Of Saint Justin, Philosopher and Martyr, with Trypho
And he, with a courteous smile: 'But how,' he said, 'do you think about these things, and what opinion do you have concerning God, and what is your ph
I was spending my time especially with a man prominent among the Platonists, and I was making progress and was advancing as much as possible each day.
the cause of all other things, this indeed is God. Thus I answered him and he was delighted to hear me, and so he asked me again. Is not knowledge a
God? No, I said for not even the majority of men, unless one has lived justly, having purified himself with righteousness and all other virtue. There
Or do you say that the world is unbegotten? There are those who say so, but I do not agree with them. You are right to do so. For what reason does it
being, it lives, but by partaking of life and that which partakes of something is different from that of which it partakes. And the soul partakes of
and becomes a most pleasant cessation for those who practice them. If, therefore, you have any care for yourself, and if you seek salvation, and if yo
of the present war, they were conversing. And when they had rested, I thus began again to them: Is there anything else for which you blame us, my frie
but having been established according to law stopped the one before it, and a covenant having been made afterwards likewise stopped the former. And Ch
was commanded and if you eat unleavened bread, you say you have fulfilled the will of God. The Lord our God is not pleased with these things. If anyo
of my people has come to death. And I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death, because he committed no iniquity, nor was decei
of you, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the holy and faithful things of David. Behold, I have given him as a witness to the nations,
I have not chosen this fast, nor a day for a man to humble his soul. Not even if you bend your neck like a ring and spread sackcloth and ashes under y
as far as it is in your power, you dishonor, cursing in your synagogues those who believe in Christ. For you do not have the power to lay hands on us
but within are full of dead men's bones. and to the scribes: Woe to you, scribes, because you have the keys, and you yourselves do not enter and you h
was not a people and the nation was not a nation, as Hosea, one of the twelve prophets, says. For all the aforementioned righteous men, though they di
His words can make the proof for you. And they are spoken through Ezekiel thus: I am the Lord your God walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, an
To Zion and to those who trust in the mountain of Samaria. The named ones over the leaders were culled, the firstfruits of the nations the house of I
you ran with him, and you placed your portion with an adulterer. Your mouth abounded in malice, and your tongue wove deceits. Sitting down, you spoke
virtues all likewise, and that God made females able to keep them. But we see that the form of the flesh of the male and of the female has been made d
you do glorious things, trembling will seize the mountains from you. From of old we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen a God besides you and your
the year of redemption is at hand. And I looked and there was no helper, and I considered and no one took hold and my arm rescued, and my wrath came
And Trypho said: We have heard you bring this up before and we paid attention to it for it is, to speak truly, worthy of attention. and it does not s
the words are not embellished by human art, but David sang them, Isaiah evangelized them, Zechariah preached them, Moses wrote them down. Do you recog
And these are the words: I beheld until thrones were set, and the ancient of days was seated, having a garment white as snow, and the hair of his head
will be given into his hands for a time and times and half a time. And the judgment sat, and they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destr
being now at length persuaded by that which was spoken against you by God, that 'You are sons without understanding,' and by 'Therefore, behold, I wil
you explain, when God proclaims that He will make a new law and a new covenant. And where it is said, O God, give Your judgment to the king, since S
And I know that Solomon was great, under whom the house called Jerusalem was rebuilt. But it is apparent that none of the things spoken in the psalm h
Saturnilians, and others by other names, each named from the originator of their opinion, in the same way that each of those who think they are philos
eternal, and the king of glory shall come in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory. It has been shown, therefore, tha
of them. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy. And Trypho said: O man, it were good for us to have o
Her companions shall be brought to you. They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing, they shall be led into the temple of the king. Instead of y
