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
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 Jesse, and a flower shall rise up from his root; and the spirit of God shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety; and the spirit of the fear of God shall fill Him, and since you confessed to me that these things, as he said, were spoken of Christ, and you say that He is God pre-existing, and you say that by the counsel of God He was made flesh and born a man through the virgin, how can He be proved to pre-exist, who is filled by the powers of the Holy Spirit, which the word enumerates through Isaiah, as if He were in need of them? And I answered: You have asked most intelligently and wisely; for it truly seems to be a difficulty; but that you may also know the reasoning about these things, hear what I say. The word says that these enumerated powers of the Spirit came upon Him, not as if He were in need of them, but as if they were going to find their rest in Him, that is, to come to an end in Him, so that no longer would prophets arise in your race according to the old custom, which you can even see with your eyes; for after Him no prophet at all has arisen among you. And that the prophets among you, each receiving one or even a second power from God, did and spoke these things which we also have learned from the scriptures, understand also what I say. For Solomon had the spirit of wisdom, and Daniel of understanding and counsel, Moses of might and piety, and Elijah of fear, and Isaiah of knowledge; and the others again likewise had either one each or another in turn with another power, such as Jeremiah and the twelve and David and simply all the other prophets who arose among you. It rested, therefore, that is, it ceased, when He came, after whom, in the times of this economy of His among men, it was necessary for these things to cease from you, and having found rest in Him, to again become gifts, as was prophesied, which from the grace of the power of that Spirit He gives to those who believe in Him, as He knows each one to be worthy. That it was prophesied that this would be done by Him after His ascension into heaven, I have already said and say again. He said therefore: He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, He gave gifts to the sons of men. And again in another prophecy it is said: And it shall be after these things, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and upon My men-servants and upon My maid-servants, and they shall prophesy. And among us one can see both females and males, having gifts from the Spirit of God. Therefore it was not because He was in need of power that it was prophesied the powers enumerated by Isaiah would come upon Him, but because
θάνειν περὶ τούτων αὐτῶν ὧν ἂν ἐρωτῶ. εἰπὲ οὖν μοι, διὰ τοῦ Ἠσαίου εἰπόντος τοῦ λόγου· Ἐξελεύσεται ·άβδος ἐκ τῆς ·ίζης Ἰεσσαί,
καὶ ἄνθος ἀναβήσεται ἐκ τῆς ·ίζης Ἰεσσαί, καὶ ἀναπαύσεται ἐπ' αὐτὸν πνεῦμα θεοῦ, πνεῦμα σοφίας καὶ συνέ σεως, πνεῦμα βουλῆς
καὶ ἰσχύος, πνεῦμα γνώσεως καὶ εὐσε βείας, καὶ ἐμπλήσει αὐτὸν πνεῦμα φόβου θεοῦ, καὶ ὁμολογήσας ταῦτα πρός με, ἔλεγεν, εἰς
Χριστὸν εἰρῆσθαι, καὶ θεὸν αὐτὸν προϋπάρχοντα λέγεις, καὶ κατὰ τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θεοῦ σαρκο ποιηθέντα αὐτὸν λέγεις διὰ τῆς παρθένου
γεγεννῆσθαι ἄνθρωπον, πῶς δύναται ἀποδειχθῆναι προϋπάρχων, ὅστις διὰ τῶν δυνάμεων τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου, ἃς καταριθμεῖ ὁ
λόγος διὰ Ἠσαίου, πληροῦται ὡς ἐνδεὴς τούτων ὑπάρχων; Κἀγὼ ἀπεκρινάμην· Νουνεχέστατα μὲν καὶ συνετώτατα ἠρώτησας· ἀληθῶς γὰρ
ἀπόρημα δοκεῖ εἶναι· ἀλλ' ἵνα εἰδῇς καὶ τὸν περὶ τούτων λόγον, ἄκουε ὧν λέγω. ταύτας τὰς κατη ριθμημένας τοῦ πνεύματος δυνάμεις
οὐχ ὡς ἐνδεοῦς αὐτοῦ τού των ὄντος φησὶν ὁ λόγος ἐπεληλυθέναι ἐπ' αὐτόν, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐπ' ἐκεῖνον ἀνάπαυσιν μελλουσῶν ποιεῖσθαι,
τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἐπ' αὐτοῦ πέρας ποιεῖσθαι, τοῦ μηκέτι ἐν τῷ γένει ὑμῶν κατὰ τὸ παλαιὸν ἔθος προφήτας γενήσεσθαι, ὅπερ καὶ ὄψει
ὑμῖν ἰδεῖν ἔστι· μετ' ἐκεῖνον γὰρ οὐδεὶς ὅλως προφήτης παρ' ὑμῖν γεγένηται. καὶ ὅτι οἱ παρ' ὑμῖν προφῆται, ἕκαστος μίαν τινὰ
ἢ καὶ δευτέραν δύναμιν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ λαμβάνοντες, ταῦτα ἐποίουν καὶ ἐλά λουν ἃ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀπὸ τῶν γραφῶν ἐμάθομεν, κατανοήσατε
καὶ τὰ ὑπ' ἐμοῦ λεγόμενα. σοφίας μὲν γὰρ πνεῦμα Σολομῶν ἔσχε, συνέσεως δὲ καὶ βουλῆς ∆ανιήλ, ἰσχύος δὲ καὶ εὐσεβείας Μωυ σῆς,
καὶ Ἠλίας φόβου, καὶ γνώσεως Ἠσαίας· καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι αὖ ὁμοίως ἢ μίαν ἕκαστος ἢ ἐναλλὰξ ἄλλην τινὰ μετ' ἄλλης δυνάμεως ἔσχον,
οἷον καὶ Ἰερεμίας καὶ οἱ δώδεκα καὶ ∆αυεὶδ καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ἁπλῶς ὅσοι γεγόνασι παρ' ὑμῖν προφῆται. ἀνεπαύσατο οὖν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν
ἐπαύσατο, ἐλθόντος ἐκείνου, μεθ' ὅν, τῆς οἰκονομίας ταύτης τῆς ἐν ἀνθρώποις αὐτοῦ γενομένης χρόνοις, παύσασθαι ἔδει αὐτὰ ἀφ'
ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ἀνά παυσιν λαβόντα πάλιν, ὡς ἐπεπροφήτευτο γενήσεσθαι δόματα, ἃ ἀπὸ τῆς χάριτος τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ πνεύματος
ἐκείνου τοῖς ἐπ' αὐτὸν πιστεύουσι δίδωσιν, ὡς ἄξιον ἕκαστον ἐπίσταται. ὅτι ἐπεπροφήτευτο τοῦτο μέλλειν γίνεσθαι ὑπ' αὐτοῦ
μετὰ τὴν εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνέλευσιν αὐτοῦ, εἶπον μὲν ἤδη καὶ πάλιν λέγω. εἶπεν οὖν· Ἀνέβη εἰς ὕψος, ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν, ἔδωκε
δόματα τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἑτέρᾳ προφητείᾳ εἴρηται· Καὶ ἔσται μετὰ ταῦτα, ἐκχεῶ τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν
σάρκα καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς δούλους μου καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς δούλας μου, καὶ προφητεύσουσι. Καὶ παρ' ἡμῖν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν καὶ θηλείας καὶ ἄρσενας,
χαρίσματα ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ θεοῦ ἔχοντας. ὥστε οὐ διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἐνδεῆ δυνάμεως ἐπεπροφήτευτο ἐλεύσεσθαι ἐπ' αὐτὸν
τὰς δυνάμεις τὰς κατηριθμημένας ὑπὸ Ἠσαίου, ἀλλὰ διὰ
