I inquired. And Trypho said, " Certainly; but you have not proved from this that there is another God besides Him who appeared to Abraham, and who also appeared to the other patriarchs and prophets. You have proved, however, that we were wrong in believ- ing that the three who were in the tent with Abraham were all angels."
I replied again, " If I could not have proved to you from the Scriptures that one of those three is God, and is called Angel,? because, as I already said. He brings messages to those to whom God the Maker of all things wishes [mes- sages to be brought], then in regard to Him who appeared to Abraham on earth in human form in like manner as the two angels who came with Him, and who was God even before the creation of the world, it were reasonable for you to enter- tain the same belief as is entertained by the whole of your nation."
" Assuredly," he said, " for up to this moment this has been our belief."
Then I replied, " Reverting to the Scriptures, I shall endeavour to persuade you, that He who is said to have appeared to Abraham, and to Jacob, and to Moses, and who is called God, is distinct from Him who made all things, — nu- merically, I mean, not [distinct] in will. For I affirm that He has never at any time done ** any- 5 Gen. xviii. 10.
* Gen. xxi. 9-12.' 7 Or, " Messenger." [The "Jehovah-angel" of the Pentateuch, passim.] In the various passages in which Justin assigns the reason for Christ being called angel or messenger, Justin uses also the verb ayyiWio, to convey messages, to announce. The similarity between ayyeAos and ayyeAAw cannot be retained in English, and therefore the point of Justin's remarks is lost to the English reader.
* Some supply, " or said."
224 DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO.
thing which He who made the world — above whom there is no other God — has not wished Him both to do and to engage Himself with."
And Trypho said, " Prove now that this is the case, that we also may agree with you. For we do not understand you to affirm that He has done or said anything contrary to the will of the Maker of all things."
Then I said, "The Scripture just quoted by me will make this plain to you. It is thus: ' The sun was risen on the earth, and Lot entered into Segor (Zoar); and the Lord rained on Sodom sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and overthrew these cities and all the neighbour- hood.' " ' Then the fourth of those who had remained with Trypho said, "It ^ must therefore necessa- rily be said that one of the two angels who went to Sodom, and is named by Moses in the Scrip- ture Lord, is different from Him who also is God, and appeared to Abraham." ^ " It is not on this ground solely," I said, " that it must be admitted absolutely that some other one is called Lord by the Holy Spirit besides Him who is considered Maker of all things; not solely [for what is said] by Moses, but also [for what is said] by David. For there is written by him: ' The Lord says to my Lord, Sit on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy foot- stool,'•♦ as I have already quoted. And again, in other words: ' Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of Thy kingdom: Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity: therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of glad- ness above Thy fellows.' s If, therefore, you assert that the Holy Spirit calls some other one God and Lord, besides the Father of all things and His Christ, answer me; for I undertake to prove to you from Scriptures themselves, that He whom the Scripture calls Lord is not one of the two angels that went to Sodom, but He who was with them, and is called God, that appeared to Abraham."
And Trypho said, " Prove this; for, as you see, the day advances, and we are not prepared for such perilous repHes; since never yet have we heard any man investigating, or searching in- to, or proving these matters; nor would we have tolerated your conversation, had you not referred everything to the Scriptures: ^ for you are very zealous in adducing proofs from them; and you ' Gen. xix. 23.
* Or, " We must of necessity think, that besides the one of the two angels who came down to Sodom, and whom the Scripture by Moses calls Lord, God Himself appeared to Abraham."
3 This pass.ige is rather confused; the translation is necessarily free, but, it is believed, correct. Justin's friend wishes to make out that tmo distinct individuals are called Lord or (7od in the narrative.
* Ps. ex. I.
5 Ps. xlv. 6, 7.
' [Note agam the fidelity of Justin to this principle, and the fact that in no other way could a Jew be persuaded to listen to a Christian. Acts xvii. ii.J are of opinion that there is no God above the Maker of all things."