is preached in the scriptures, and that He is to come again with glory, and that He is to receive the eternal kingdom of all the nations, with every k
in remembrance of the passion which He suffered for the sake of those men whose souls are cleansed from all wickedness, Jesus Christ our Lord delivere
and it is a body for both a people and a church, being many men in number, as being one thing are called by one name and are addressed. And all the o
the land which you find so grievous shall be taken from before the face of the two kings. But God will bring upon you and upon your people and upon th
And I: Examine as many things as you wish, as it occurs to you for I will try to take up and fulfill the arguments even after the examinations and an
And I said: Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Noah and Job, and if any others have been similarly righteous before these or after these, I mean also Sar
you also did at the beginning of the discussion, declaring that I would not be saved unless I keep these things. And he [said]: Why then did you say:
seems to me to be not only paradoxical but also foolish. And I said to this: I know that the argument seems paradoxical, and especially to those of yo
Of whose first manifestation also the Spirit of God which was in Elias went forth as a herald, in John, who became a prophet in your race, after whom
to have taken place with many concerning all the things being sought, and for this reason to be ready to answer all that you might be asked. Answer me
the prophets were in your race, O Trypho, after this John, perhaps you consider what is said to be doubtful. But if John came beforehand crying to men
and observing the other laws, and of prophets having been born in succession up to John, just as when your people were led away to Babylon, the land h
you have. But also through the prophet Zechariah, that this very Christ would be struck and His disciples would be scattered, was foretold which also
I said, O Trypho, not those things through which I know that those who worship these and such things are to be condemned, but such things against whic
he would have, for which he had been sent, and having completed it, he would have departed. How then, I said, did the one of the three who was in the
we suppose you to say. And I said: The scripture, therefore, that was previously mentioned by me will make this plain to you. And it is this: The sun
the men came from there to Sodom. But Abraham was standing before the Lord, and Abraham drew near and said: Will you destroy the righteous with the wi
prepared and set before by Abraham, and you would conf- to say it is worthy concerning what is said, that he ate the things from the
The things of God concerning Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, he says thus: And it came to pass when the flocks were conceiving, I saw them with my eye
And when they had all nodded their heads, I said: And the words which declare how He appeared to him, when he was fleeing his brother Esau, He being b
spoke to him, this one himself, being God, signifies to Moses that he himself is the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob? And Trypho said: We do not un
I will give from the scriptures, that before all creatures God begot a certain rational power from Himself, which is also called the glory of the Lord
and female he made them. And God blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.' And so that you might not, alteri
O men, in the previously narrated words of the prophecies, which for your sake I again recall and explain, I will try also to bring you to agreement c
If I were contentious and vain, I would no longer continue discussing with you, who are not prepared to understand what is said, but only incite yours
So be it, so be it. And from the other words which I have said were similarly spoken through David, that He was to come forth from the ends of the hea
those who are bound and from the house of bondage sitting in darkness. I am the Lord God, this is my name, I will not give my glory to another, nor my
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, but 'Behold, the young woman shall conceive and bear a son,' and the rest that follows, as you said.
God promised, besides the one on Mount Horeb, as the scriptures likewise foretold? And he answered that this was foretold. And I again: But the old c
we made the inquiry? And I again: It is necessary to ask you these things also, so that I may know: do you perhaps think something different beside Go
Know well then, O Trypho, I continued, that the things which the so-called devil has counterfeited and caused to be told among the Greeks, just as he
to recognize Him. But some, seeing these things happening, said that it was a magical illusion for they even dared to call Him a magician and a decei
