4. See Daniélou, 164 for this reading.

st. justin martyr when, in accordance with the will of God, Jesus Christ, his Son, has been born of the Virgin Mary, a descendant of Abraham.

4. "Indeed, while Abraham himself was still uncircumcised, he was justiﬁed and blessed by God because of his faith in him, as the Scriptures tell us. Furthermore, the Scriptures and the facts of the case force us to admit that Abraham received circumcision for a sign, not for justiﬁcation itself.2 Thus, it was justly said of your people, That soul which shall not be circumcised on the eighth day shall be destroyed out of his people.3

5. Moreover, the fact that females cannot receive circumcision of the ﬂesh shows that circumcision was given as a sign, not as an act of justiﬁcation. For God also bestowed on women the capability of performing every good and virtuous act. We see that the physical formation of male and female is different, but it is equally evident that the bodily form is not what makes either of them good or evil. Their righteousness is determined by their acts of piety and justice. c h a p t e r 24 "Now gentlemen," I continued, "I could prove how the eighth day, rather than the seventh, has some mysterious meaning (made known to us by God through these rites), but lest you think that I am digressing from the subject, understand what I now state, that the blood of circumcision is now abolished, and we now trust in the blood of salvation. Now another covenant, another Law has gone forth from Zion, Jesus Christ.4

2. "As was taught of old, he circumcises with knives of stone 5 all those who want it, that they may become a righteous nation, a faithful, truthful, and peace-loving people. 6

2. See Gen 15.6; Rom 4.3–11.

3. Gn 17.14. See Skarsaune, 174, 445; Smit Sibinga, 19–20; N. J. McEleney, "Conversion, Circumcision and the Law," NTS 20 (1974): 319–41. On "the eighth day" see Smit Sibinga, 60–61.

4. See Daniélou, 164 for this reading.

5. Jos 5.2–3. Later on (Dial. 113–14), St. Justin distinguishes between the ﬁrst circumcision (of Moses), which was administered by iron knives, and the second circumcision (of Joshua), which was done with stone knives. Joshua's circumcision was a ﬁgure of Christian circumcision, which also is done with knives of stone, i.e., with the precepts of Christ (whom Scripture calls a Stone).

6. See Is 26.2–3.

Justin, Martyr, Saint. Dialogue with Trypho (Selections from the Fathers of the Church, Volume 3), edited by Michael Slusser, Catholic University of America Press, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/de

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A Christian interpretation of ritual laws

3. "Come with me, all you who are god fearing and desirous of seeing the prosperity of Jerusalem. Come let us walk in the light of the Lord, for he has liberated his people, the house of Jacob.7

"Come all nations, let us assemble at Jerusalem,8 no longer disturbed by war because of the peoples' sins. The Lord cries out through Isaiah, I was made manifest to them that seek me not; I was found of them that asked not for me. I said, Behold me, to nations that did not call upon my name. I have extended my hands 9 all the day to an unbelieving and contradicting people, who walk in a way that is not good, but after their own sins. It is a people that provokes me to my face.10 c h a p t e r 25 "They who attempt to justify themselves and claim that they are sons of Abraham hope to receive along with us11 a small part of the divine inheritance. This is evident from what the Holy Spirit proclaimed when he spoke through Isaiah in their presence:

2. "Look down from heaven, and behold from your holy habitation and the place of your glory. Where is your zeal and your strength? Where is the multitude of your mercy, for you have sustained us, O Lord? For you are our Father, and Abraham has not known us, and Israel has been ignorant of us. But you, O Lord, our Father, deliver us; from the beginning your name is upon us. O Lord, why have you made us to stray from your way; and hardened our heart, that we should not fear you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance, that we may inherit for a little your holy mountain. We are become as in the beginning, when you did not rule over us, and when your name was not called upon us.

3. "If you will open the heavens, trembling shall seize the mountains before you; and they shall be melted, as wax melts before the ﬁre; and ﬁre

7. Is 2.5–6. See T. G. Stylianopoulos, Justin Martyr and the Mosaic Law, Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series 20 (Missoula, Mont.: Scholars Press,

1975), 184; C. H. Cosgrove, "Justin Martyr and the Emerging Christian Canon," VigChr 36 (1982): 214.

8. Jer 3.17.

9. See Daniélou, 272.

10. Is 65.1–3. Also quoted in 1 Apol. 49. See Skarsaune, 66–67; Letter of Barnabas 12.4; Sibylline Oracles 8.250–53.

11. Ms. has "with you," but most editors, with Lang, prefer "with us."

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st. justin martyr shall consume your enemies, and your name shall be made known to your adversaries; the nations shall tremble at your presence.

4. "When you shall do glorious things trembling shall seize the mountains in your presence. From the beginning of the world we have not heard nor have our eyes seen a God besides you, and your works, the mercy which you shall show to those who repent. He will meet those who work righteousness, and they shall remember your ways. Behold, you are angry, and we have sinned. Wherefore we have erred and are all become as one unclean, and all our justice as the rag of a menstruous woman.

