beginning of His ways for His works. From everlasting He established me in the beginning, before He had made the earth, and before He had made the deeps, before the springs of the waters had issued forth, before the mountains had been established. Before all the hills He begets me. God made the country, and the desert, and the highest inhabited places under the sky. When He made ready the heavens, I was along with Him, and when He set up His throne on the winds: when He made the high clouds strong, and the springs of the deep safe, when He made the foundations of the earth, I was with Him arranging. I was that in which He rejoiced; daily and at all times I delighted in His countenance, because He delighted in the finishing of the habitable world, and delighted in the sons of men. Now, therefore, O son, hear me. Blessed is the man who shall listen to me, and the mortal who shall keep my ways, watching ' daily at my doors, observing the posts of my ingoings. For my outgoings are the outgoings of life, and [my] will has been prepared by the Lord. But they who sin against me, trespass against their own souls; and they who hate me love death.' ^^ CH.'VP. LXII. — THE WORDS "LET US MAKE MAN" AGREE WITH THE TESTIMOm^ OF PROVERBS.
" And the same sentiment was expressed, my friends, by the word of God [written] by Moses, when it indicated to us, with regard to Him whom it has pointed out,^ that God speaks in the creation of man with the very same design, in the following words: ' Let Us make man after our image and likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creeping things that creep on the earth. And God created man: after the image of God did He create him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and said. Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and have power over it.'* And that you may not change the [force of the] words just quoted, and repeat what your teachers assert, — either that God said to Himself, ' Let Us make,' just as we, when about to do something, oftentimes say to ourselves, ' Let us make; ' or that God spoke to the elements, to wit, the earth and other similar substances of which we believe man was formed, ' Let Us make,' — I shall quote again the words narrated by Moses ' The MSS. of Justin read " sleeping," but this is regarded as the mistake of some careless transcriber.
3 Justin, since he is of opinion that the Word is the beginnint; of the universe, thinks that by these words, " in the beginning," Moses indicated the Word, like many other writers. Hence also he says in Ap. i. 23, that Moses declares the Word " to be begotten first by God." If this explanation does not satisfy, read, " with regard to Him whom 1 have pointed out" (Maranus).
himself, from which we can indisputably learn that [Ootl] conversed with some one who was numerically distinct from Himself, and also a rational Being. These are the words: ' And God said. Behold, Adam has become as one of us, to know good and evil.' 5 In saying, therefore, ' as one of us,' [Moses] has declared that [there is a certain] number of persons associated with one another, and that they are at least two. For I would not say that the dogma of that heresy ^ which is said to be among you ^ is true, or that the teachers of it can prove that [God] spoke to angels, or that the human frame was the workmanship of angels. But this Offspring, which was truly brought forth from the Father, was with the Father before all the creatures, and the Father communed with Him; even as the Scripture by Solomon has made clear, that He whom Solomon calls Wisdom, was begotten as a Beginning before all His creatures and as Offspring by God, who has also declared this same thing in the revelation made by Joshua the son of Nave (Nun). Listen, therefore, to the following from the book of Joshua, that what I say may become manifest to you; it is this: ' And it came to pass, when Joshua was near Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and sees a man standing over against him. And Joshua approached to Him, and said. Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And He said to him, I am Captain of the Lord's host: now have I come. And Joshua fell on his face on the ground, and said to Him, Lord, what commandest Thou Thy servant? And the Lord's Captain says to Joshua, Loose the shoes off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. And Jericho was shut up and fortified, and no one went out of it. And the Lord said to Joshua, Behold, I give into thine hand Jericho, and its king, [and] its mighty men.' " ^ CHAP. LXIII. — IT IS PROVED THAT THIS GOD WAS INCARNATE.
And Trypho said, " This point has been proved to me forcibly, and by many arguments, my friend. It remains, then, to prove that He submitted to become man by the Virgin, according to the will of His P\ither; and to be crucified, and to die. Prove also clearly, that after this He rose again and ascended to heaven."
I answered, " This, too, has been already de- 5 Gen. iii. 22.
*> Heresy or sect.
' Or, " among us." Maranus pronounces against this latter read ing for tlie following reasons: (i.) The Jews had their own heresies wiiich supplied many things to the Christian heresies, especially to Menander and Saturninus. (2.) The sect which Jusliti here refutes was of opinion that God spoke to angels. But those angels, as Menander and Saturninus invented, " exhorted themselves, saying. Let us make," etc. (3.) The expression Si.Sd<TKa\oi suits the rabbins well. So Justin frequently calls them. (4.) Those teachers seem for no other cause to have put the words in the angels' mouths than to eradicate the testimony by which they proved divine persons.
