Chapter CXXV.—He explains what force the word Israel has, and how it suits Christ.

“I wish, sirs,” I said, “to learn from you what is the force of the name Israel.” And as they were silent, I continued: “I shall tell you what I know: for I do not think it right, when I know, not to speak; or, suspecting that you do know, and yet from envy or from voluntary ignorance deceive yourselves,488    The reading here is ἐπίσταμαι αὐτός, which is generally abandoned for ἀπατᾶν ἑαυτούς. to be continually solicitous; but I speak all things simply and candidly, as my Lord said: ‘A sower went forth to sow the seed; and some fell by the wayside; and some among thorns, and some on stony ground, and some on good ground.’489    Matt. xiii. 3. I must speak, then, in the hope of finding good ground somewhere; since that Lord of mine, as One strong and powerful, comes to demand back His own from all, and will not condemn His steward if He recognises that he, by the knowledge that the Lord is powerful and has come to demand His own, has given it to every bank, and has not digged for any cause whatsoever. Accordingly the name Israel signifies this, A man who overcomes power; for Isra is a man overcoming, and El is power.490    [On Justin’s Hebrew, see Kaye, p. 19.] And that Christ would act so when He became man was foretold by the mystery of Jacob’s wrestling with Him who appeared to him, in that He ministered to the will of the Father, yet nevertheless is God, in that He is the first-begotten of all creatures. For when He became man, as I previously remarked, the devil came to Him—i.e., that power which is called the serpent and Satan—tempting Him, and striving to effect His downfall by asking Him to worship him. But He destroyed and overthrew the devil, having proved him to be wicked, in that he asked to be worshipped as God, contrary to the Scripture; who is an apostate from the will of God. For He answers him, ‘It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shall thou serve.’491    Matt. iv. 10. Then, overcome and convicted, the devil departed at that time. But since our Christ was to be numbed, i.e., by pain and experience of suffering, He made a previous intimation of this by touching Jacob’s thigh, and causing it to shrink. But Israel was His name from the beginning, to which He altered the name of the blessed Jacob when He blessed him with His own name, proclaiming thereby that all who through Him have fled for refuge to the Father, constitute the blessed Israel. But you, having understood none of this, and not being prepared to understand, since you are the children of Jacob after the fleshly seed, expect that you shall be assuredly saved. But that you deceive yourselves in such matters, I have proved by many words.

[125] Ἐβουλόμην, λέγω, παρ' ὑμῶν μαθεῖν, ὦ ἄνδρες, τίς ἡ δύναμις τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὀνόματος. καὶ ἡσυχαζόντων αὐτῶν ἐπήνεγκα: Ἐγὼ ὃ ἐπίσταμαι ἐρῶ: οὔτε γὰρ εἰδότα μὴ λέγειν δίκαιον ἡγοῦμαι, οὔτε ὑπονοοῦντα ἐπίστασθαι ὑμᾶς καὶ διὰ φθόνον ἢ δι' ἀπειρίαν τὴν τοῦ βούλεσθαι ἐπίσταμαι αὐτὸς φροντίζειν ἀεί, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἁπλῶς καὶ ἀδόλως λέγειν, ὡς ὁ ἐμὸς κύριος εἶπεν: Ἐξῆλθεν ὁ σπείρων τοῦ σπεῖραι τὸν σπόρον: καὶ ὃ μὲν ἔπεσεν εἰς τὴν ὁδόν, ὃ δὲ εἰς τὰς ἀκάνθας, ὃ δὲ ἐπὶ τὰ πετρώδη, ὃ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν τὴν καλήν. ἐλπίδι οὖν τοῦ εἶναί που καλὴν γῆν λέγειν δεῖ: ἐπειδή γε ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἐμὸς κύριος, ὡς ἰσχυρὸς καὶ δυνατός, τὰ ἴδια παρὰ πάντων ἀπαιτήσει ἐλθών, καὶ τὸν οἰκονόμον τὸν ἑαυτοῦ οὐ καταδικάσει, εἰ γνωρίζοι αὐτόν, διὰ τὸ ἐπίστασθαι ὅτι δυνατός ἐστιν ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐλθὼν ἀπαιτήσει τὰ ἴδια, ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τράπεζαν διδόντα, ἀλλ' οὐ δι' αἰτίαν οἱανδηποτοῦν κατορύξαντα. καὶ τὸ οὖν Ἰσραὴλ ὄνομα τοῦτο σημαίνει: ἄνθρωπος νικῶν δύναμιν: τὸ γὰρ ἴσρα ἄνθρωπος νικῶν ἐστι, τὸ δὲ ἢλ δύναμις. ὅπερ καὶ διὰ τοῦ μυστηρίου τῆς πάλης, ἣν ἐπάλαισεν Ἰακὼβ μετὰ τοῦ φαινομένου μὲν ἐκ τοῦ τῇ τοῦ πατρὸς βουλῇ ὑπηρετεῖν, θεοῦ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ εἶναι τέκνον πρωτότοκον τῶν ὅλων κτισμάτων, ἐπεπροφήτευτο οὕτως καὶ ἄνθρωπος γενόμενος ὁ Χριστὸς ποιήσειν. ὅτε γὰρ ἄνθρωπος γέγονεν, ὡς προεῖπον, προσῆλθεν αὐτῷ ὁ διάβολος, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἡ δύναμις ἐκείνη ἡ καὶ ὄφις κεκλημένη καὶ σατανᾶς, πειράζων αὐτὸν καὶ ἀγωνιζόμενος καταβαλεῖν διὰ τοῦ ἀξιοῦν προσκυνῆσαι αὐτόν. ὁ δὲ αὐτὸν κατέλυσε καὶ κατέβαλεν, ἐλέγξας ὅτι πονηρός ἐστι, παρὰ τὴν γραφὴν ἀξιῶν προσκυνεῖσθαι ὡς θεός, ἀποστάτης τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ γνώμης γεγενημένος. ἀποκρίνεται γὰρ αὐτῷ: Γέγραπται: Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις. καὶ ἡττημένος καὶ ἐληλεγμένος ἀπένευσε τότε ὁ διάβολος. ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ καὶ ναρκᾶν ἔμελλε, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἐν πόνῳ καὶ ἐν ἀντιλήψει τοῦ πάθους, ὅτε σταυροῦσθαι ἔμελλεν, ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ ἡμέτερος, καὶ τούτου προκήρυξιν ἐποίησε διὰ τοῦ ἅψασθαι τοῦ μηροῦ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ καὶ ναρκῆσαι ποιῆσαι. ὁ δὲ Ἰσραὴλ ἦν ὄνομα αὐτῷ ἄνωθεν, ὃ ἐπωνόμασε τὸν μακάριον Ἰακὼβ εὐλογῶν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ ὀνόματι, κηρύσσων καὶ διὰ τούτου ὅτι πάντες οἱ δι' αὐτοῦ τῷ πατρὶ προσφεύγοντες εὐλογημένος Ἰσραήλ ἐστιν. ὑμεῖς δέ, μηδὲν τούτων νενοηκότες μηδὲ νοεῖν παρασκευαζόμενοι, ἐπειδὴ κατὰ τὸ σαρκικὸν σπέρμα τοῦ Ἰακὼβ τέκνα ἐστέ, πάντως σωθήσεσθαι προσδοκᾶτε. ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ ἐν τούτοις ἑαυτοὺς πλανᾶτε, ἀποδέδεικταί μοι ἐν πολλοῖς.