Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho

“Further, to persuade you that you have not understood anything of the Scriptures, I will remind you of another psalm, dictated to David by the Holy Spirit, which you say refers to Solomon, who was also your king. But it refers also to our Christ. But you deceive yourselves by the ambiguous forms of speech. For where it is said, ‘The law of the Lord is perfect,’ you do not understand it of the law which was to be after Moses, but of the law which was given by Moses, although God declared that He would establish a new law and a new covenant. And where it has been said, ‘O God, give Thy judgment to the king,’ since Solomon was king, you say that the Psalm refers to him, although the words of the Psalm expressly proclaim that reference is made to the everlasting King, i.e., to Christ. For Christ is King, and Priest, and God, and Lord, and angel, and man, and captain, and stone, and a Son born, and first made subject to suffering, then returning to heaven, and again coming with glory, and He is preached as having the everlasting kingdom: so I prove from all the Scriptures. But that you may perceive what I have said, I quote the words of the Psalm; they are these: ‘O God, give Thy judgment to the king, and Thy righteousness unto the king’s son, to 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. He shall co-endure with the sun, and before the moon unto all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the fleece, as drops falling on the earth. In His days shall righteousness flourish, and abundance of peace until the moon be taken away. And He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers unto the ends of the earth. Ethiopians shall fall down before Him, and His enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and the isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall offer gifts; and all the kings of the earth shall worship Him, and all the nations shall serve Him: for He has delivered the poor from the man of power, and the needy that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy: He shall redeem their souls from usury and injustice, and His name shall be honourable before them. And He shall live, and to Him shall be given of the gold of Arabia, and they shall pray continually for Him: they shall bless Him all the day. And there shall be a foundation on the earth, it shall be exalted on the tops of the mountains: His fruit shall be on Lebanon, and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. His name shalt be blessed for ever. His name shall endure 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 for ever and ever; and the whole earth shall be filled with His glory. Amen, amen.’86 Ps. lxxii. And at the close of this Psalm which I have quoted, it is written, ‘The hymns of David the son of Jesse are ended.’87 [A striking passage in De Maistre (Œuvres, vol. vi. p. 275) is worthy of comparison.] Moreover, that Solomon was a renowned and great king, by whom the temple called that at Jerusalem was built, I know; but that none of those things mentioned in the Psalm happened to him, is evident. For neither did all kings worship him; nor did he reign to the ends of the earth; nor did his enemies, falling before him, lick the dust. Nay, also, I venture to repeat what is written in the book of Kings as committed by him, how through a woman’s influence he worshipped the idols of Sidon, which those of the Gentiles who know God, the Maker of all things through Jesus the crucified, do not venture to do, but abide every torture and vengeance even to the extremity of death, rather than worship idols, or eat meat offered to idols.”