And we have all fallen as leaves, because of our iniquities; thus the wind will carry us away.

5. "There is no one who calls upon your name, no one who remembers to take hold of you; for you have hid your face from us, and have delivered us up because of our sins. And now return, O Lord, for we are all your people. The city of your sanctuary is become a desert; Zion is as a desert, Jerusalem is a curse. The house, our sanctuary, and the glory which our fathers blessed, is burnt with ﬁre, and all our glorious customs are turned into ruins. And in addition to these things you have withdrawn yourself, O Lord, and have held your peace, and have humbled us very much." 12

6. "Do I understand you to say," interposed Trypho, "that none of us Jews will inherit anything on the holy mountain of God?" c h a p t e r 26 And I replied, "I didn't say that but I do say that those who have persecuted Christ in the past and still do, and do not repent, shall not inherit anything on the holy mountain, unless they repent. Whereas, the Gentiles who believe in Christ and are sorry for their sins shall receive the inheritance, along with the patriarchs, the prophets, and every just descendant of Jacob, even though they neither practice circumcision nor observe the Sabbaths and feasts. They shall undoubtedly share in the holy inheritance of God.

2. "For God speaks thus through Isaiah: I, the Lord God, have called you in justice, and I will take you by the hand, and will strengthen you. And I have given you for a covenant of the people, for a light of 12. Is 63.15–64.12.

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A Christian interpretation of ritual laws

the Gentiles, that you might open the eyes of the blind, and bring forth the prisoner out of prison, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison-house.13

3. "And again, Raise up a standard for the Gentiles. For behold, the Lord has made it to be heard to the ends of the earth. Say to the daughters of Zion, Behold, your Savior comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And he shall call this the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. And you shall be called a city sought after, and not forsaken. Who is this who comes from Edom in red garments, from Bozrah? Who is this beautiful one in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength?

"I speak justice, and the judgment of salvation. [4.] Why then is your apparel red, and your garments as from the trodden wine-press?

Full of the trodden grape, I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the Gentiles there was not a man with me. I have trampled on them in my indignation, and I have trodden on them as the earth, and have spilled their blood upon the earth. For the day of vengeance is come upon them, and the year of my redemption is come. I looked about, and there was none to help; I sought, and there was none to give aid; and my arm saved for me, and my fury came upon them, and I have crushed them in my wrath, and I have spilled their blood upon the earth." 14 c h a p t e r 27 "Why," objected Trypho, "do you quote only those passages from the Prophets which prove your point, and omit those quotations which clearly order the observance of the Sabbath? Isaiah, for example, speaks thus: If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your own will on my holy day, and shall call the Sabbaths the holy delights of your God; if you shall not lift your foot to work, and shall not speak a word from your own mouth, and shall trust in the Lord; then he shall lift you up to the good things of the earth, and feed you with the inheritance of Jacob, your father; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." 15

2. "My friends," I replied, "I have not omitted such passages on purpose from the Prophets because they do not coincide

13. Is 42.6–7.

14. Is 62.10–63.7.

15. Is 58.13–14. See Skarsaune, 172–73; Prigent, 270; Daniélou, 342, 397.

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st. justin martyr with my teaching, but because (as you well understand), although God through his prophets gives you identical commands as he did through Moses, this was done only on account of your hardness of heart and ingratitude toward him. He repeated those precepts in the hope that even so you might possibly repent some time and thus please him, and no longer sacriﬁce your children to the demons,16 nor remain the companions of thieves, nor lovers of gifts, nor seekers of rewards; judging not for the fatherless, nor suffering the cause of the widow to come unto you, nor having your hands full of blood.17

3. "For the daughters of Zion have walked with necks stretched out, ﬂirting with their twinkling eyes, and swishing their dresses as they passed. 18

"And he exclaims, All have turned out of the way, they are become unproﬁtable together. There is no one who understands, no not one.

With their tongues they have dealt deceitfully, their throat is an open sepulcher, the venom of asps is under their lips; destruction and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known.19

4. "Thus, as your sinfulness was the reason why God ﬁrst issued those precepts, so now because of your enslavement to sin, or rather your greater inclination to it, by means of the same precepts, he calls you to remember and know him. But you are a ruthless, stupid, blind, and lame people, children in whom there is no faith.20 As God himself says, Honoring him only with your lips, but your hearts are far from him, teaching your own doctrines and not his.21

5. "Now, tell me, was it God's desire that your high priests commit sin when they offer oblations on the Sabbaths? Or did he wish that they who received or performed circumcision on that day be guilty of sin, since it is his command that circumcision be given on the eighth day after birth, even though that day may fall on a Sabbath? If he knew it would be sinful to perform that act on a Sabbath, could he not have decreed that in16. See Ps 105 (106).37.

17. Is 1.23, 15.

18. Is 3.16.

19. This quotation seems to have been made up of various verses from Rom 3.11–17.

20. See Ezek 3.7; Jer 4.22; Is 42.18–19; Dt 32.20.

21. Is 29.13. See Skarsaune, 57–58.

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