Then I replied, " You are aware, then, that the Scripture says, ' And the Lord said to Abra- ham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I truly conceive? for I am old. Is anything impossible with God? At the time appointed shall I return to thee according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.' 7 And after a little interval: ' And the men rose up from thence, and looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah; and Abraham went with them, to bring them on the way. And the Lord said, I will not conceal from Abraham, my servant, what I do.' ^ And again, after a little, it thus says: ' The Lord said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great,'' and their sins are very grievous. I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to their cry which has come unto me; and if not, that I may know. And the men turned away thence, and went to Sodom. But Abraham was standing before the Lord; and Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt Thou destroy the righteous with the wicked? ' " '° (and so on," for I do not think fit to write over again the same words, having written them all before, but shall of neces- sity give those by which I established the proof to Trypho and his companions. Then I proceeded to what follows, in which these words are recorded:) "'And the Lord went His way as soon as He had left communing with Abraham; and [Abraham] went to his place. x\nd there came two angels to Sodom at even. And Lot sat in the gate of Sodom; ' '^ and what follows until, ' But the men put forth their hands, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door of the house; ' '^ and what follows till, ' And the angels laid hold on his hand, and on the hand of his wife, and on the hands of his daugh- ters, the Lord being merciful to him. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that they said, Save, save thy life. Look not behind thee, nor stay in all the neighbour- hood; escape to the mountain, lest thou be taken along with [them]. And Lot said to them, I be- seech [Thee], O Lord, since Thy servant hath found grace in Thy sight, and Thou hast magnified Thy righteousness, which Thou showest towards me in saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die. Behold, this city is near to flee unto, and it is small: there I shall be safe, since it is small; and my soul shall live. And He said to him. Behold, I have accepted thee "» also in this mat- 9 Literally, " is multiplied. " '° Gen. xviii. 20-23.
'^ Gen. xviii. 33, xix. i.
'3 Gen. xix. 10.
>< Li(«rally, " 1 have admired thy face."
DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO.
225 ter, so as not to destroy the city for which thou hast spoken. Make haste to save thyself there; for I shall not do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore he called the name of the city Segor (Zoar). The sun was risen upon the earth; and Lot entered into Segor (Zoar). And the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and He overthrew these cities, and all the neighbour- hood.' " ' And after another pause I added: " And now have you not perceived, my friends, that one of the three, who is both God and Lord, and ministers to Him who is in the heavens, is Lord of the two angels? For when [the angels] proceeded to Sodom, He remained behind, and communed with Abraham in the words recorded by Moses; and when He departed after the con- versation, Abraham went back to his place. And when he came [to Sodom], the two angels no longer conversed with Lot, but Himself, as the Scripture makes evident; and He is the Lord who received commission from the Lord who [remains] in the heavens, i.e., the Maker of all things, to inflict upon Sodom and Gomorrah the [judgments] which the Scripture describes in these terms: ' The Lord rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.' " L CHAP. LVII. THE JEW OBJECTS, WHY IS HE SAID TO HAVE EATEN, IF HE BE GOD? ANSWER OF JUSTIN.
Then Trypho said when I was silent, " That Scripture compels us to admit this, is manifest; but there is a matter about which we are deserv- edly at a loss — namely, about what was said to the effect that [the Lord] ate what was prepared and placed before him by Abraham; and you would admit this."
1 answered, " It is written that they ate; and if we believe ^ that it is said the three ate, and not the two alone — who were really angels, and are nourished in the heavens, as is evident to us, even though they are not nourished by food similar to that which mortals use — (for, concerning the sus- tenance of manna which supported your fathers in the desert. Scripture speaks thus, that they ate angels' food): [if we believe that three ate], then I would say that the Scripture which affirms they ate bears the same meaning as when we would say about fire that it has devoured all things; yet it is not certainly understood that they ate, masticating with teeth and jaws. So that not even here should we be at a loss about anything, if we are acquainted even slightly with figurative modes of expression, and able to rise above them."
And Trypho said, " It is possible that [the ' Gen. xix. 16-25.
2 Literally, " hear."
question] about the mode of eating may be thus explained: [the mode, that is to say,] in which it is written, they took and ate what had been prepared by Abraham: so that you may now pro- ceed to explain to us how this God who appeared to Abraham, and is minister to God the Maker of all things, being born of the Virgin, became man, of like passions with all, as you said pre- viously."
Then I replied, " Permit me first, Trypho, to collect some other proofs on this head, so that you, by the large number of them, may be per- suaded of [the truth of] it, and thereafter I shall explain what you ask."
And he said, " Do as seems good to you; for I shall be thoroughly pleased."
CHAP. LVIII. THE SAME IS PROVED FROM THE VISIONS WHICH APPEARED TO JACOB.
Then I continued, " I purpose to quote to you Scriptures, not that I am anxious to make merely an artful display of words; for I possess no such faculty, but God's grace alone has been granted to me to the understanding of His Scriptures, of which grace I exhort all to become partakers freely and bounteously, in order that they may not, through want of it,^ incur condemnation in the judgment which God the Maker of all things shall hold through my Lord Jesus Christ."
And Trypho said, " What you do is worthy of the worship of God; but you appear to me to feign ignorance when you say that you do not possess a store of artful words."
I again replied, " Be it so, since you think so; yet I am persuaded that I speak the truth. "♦ But give me your attention, that I may now rather adduce the remaining proofs."
" Proceed," said he.