[34] Ἔτι δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὸ πεῖσαι ὑμᾶς ὅτι τῶν γραφῶν οὐδὲν συνήκατε, καὶ ἄλλου ψαλμοῦ τῷ Δαυεὶδ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος εἰρημένου ἀναμνήσομαι, ὃν εἰς Σολομῶνα, τὸν γενόμενον καὶ αὐτὸν βασιλέα ὑμῶν, εἰρῆσθαι λέγετε: εἰς δὲ τὸν Χριστὸν ἡμῶν καὶ αὐτὸς εἴρηται. ὑμεῖς δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ὁμωνύμων λέξεων ἑαυτοὺς ἐξαπατᾶτε. ὅπου γὰρ ὁ νόμος τοῦ κυρίου ἄμωμος εἴρηται, οὐχὶ τὸν μετ' ἐκεῖνον μέλλοντα ἀλλὰ τὸν διὰ Μωυσέως ἐξηγεῖσθε, τοῦ θεοῦ βοῶντος καινὸν νόμον καὶ καινὴν διαθήκην διαθήσεσθαι. καὶ ὅπου λέλεκται: Ὁ θεός, τὸ κρίμα σου τῷ βασιλεῖ δός, ἐπειδὴ βασιλεὺς Σολομὼν γέγονεν, εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν ψαλμὸν εἰρῆσθαί φατε, τῶν λόγων τοῦ ψαλμοῦ διαρρήδην κηρυσσόντων εἰς τὸν αἰώνιον βασιλέα, τοῦτ' ἔστιν εἰς τὸν Χριστόν, εἰρῆσθαι. ὁ γὰρ Χριστὸς βασιλεὺς καὶ ἱερεὺς καὶ θεὸς καὶ κύριος καὶ ἄγγελος καὶ ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἀρχιστράτηγος καὶ λίθος καὶ παιδίον γεννώμενον καὶ παθητὸς γενόμενος πρῶτον, εἶτα εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνερχόμενος καὶ πάλιν παραγινόμενος μετὰ δόξης καὶ αἰώνιον τὴν βασιλείαν ἔχων κεκήρυκται, ὡς ἀπὸ πασῶν τῶν γραφῶν ἀποδείκνυμι. ἵνα δὲ καὶ ὃ εἶπον νοήσητε, τοὺς τοῦ ψαλμοῦ λόγους λέγω. εἰσὶ δ' οὗτοι: Ὁ θεός, τὸ κρίμα σου τῷ βασιλεῖ δὸς καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην σου τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ βασιλέως, κρίνειν τὸν λαόν σου ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ τοὺς πτωχούς σου ἐν κρίσει. ἀναλαβέτω τὰ ὄρη εἰρήνην τῷ λαῷ καὶ οἱ βουνοὶ δικαιοσύνην. κρινεῖ τοὺς πτωχοὺς τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ σώσει τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν πενήτων, καὶ ταπεινώσει συκοφάντην: καὶ συμπαραμενεῖ τῷ ἡλίῳ καὶ πρὸ τῆς σελήνης εἰς γενεὰς γενεῶν. καταβήσεται ὡς ὑετὸς ἐπὶ πόκον καὶ ὡσεὶ σταγὼν ἡ στάζουσα ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. ἀνατελεῖ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ δικαιοσύνη, καὶ πλῆθος εἰρήνης ἕως οὗ ἀνταναιρεθῇ ἡ σελήνη. καὶ κατακυριεύσει ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἕως θαλάσσης καὶ ἀπὸ ποταμῶν ἕως περάτων τῆς οἰκουμένης. ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ προπεσοῦνται Αἰθίοπες, καὶ οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ χοῦν λείξουσι. βασιλεῖς Θαρσεῖς καὶ νῆσοι δῶρα προσάξουσι, βασιλεῖς Ἀρράβων καὶ Σαββᾶ δῶρα προσάξουσι, καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτῷ πάντες οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη δουλεύσουσιν αὐτῷ: ὅτι ἐρρύσατο πτωχὸν ἐκ δυνάστου, καὶ πένητα ᾧ οὐχ ὑπῆρχε βοηθός. φείσεται πτωχοῦ καὶ πένητος, καὶ ψυχὰς πενήτων σώσει: ἐκ τόκου καὶ ἐξ ἀδικίας λυτρώσεται τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔντιμον τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν. καὶ ζήσεται καὶ δοθήσεται αὐτῷ ἐκ τοῦ χρυσίου τῆς Ἀρραβίας, καὶ προσεύξονται διὰ παντὸς περὶ αὐτοῦ: ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν εὐλογήσουσιν αὐτόν. καὶ ἔσται στήριγμα ἐν τῇ γῇ ἐπ' ἄκρων τῶν ὀρέων: ὑπεραρθήσεται ὑπὲρ τὸν Λίβανον ὁ καρπὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐξανθήσουσιν ἐκ πόλεως ὡσεὶ χόρτος τῆς γῆς. ἔσται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ εὐλογημένον εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας: πρὸ τοῦ ἡλίου διαμένει. καὶ ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν αὐτῷ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς: πάντα τὰ ἔθνη μακαριοῦσιν αὐτόν. εὐλογητὸς κύριος, ὁ θεὸς Ἰσραήλ, ὁ ποιῶν θαυμάσια μόνος, καὶ εὐλογημένον τὸ ὄνομα τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος: καὶ πληρωθήσεται τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ. γένοιτο, γένοιτο. καὶ ἐπὶ τέλει τοῦ ψαλμοῦ τούτου, οὗ ἔφην, γέγραπται: Ἐξέλιπον οἱ ὕμνοι Δαυείδ, υἱοῦ Ἰεσσαί. καὶ ὅτι μὲν βασιλεὺς ἐγένετο καὶ μέγας ὁ Σολομών, ἐφ' οὗ ὁ οἶκος Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐπικληθεὶς ἀνῳκοδομήθη, ἐπίσταμαι. ὅτι δὲ οὐδὲν τῶν ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ εἰρημένων συνέβη αὐτῷ, φαίνεται. οὔτε γὰρ πάντες οἱ βασιλεῖς προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ, οὔτε μέχρι τῶν περάτων τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐβασίλευσεν, οὔτε οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ πεσόντες χοῦν ἔλειξαν. ἀλλὰ καὶ τολμῶ λέγειν ἃ γέγραπται ἐν ταῖς Βασιλείαις ὑπ' αὐτοῦ πραχθέντα, ὅτι διὰ γυναῖκα ἐν Σιδῶνι εἰδωλολάτρει: ὅπερ οὐχ ὑπομένουσι πρᾶξαι οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν διὰ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ σταυρωθέντος ἐπιγνόντες τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων θεόν, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν αἰκίαν καὶ τιμωρίαν μέχρις ἐσχάτου θανάτου ὑπομένουσι περὶ τοῦ μήτε εἰδωλολατρῆσαι μήτε εἰδωλόθυτα φαγεῖν.