I understand that the deceiving serpent imitated this. But I do not believe your teachers, who do not agree in properly interpreting the works of the
of those who have fallen asleep in the dust of the earth, and went down to them to preach to them his salvation. And from the ninety-fifth psalm they
Finally you said from the words of David, it does not seem to me to have been spoken of any other but of the Father, who made both the heavens and the
That a mighty and great prophet has come to be, the one who was named with the name of Jesus, is manifest to all. If then we know that that God has be
evil spirits, exorcising them, we have them subject to us. For if through the prophets it was preached veiledly that Christ would be subject to suffer
For this king Herod, having learned from the elders of your people, when the magi from Arabia came to him then, and said that from a star that appeare
And this was prophesied to happen through Jeremiah, who spoke thus through the Holy Spirit himself: A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mour
of days is brought, and to him is given all dominion for ever and ever. But that you may know, I said, O man, that we have not made this explanation,
I confess, I will write. For I choose to follow not men or human teachings, but God and the teachings from him. For if you have met with some who are
it was said, that on whatever day he eats from the tree, on that he will die, we have known him not to have completed a thousand years. we understood
to be saved, when the king of the Assyrians sent to him threatening, and it was signified to him through Isaiah not to fear him. And that the things s
But you dare even in these things to corrupt the interpretations which your elders made in the time of Ptolemy, king of the Egyptians, saying that the
I will again make mention for the sake of those who were not with us yesterday, on whose account I also state in summary many of the things that were
righteous, listen. Moses with a rod was sent for the redemption of the people, and holding this in his hands in the presence of the people, he divided
to learn about these very things that I ask. Tell me, therefore, since the word spoken through Isaiah says: A rod shall come forth from the root of Je
that what was to come should not be delayed. Let this also be a testimony to you, which I told you was done by the magi from Arabia, who, as soon as t
life, the Holy Spirit, therefore, also for the sake of men, as I said before, flew to him in the form of a dove, and a voice came from heaven at the s
and Aaron supported them all day long, so that they might not be let down when he grew weary. For if he gave way at all from this figure which imitate
but to those who are bitten by him and flee for refuge to the one who sent his crucified son into the world. For the prophetic spirit did not teach us
Since the word is true, and God always wills you not to be such foolish and self-loving people, so that you may be saved with Christ, who is well-plea
supposing, you discuss what befalls you, and you yourselves are at a loss for words, whenever you encounter some steadfast Christian. For tell me, was
You did this in ignorance for neither when you killed the prophets did you perform an act of piety. And let none of you say: If the Father wished him
was to be, thus: I have spread out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walk in a way that is not good. And that He was to ri
my tongue has cleaved to my throat, and you have brought me down to the dust of death for many dogs have surrounded me, an assembly of evildoers has
no one knows the Father except the Son, nor the Son except the Father and those to whom the Son should reveal him. He has revealed to us, therefore, a
those who hoped in God and were saved by him, who were also fathers of the virgin, through whom he was born, having become man, revealing that he hims
of whom he knew it was good for them to have free will and because he likewise knew it was good, he made both universal and particular judgments, yet
we know that calves are the cause. As, therefore, the bulls are the fathers of the calves, so your teachers were the cause for their children to go ou
For in the memoirs, which I say were composed by His apostles and those who followed them, it is written that His sweat fell down like drops of blood,
should take possession of his soul was a request, so that, when we are at the departure from life, we might ask the same things of God, who is able to
and that He was to rise like a star through the race of Abraham, Moses revealed by speaking thus: A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a leader out of
...to God, so that both your nation and your city might not be taken and destroyed, as it was destroyed, and not only did you not repent, when you lea
That they say he has not yet come, I also know but if they do say he has come, it is not known who he is, but when he becomes manifest and glorious,
