Chapter LI.—It is proved that this prophecy has been fulfilled.

And when I ceased, Trypho said, “All the words of the prophecy you repeat, sir, are ambiguous, and have no force in proving what you wish to prove.” Then I answered, “If the prophets had not ceased, so that there were no more in your nation, Trypho, after this John, it is evident that what I say in reference to Jesus Christ might be regarded perhaps as ambiguous. But if John came first calling on men to repent, and Christ, while [John] still sat by the river Jordan, having come, put an end to his prophesying and baptizing, and preached also Himself, saying that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and that He must suffer many things from the Scribes and Pharisees, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again, and would appear again in Jerusalem, and would again eat and drink with His disciples; and foretold that in the interval between His [first and second] advent, as I previously said,162    Chap. xxv. priests and false prophets would arise in His name, which things do actually appear; then how can they be ambiguous, when you may be persuaded by the facts? Moreover, He referred to the fact that there would be no longer in your nation any prophet, and to the fact that men recognised how that the New Testament, which God formerly announced [His intention of] promulgating, was then present, i.e., 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 can163    “Are willing.” receive it, he is Elijah, who was to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.’164    Matt. xi. 12–15.

[51] Καὶ παυσαμένου μου εἶπεν ὁ Τρύφων: Ἀμφίβολοι μὲν πάντες οἱ λόγοι τῆς προφητείας, ἣν φῂς σύ, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, καὶ οὐδὲν τμητικὸν εἰς ἀπόδειξιν οὗπερ βούλει ἀποδεῖξαι ἔχοντες. Κἀγὼ ἀπεκρινάμην: Εἰ μὲν μὴ ἐπαύσαντο καὶ εἰσέτι ἐγένοντο οἱ προφῆται ἐν τῷ γένει ὑμῶν, ὦ Τρύφων, μετὰ τοῦτον τὸν Ἰωάννην, ἴσως ἀμφίβολα ἐνοεῖτε εἶναι τὰ λεγόμενα. εἰ δὲ Ἰωάννης μὲν προελήλυθε βοῶν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις μετανοεῖν, καὶ Χριστὸς ἔτι αὐτοῦ καθεζομένου ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰορδάνου ποταμοῦ ἐπελθὼν ἔπαυσέ τε αὐτὸν τοῦ προφητεύειν καὶ βαπτίζειν, καὶ εὐηγγελίζετο, καὶ αὐτὸς λέγων ὅτι ἐγγύς ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ ὅτι δεῖ αὐτὸν πολλὰ παθεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν γραμματέων καὶ Φαρισαίων, καὶ σταυρωθῆναι καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀναστῆναι, καὶ πάλιν παραγενήσεσθαι ἐν Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ τότε τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ συμπιεῖν πάλιν καὶ συμφαγεῖν, καὶ ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ χρόνῳ, ὡς προέφην, γενήσεσθαι ἱερεῖς καὶ ψευδοπροφήτας ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ προεμήνυσε, καὶ οὕτω φαίνεται ὄντα: πῶς ἔτι ἀμφιβάλλειν ἔστιν, ἔργῳ πεισθῆναι ὑμῶν ἐχόντων; εἰρήκει δὲ περὶ τοῦ μηκέτι γενήσεσθαι ἐν τῷ γένει ὑμῶν προφήτην καὶ περὶ τοῦ ἐπιγνῶναι ὅτι ἡ πάλαι κηρυσσομένη ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καινὴ διαθήκη διαταχθήσεσθαι ἤδη τότε παρῆν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν αὐτὸς ὢν ὁ Χριστός, οὕτως: Ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται μέχρι Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ: ἐξ ὅτου ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν βιάζεται, καὶ βιασταὶ ἁρπάζουσιν αὐτήν. καὶ εἰ θέλετε δέξασθαι, αὐτός ἐστιν Ἠλίας ὁ μέλλων ἔρχεσθαι. ὁ ἔχων ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκουέτω.