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
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, who promised that God would give them to satiety, He Himself, being both God and an angel sent from the Father, is shown to have said and done these things. For thus the Scripture continues, saying: And the Lord said to Moses: Shall the Lord's hand not be sufficient? Now you shall know whether my word will overtake you or not. And again in other words it says thus: And the Lord said to me: You shall not cross this Jordan. The Lord your God, who goes before your face, He will destroy the nations. And other such things were said to the lawgiver and to the prophets. And I think I have sufficiently said that, whenever God says to me: God went up from Abraham, or The Lord spoke to Moses, and The Lord came down to see the tower which the sons of men had built or when God shut Noah's ark from the outside, you must not think that the unbegotten God Himself came down or went up from anywhere. For the ineffable Father and Lord of all has neither come to any place, nor walks, nor sleeps, nor rises up, but remains in His own region, wherever that may be, seeing keenly and hearing keenly, not with eyes or ears, but with an ineffable power; and He oversees all things and knows all things, and none of us escapes His notice; nor does He move, He who is uncontained by place and by the whole world, who indeed was even before the world came to be. How then could this one either speak to anyone, or be seen by anyone, or appear in the smallest part of the earth, when the people could not even bear to see the glory of the one sent from Him at Sinai, nor could Moses himself enter into the tent, which he made, if it was filled with the glory from God, nor indeed could the priest endure to stand before the temple, when Solomon brought the ark into the house in Jerusalem, which Solomon himself had built? Therefore, neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor any other of men saw the Father and ineffable Lord of all things and of Christ Himself, but Him who is by His will both God, His Son, and an Angel from His serving His purpose; whom He willed also to be born as a man through the virgin, who also once became fire in the conversation with Moses from the bush. For if we do not understand the Scriptures in this way, it will follow that the Father and Lord of all was not in the heavens at the time when it was said through Moses: And the Lord rained upon Sodom fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven; and again through David when it is said thus: Lift up your gates, O you rulers, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in; and again when He says: The Lord says to the
καὶ μὴ εἶπον ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν· Oὕτω δὲ καί, ὅτε κρέας ἐπε θύμησεν ὁ λαὸς φαγεῖν καὶ ἀπιστεῖ Μωυσῆς τῷ λελεγμένῳ κἀκεῖ ἀγγέλῳ,
ἐπαγγελλομένῳ δώσειν αὐτοῖς τὸν θεὸν εἰς πλησμο νήν, αὐτός, ὢν καὶ θεὸς καὶ ἄγγελος παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς πεπεμ μένος, ταῦτα εἰπεῖν
καὶ πρᾶξαι δηλοῦται. οὕτως γὰρ ἐπάγει ἡ γραφὴ λέγουσα· Καὶ εἶπε κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν· Μὴ ἡ χεὶρ κυρίου οὐκ ἐξαρκέσει; ἤδη γνώσῃ
εἰ ἐπικαταλήψεταί σε ὁ λόγος μου ἢ οὔ. καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἄλλοις λόγοις οὕτως φησί· Κύριος δὲ εἶπε πρός με· Oὐ διαβήσῃ τὸν Ἰορδάνην
τοῦτον. κύριος ὁ θεός σου, ὁ προπορευόμενος τοῦ προσώπου σου, αὐτὸς ἐξολο θρεύσει τὰ ἔθνη. Καὶ τὰ ἄλλα δὲ τοιαῦτά ἐστιν εἰρημένα
τῷ νομο θέτῃ καὶ τοῖς προφήταις. καὶ ἱκανῶς εἰρῆσθαί μοι ὑπολαμβάνω ὅτι, ὅταν μου ὁ θεὸς λέγῃ· Ἀνέβη ὁ θεὸς ἀπὸ Ἀβραάμ, ἢ
Ἐλά λησε κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν, καὶ Κατέβη κύριος τὸν πύργον ἰδεῖν ὃν ᾠκοδόμησαν οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἢ ὅτε Ἔκλεισεν ὁ θεὸς τὴν
κιβωτὸν Νῶε ἔξωθεν, μὴ ἡγεῖσθε αὐτὸν τὸν ἀγέννη τον θεὸν καταβεβηκέναι ἢ ἀναβεβηκέναι ποθέν. ὁ γὰρ ἄρρητος πατὴρ καὶ κύριος
τῶν πάντων οὔτε ποι ἀφῖκται οὔτε περιπατεῖ οὔτε καθεύδει οὔτε ἀνίσταται, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ χώρᾳ, ὅπου ποτέ, μένει, ὀξὺ ὁρῶν
καὶ ὀξὺ ἀκούων, οὐκ ὀφθαλ μοῖς οὐδὲ ὠσὶν ἀλλὰ δυνάμει ἀλέκτῳ· καὶ πάντα ἐφορᾷ καὶ πάντα γινώσκει, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἡμῶν λέληθεν
αὐτόν· οὔτε κινού μενος, ὁ τόπῳ τε ἀχώρητος καὶ τῷ κόσμῳ ὅλῳ, ὅς γε ἦν καὶ πρὶν τὸν κόσμον γενέσθαι. πῶς ἂν οὖν οὗτος ἢ λαλήσειε
πρός τινα ἢ ὀφθείη τινὶ ἢ ἐν ἐλαχίστῳ μέρει γῆς φανείη, ὁπότε γε οὐδὲ τὴν δόξαν τοῦ παρ' αὐτοῦ πεμφθέντος ἴσχυεν ὁ λαὸς ἰδεῖν
ἐν Σινᾶ, οὐδ' αὐτὸς Μωυσῆς ἴσχυσεν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν σκηνήν, ἣν ἐποίησεν, εἰ μὲν ἐπληρώθη τῆς παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ δόξης, οὐδὲ μὴν
ὁ ἱερεὺς ὑπέμεινε κατενώπιον τοῦ ναοῦ στῆναι, ὅτε τὴν κιβωτὸν Σολομὼν εἰσεκόμισεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τὸν ἐν Ἰερουσαλήμ, ὃν αὐτὸς
ὁ Σολομὼν ᾠκοδομήκει; οὔτε οὖν Ἀβραὰμ οὔτε Ἰσαὰκ οὔτε Ἰακὼβ οὔτε ἄλλος ἀνθρώπων εἶδε τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἄρρητον κύριον τῶν πάντων
ἁπλῶς καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνον τὸν κατὰ βουλὴν τὴν ἐκείνου καὶ θεὸν ὄντα, υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἄγγελον ἐκ τοῦ ὑπηρετεῖν
τῇ γνώμῃ αὐτοῦ· ὃν καὶ ἄνθρωπον γεννηθῆναι διὰ τῆς παρθένου βεβούληται, ὃς καὶ πῦρ ποτε γέγονε τῇ πρὸς Μωυσέα ὁμιλίᾳ τῇ ἀπὸ
τῆς βάτου. ἐπεὶ ἐὰν μὴ οὕτω νοήσωμεν τὰς γραφάς, συμ βήσεται τὸν πατέρα καὶ κύριον τῶν ὅλων μὴ γεγενῆσθαι τότε ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς,
ὅτε διὰ Μωυσέως λέλεκται· Καὶ κύριος ἔβρεξεν ἐπὶ Σόδομα πῦρ καὶ θεῖον παρὰ κυρίου ἐκ τοῦ οὐρα νοῦ· καὶ πάλιν διὰ ∆αυεὶδ ὅτε
λέλεκται οὕτως· Ἄρατε πύλας οἱ ἄρχοντες ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐπάρθητε πύλαι αἰώνιοι, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης· καὶ πάλιν
ὅτε φησί· Λέγει κύριος τῷ