8 Jokh. V. 13 ad fin., and vi. i, a.
monstrated by me in the previously quoted words of the prophecies, my friends; which, by recalling and expounding for your sakes, I shall endeavour to lead you to agree with me also about this matter. The passage, then, which Isaiah records, ' Who shall declare His generation? for His life is taken away from the earth,' — does it not appear to you to refer to One who, not having descent from men, was said to be delivered over to death by God for the transgressions of the people? — of whose blood, Moses (as I mentioned before), when speaking in parable, said, that He would wash His garments in the blood of the grape; since His blood did not spring from the seed of man, but from the will of God. And then, what is said by David, ' In the splendours of Thy holiness have I begotten Thee from the womb, before the morning star.^ The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek,' ^ — does this not declare to you'* that [He was] from of old,5 and that the God and Father of all things intended Him to be begotten by a human womb? And speaking in other words, which also have been already quoted, [he says]: 'Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of rectitude is the sceptre of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hast hated iniquity: therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows. [He hath anointed Thee] with myrrh, and oil, and cassia from Thy garments, from the ivory palaces, whereby they made Thee glad. Kmgs' daughters are in Thy honour. The queen stood at Thy right hand, clad in garments embroidered with gold.^ Hearken, O daughter, and behold, and incline thine ear, and forget thy people and the house of thy father; and the King shall desire thy beauty: because he is thy Lord, and thou shalt worship Him.' 7 Therefore these words testify explicitly that He is witnessed to by Him who established these things,** as deserving to be worshipped, as God and as Christ. Moreover, that the word of God speaks to those who believe in Him as being one soul, and one synagogue, and one church, as to a daughter; that it thus addresses the church which has sprung from His name and partakes of His name (for we are all called Christians), is distinctly proclaimed in like manner in the following words, which teach us also to forget [our] old ancestral customs, when they speak thus: ^ ' Hearken, O daughter, and behold.
1 Isa. liii. 8.
2 Note this beautiful rendering, Ps. ex. 3.
3 Ps. ex. 4.
* Or, " to us."
5 ayiaBey; in Lat. vers, anttguitus, which Maranus prefers.
6 Literally, " garments of gold, variegated." 1 Ps. xlv. 6-1 1.
' The ineamation, ete. 9 " Being so," literally.
and incline thine ear; forget thy people and the house of thy father, and the King shall desire thy beauty: because He is thy Lord, and thou shalt worship Him.' " CHAP. LXIV. JUSTIN ADDUCES OTHER PROOFS TO THE JEW, WHO DENIES THAT HE NEEDS THIS CHRIST.
Here Trypho said, " Let Him be recognised as Lord and Christ and God, as the Scriptures declare, by you of the Gentiles, who have from His name been all called Christians; but we who are servants of God that made this same [Christ], do not require to confess or worship Him."
To this I replied, " If I were to be quarrelsome and light-minded like you, Trypho, I would no longer continue to converse with you, since you are prepared not to understand what has been said, but only to return some captious answer; '° but now, since I fear the judgment of God, I do not state an untimely opinion concerning any one of your nation, as to whether or not some of them may be saved by the grace of the Lord of Sabaoth. Therefore, although you act wrongfully, I shall continue to reply to any proposition you shall bring forward, and to any contradiction which you make; and, in fact, I do the very same to all men of every nation, who wish to examine along with me, or make inquiry at me, regarding this subject. Accordingly, if you had bestowed attention on the Scriptures previously quoted by me, you would already have understood, that those who are saved of your own nation are saved through this " [man], and partake of His lot; and you would not certainly have asked me about this matter. I shall again repeat the words of David previously quoted by me, and beg of you to comprehend them, and not to act wrongfully, and stir each other up to give merely some contradiction. The words which David speaks, then, are these: 'The Lord has reigned; let the nations be angry: [it is] He who sits upon the cherubim; let the earth be shaken. The Lord is great in Zion; and He is high above all the nations. Let them confess Thy great name, for it is fearful and holy; and the honour of the king loves judgment. Thou hast prepared equity; judgment and righteousness hast Thou performed in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship the footstool of His feet; for He is holy. Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among them that call upon His name; they called on the Lord, and He heard them. In the pillar of the clo]jd He spake to them; for they kept His testimonies and His commandments which He gave them.' '^ And '° Literally, " but only sharpen yoiuselves to say something." " [Or, "this one."] '2 Ps. xeix. 1-7.
from the other words of David, also previously (juoted, which you foolishly afifirm refer to Solomon, [because] inscribed for Solomon, it can be proved that they do not refer to Solomon, and that this [Christ] existed before the sun, and that those of your nation who are saved shall be saved through Him. [The words] are these: ' O God, give Thy judgment to the king, and Thy righteousness unto the king's son. He shall judge ' Thy people with righteousness, and Thy poor with judgment. The mountains shall take up peace to the people, and the little hills righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, and shall save the children of the needy, and shall abase the slanderer: and He shall co-endure with the sun, and before the moon unto all generations; ' and so on until, ' His name endureth before the sun, and all tribes of the earth shall be blessed in Him. All nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things: and blessed be His glorious name for ever and ever: and the whole earth shall be filled with His glory. Amen, Amen.'^ And you remember from other words also spoken by David, and which I have mentioned before, how it is declared that He would come forth from 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 Scripture 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 inhabitants 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.'
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 17son,' but, ' Behold, the young woman shall conceive, 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 having 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 persuade 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 demonstration of what I have stated along with the testimony 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 conformably 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 incarnation, and the suffering of as many afflictions 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 commencement 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.
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 because of the hardness of their hearts and tendency 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 covenant 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 commandments He has given, suiting them to the hardness 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 yourself 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 become 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 Scriptures, 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 investigation 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 questions 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 termination."
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 Scriptures 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 conceive,' 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 perhaps 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 Hezekiah, 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 seventy elders that were with Ptolemy the king of the Egyptians gave, is untrue in certain respects? 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 statements, 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 compelled, 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 venture 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 performed 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 fluctuate between oivov and ofok.