the just man perished, and no one takes it to heart and just men are taken away, and no one understands. And that two advents of this Christ would sy
Will the serpent then be understood to have saved the people at that time, whom, as I said before, God cursed in the beginning, and will destroy by th
brought the remaining people into the holy land and just as he brought the people into the holy land, not Moses, and as he distributed it by lot to t
and contradicting, and when he says: Lord, who has believed our report
I said: First wait and hear what I say. For I am not about to make the explanation which you suppose, as if some priest named Jesus had not existed in
For in the way that that Jesus, the one called a priest by the prophet, appeared wearing filthy garments because he was said to have taken a harlot as
is your race, but there are the nations among whom not one of your race has yet dwelt. For there is not one single race of men at all, whether of barb
And I in turn said: Do you think, O men, that we could ever have been able to understand these things in the Scriptures, if we had not, by the will of
again, and to that which was preached to us through the prophets, having believed even unto death, we have renounced all things in the world. Therefor
of Isaiah, whom you sawed with a wooden saw, a mystery also of Christ, who was to cut your race in two, and who was to count the worthy, with the holy
and to be saved through this Christ and to know all the things of the Father. For this reason He said to him: It is a great thing for you to be called
of those who are circumcised there being an established law, concerning them the scripture speaks thus: And the proselyte shall be added to them, and
we have been made, although I doubted lest you ask this not understanding but since we have also deduced this question with proof and agreement, I do
kick at his commandments, having been begotten, and accounted worthy by Him to be called His sons, and these, being made like to Adam and Eve, work de
you are the children of the carnal seed of Jacob, you expect to be saved in every way. But that in these things also you deceive yourselves, has been
And did I not say in the preceding [discourse]? So also, when the people desired to eat meat, and Moses disbelieved what was said there by the angel,
to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. And that Christ, being Lord, and existing as God, Son of God, a
And again when the Word says that God spoke in the beginning: 'Behold, Adam has become as one of Us,' this phrase 'as one of Us,' also a numb as the s
He bestows on them the same inheritance, and gives them the same name but calling them Gentiles and those rejoicing with His people, He speaks to the
were proclamations of all things concerning him, that the demons were about to be destroyed and to fear his name, and that all the principalities and
to you, having received mercy from God and His Christ, to be saved. For God, foreknowing through the prophet Isaiah that you would do these things, cu
teachings and his own, it is better for you to follow God than your senseless and blind teachers, who even to this day permit each of you to have four
And for this reason the scripture, again explaining to us who it means by king Jacob and Israel, spoke thus: Jacob my servant, I will help him and Is
...in his mountain. But these are they whom He said to sow and to beget for you neither endure Him when He calls, nor do you hear Him when He speaks,
of the flood of Noah I saved you. And this is what God said, that the mystery of the men who are saved happened at the time of the flood. For the righ
...er. And he said: Cursed be Canaan, a servant he shall be to his brothers. And he said: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and Canaan shall be hi
of the master of all things, he would not have said: They will come from west and east, and will recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingd
Having said these things, O dearest Marcus Pompeius, I ceased. And Trypho, having paused for a little while: You see, he said, that it was not by d
but within are full of dead men's bones. and to the scribes: Woe to you, scribes, because you have the keys, and you yourselves do not enter and you hinder those who are entering; blind guides. For since you have read, O Trypho, as you yourself have confessed and said, the things taught by that savior of ours, I do not think I have done anything amiss in having also mentioned a few of his sayings in addition to the prophetic ones. Wash yourselves therefore and now become clean and take away wickedness from your souls, as God commands you to wash in this bath and to be circumcised with the true circumcision. For we would have observed this circumcision according to the flesh and the sabbaths and all the feasts without exception, if we had not known for what reason it was also commanded to you, that is, on account of your iniquities and hardness of heart. For if we endure to bear all things worked against us by men and evil demons, even to the point of unspeakable things, death and punishments, praying to be shown mercy and for those who treat us in such ways, and wishing to repay no one even a little, as the new lawgiver has commanded us, how would we not also observe the things that do not even harm us, I mean carnal circumcision and sabbaths and the feasts, O Trypho? And Trypho: This is what is worthy of being perplexed about, that enduring such things you do not also keep all the other things about which we are now inquiring. For this circumcision is not necessary for all, but for you alone, so that, as I said before, you might suffer these things which you now justly suffer. For neither do we accept that useless baptism of the cisterns; for it is nothing in comparison to this baptism of life. For this reason God also has cried out, that You have forsaken him, a living spring, and have dug for yourselves broken cisterns that will not be able to hold water. And you indeed, who are circumcised in the flesh, are in need of our circumcision, but we, having this one, have no need of that one. For if it were necessary, as you think, God would not have formed Adam uncircumcised, nor would he have regarded the gifts of Abel who offered sacrifices while in uncircumcision of the flesh, nor would Enoch have been well-pleasing in uncircumcision, and he was not found, because God translated him. Lot, uncircumcised, was saved from Sodom, when those very angels and the Lord sent him forth. Noah, the beginning of another race, along with his children, entered the ark uncircumcised. Uncircumcised was Melchizedek, the priest of the most high, to whom Abraham, the first to receive circumcision according to the flesh, gave tithes as offerings, and he blessed him; according to whose order God has revealed through David that he will establish the eternal priest. Therefore this circumcision was necessary for you alone, in order that the people
ἔσωθεν δὲ γέμοντες ὀστέων νεκρῶν. καὶ τοῖς γραμμα τεῦσιν· Oὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς, ὅτι τὰς κλεῖς ἔχετε, καὶ αὐτοὶ οὐκ εἰσέρχεσθε
καὶ τοὺς εἰσερχομένους κωλύετε· ὁδηγοὶ τυφλοί. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀνέγνως, ὦ Τρύφων, ὡς αὐτὸς ὁμολο γήσας ἔφης, τὰ ὑπ' ἐκείνου τοῦ
σωτῆρος ἡμῶν διδαχθέντα, οὐκ ἄτοπον νομίζω πεποιηκέναι καὶ βραχέα τῶν ἐκείνου λόγια πρὸς τοῖς προφητικοῖς ἐπιμνησθείς. Λούσασθε
οὖν καὶ νῦν καθαροὶ γένεσθε καὶ ἀφέλεσθε τὰς πονηρίας ἀπὸ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν, ὡς δὲ λούσασθαι ὑμῖν τοῦτο τὸ λουτρὸν κελεύει ὁ
θεὸς καὶ περι τέμνεσθαι τὴν ἀληθινὴν περιτομήν. ἡμεῖς γὰρ καὶ ταύτην ἂν τὴν περιτομὴν τὴν κατὰ σάρκα καὶ τὰ σάββατα καὶ τὰς
ἑορτὰς πάσας ἁπλῶς ἐφυλάσσομεν, εἰ μὴ ἔγνωμεν δι' ἣν αἰτίαν καὶ ὑμῖν προσετάγη, τοῦτ' ἔστι διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ὑμῶν καὶ τὴν σκλη
ροκαρδίαν. εἰ γὰρ ὑπομένομεν πάντα τὰ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων καὶ δαιμόνων φαύλων ἐνεργούμενα εἰς ἡμᾶς φέρειν, ὡς καὶ μέχρι τῶν ἀρρήτων,
θανάτου καὶ τιμωριῶν, εὐχόμενοι ἐλεηθῆναι καὶ τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα διατιθέντας ἡμᾶς, καὶ μηδὲ μικρὸν ἀμείβεσθαι μηδένα βουλόμενοι,
ὡς ὁ καινὸς νομοθέτης ἐκέλευσεν ἡμῖν, πῶς οὐχὶ καὶ τὰ μηδὲ βλάπτοντα ἡμᾶς, περιτομὴν δὲ σαρκικὴν λέγω καὶ σάββατα καὶ τὰς
ἑορτάς, ἐφυλάσσομεν, ὦ Τρύφων; Καὶ ὁ Τρύφων· Τοῦτό ἐστιν ὃ ἀπορεῖν ἄξιόν ἐστιν, ὅτι τοιαῦτα ὑπομένοντες οὐχὶ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα,
περὶ ὧν νῦν ζητοῦμεν, φυλάσσετε. Oὐ γὰρ πᾶσιν ἀναγκαία αὕτη ἡ περιτομή, ἀλλ' ὑμῖν μόνοις, ἵνα, ὡς προέφην, ταῦτα πάθητε ἃ
νῦν ἐν δίκῃ πάσχετε. οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸ βάπτισμα ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἀνωφελὲς τὸ τῶν λάκκων προσ λαμβάνομεν· οὐδὲν γὰρ πρὸς τὸ βάπτισμα τοῦτο
τὸ τῆς ζωῆς ἐστι. διὸ καὶ κέκραγεν ὁ θεός, ὅτι Ἐγκατελίπετε αὐτόν, πηγὴν ζῶσαν, καὶ ὠρύξατε ἑαυτοῖς λάκκους συντετριμμένους,
οἳ οὐ δυνήσονται συνέχειν ὕδωρ. καὶ ὑμεῖς μέν, οἱ τὴν σάρκα περιτετμημένοι, χρῄζετε τῆς ἡμετέρας περιτομῆς, ἡμεῖς δέ, ταύ
την ἔχοντες, οὐδὲν ἐκείνης δεόμεθα. εἰ γὰρ ἦν ἀναγκαία, ὡς δοκεῖτε, οὐκ ἂν ἀκρόβυστον ὁ θεὸς ἔπλασε τὸν Ἀδάμ, οὐδὲ ἐπέβλεψεν
ἐπὶ τοῖς δώροις τοῦ ἐν ἀκροβυστίᾳ σαρκὸς προσενέγ καντος θυσίας Ἅβελ, οὐδ' ἂν εὐηρέστησεν ἐν ἀκροβυστίᾳ Ἑνώχ, καὶ οὐκ εὑρίσκετο,
διότι μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεός. Λὼτ ἀπερίτμητος ἐκ Σοδόμων ἐσώθη, αὐτῶν ἐκείνων τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτὸν καὶ τοῦ κυρίου προπεμψάντων.
Νῶε, ἀρχὴ γένους ἄλλου, ἅμα τοῖς τέκνοις ἀπερίτμητος εἰς τὴν κιβωτὸν εἰσῆλ θεν. ἀπερίτμητος ἦν ὁ ἱερεὺς τοῦ ὑψίστου Μελχισεδέκ,
ᾧ καὶ δεκάτας προσφορὰς ἔδωκεν Ἀβραάμ, ὁ πρῶτος τὴν κατὰ σάρκα περιτομὴν λαβών, καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτόν· οὗ κατὰ τὴν τάξιν τὸν
αἰώνιον ἱερέα ὁ θεὸς καταστήσειν διὰ τοῦ ∆αυεὶδ μεμήνυκεν. ὑμῖν οὖν μόνοις ἀναγκαία ἦν ἡ περιτομὴ αὕτη, ἵνα ὁ λαὸς
