8. As he nodded in agreement, I continued, "If you have ears

st. justin martyr question was the result of ignorance of what was said, or another example of your desire to quibble, but a challenge to repeat my arguments for the sake of the newcomers here present."

8. As he nodded in agreement, I continued, "If you have ears to hear it, in Isaiah, God, speaking of Christ in parable, calls him Jacob and Israel. This is what he says: Jacob is my servant, I will uphold him; Israel is my elect. I will put my spirit upon him and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall neither strive nor cry, nor shall any one hear his voice in the streets. The bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking ﬂax he shall not quench, but he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall shine, and shall not be broken, till he set judgment in the earth; and in his name shall the Gentiles trust.47

9. "Therefore, as your whole people was called after that one Jacob, surnamed Israel, so we who obey the precepts of Christ, are, through Christ who begot us to God, both called and in reality are, Jacob and Israel and Judah and Joseph and David and true children of God." c h a p t e r 124 When I noticed that my audience was perturbed because I had stated that we Christians are also children of God, I forestalled their objection by saying, "Gentlemen, hear how the Holy Spirit says that this people are all sons of the Most High and that Christ himself shall be present in their assembly to pass judgment on every race.

2. "Here are his words as spoken through David, and as translated by you yourselves:48 God stands in the assembly of gods; and in the midst he judges gods. How long do you judge unjustly, and take the side of the persons of the wicked? Judge for the needy and fatherless, and do justice to the humble and the poor. Rescue the poor, and deliver the needy out of the hand of the sinner. They have not known nor understood; they walk on in darkness; all the foundations of the earth shall be moved. I have said: You are gods, and all of you the sons of the 47. Is 42.1–4.

48. Explained in Skarsaune, 34–35: "In Dial. 124.2 Justin is quoting Ps 82 from a Psalms MS containing some LXX readings; in Dial. 124.3 he quotes from a testimony source, insisting in his usual way that this is the true text of 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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The Gentiles as God's new people

Most High. But you die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall have an inheritance among all the nations.49

3. "In the Septuagint translation it is written, Behold, you die like men, and fall like one of the princes, to point out men's disobedience, I mean, that of Adam and Eve, and the fall of one of the princes, namely, the serpent who fell with a great fall because he deceived Eve.50

4. "But, since my purpose is not to develop this point, but to prove to you that the Holy Spirit reprimands men, who were created like God, free from pain and death, provided they obeyed his precepts, and were deemed worthy by him to be called his sons, and yet, like Adam and Eve, brought death upon themselves, hold whatever interpretation of the psalm you please. It has been shown that they were considered worthy to become gods, and to have the capability of becoming sons of the Most High, yet each is to be judged and convicted, as were

Adam and Eve. I have also proved at length that the Holy Spirit calls Christ God. c h a p t e r 125 "Gentlemen," I said, "I would like you to tell me what is the signiﬁcance of the name Israel." 51 When they remained silent, I continued, "Well, I shall give you what I think is the explanation. For I do not believe it is right not to speak, either when I know something, or when I suspect that you do understand but decide, from envy or from inexperience, that you do not wish to speak. I do not hesitate for a moment to speak out simply and frankly, as my Lord said, A sower went out to sow his seed, and some fell by the wayside, some among thorns, some upon rocky ground, and some upon good ground.52

2. "One must therefore speak in the hope that his words will, somehow, fall upon good ground. For at his coming my mighty the 'Seventy'—and being right concerning aVjnqrwpoi, because his testimony source happened to have the most usual LXX reading."

49. Ps 81 (82).1–8.

50. Daniélou, 188 n 50, links this with Irenaeus, Demonstration and Papias.

51. On Israel see section "The Angel Israel" in Daniélou, 132–34.

52. Mt 13.3–8; Lk 8.5–8.

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

Created from nottingham on 2021-08-20 07:56:45.

st. justin martyr and powerful Lord will demand his property from all and will not denounce his steward when he realizes that, because the steward knows that his Lord is mighty and will come again to require the return of his possession, he has deposited it in every bank, and has not, for any cause whatsoever, dug up the earth and hidden it therein.53

3. "The name Israel, then, means 'a man who overcomes power,' for Isra is 'a man who overcomes' and El is 'power.'

That Christ would do this when he became man was thus foretold by the mystery of Jacob's wrestling with him who appeared to him, in that Christ ministered to the will of God, yet he is

God, because he is the ﬁrst-begotten of all creatures.54

4. "For, after he became man, as I have already said, he was approached by the Devil (that is, that power which is also called

Serpent and Satan), who tempted him and tried to overcome him by demanding that he worship him.55 But he was utterly crushed and overcome by Christ, who convicted him of his wickedness when, in violation of the Scriptures, he asked to be adored as God, thus becoming an apostate from the will of God. This was his reply: It is written: The Lord your God shall you worship and him only shall you serve.56 Defeated and rebuked, the Devil then departed.

5. "By touching Jacob's thigh and making it numb, Christ showed that he, too, would grow numb (that is, in physical and mental suffering), at his cruciﬁxion.57 But his name from of old was Israel—a name which he conferred on the blessed Jacob when he blessed him with his own name, announcing thereby that all who come to the Father through him are part of the blessed Israel.58 You, however, have understood nothing of this, nor do you make any effort to understand, but, expecting with assurance to be saved only because you are descendants of Jacob according to the ﬂesh, you again deceive yourselves, as I have repeatedly shown."

53. See Mt 25.18–27; Massaux, 86.

54. See Col 1.15.

55. See Mt 4.3, 9–11.

56. Mt 4.10.

57. See Gn 32.25.

58. See Is 19.24–25.

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T H E N A M E S O F C H R I S T I N S C R I P T U R E

c h a p t e r 126 "But, Trypho," I continued, "if you had known who he is who at one time is called angel of great counsel,1 and Man by Ezekiel,2 and the Son of Man by Daniel,3 and a child by Isaiah,4 and Christ and God [and] who is to be adored by David,5 and Christ and Stone by many prophets,6 and Wisdom by Solomon and Joseph and Judah,7 and a Star by Moses,8 and Dawn by Zechariah,9 and the Suffering One and Jacob and Israel again by Isaiah,10 and a Rod and Flower and Cornerstone and Son of God 11 you would not have blasphemed him who has come, and assumed human nature, and suffered, and ascended into heaven. And he shall return again, and then your twelve tribes will weep.12

2. "Indeed, if you had understood the words spoken by the prophets, you would not deny that he is God, Son of the one, unbegotten, ineffable God. For, in Exodus, Moses said, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I am the Lord, and I appeared to AbraCopyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.

1. Is 9.6 (5).

2. Ezek 1.5.

3. Dn 7.13.

4. Is 9.6; on which see J. T. Brothers, "The interpretation of pai'" qeou' in Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho," SP IX (= TU 101; 1966), 127–38.

5. Ps 44 (45).8.

6. Dn 2.34; Is 28.16.

7. Prv 8.22; "and Joseph": Dt 33.13–17; "and Judah": Gn 49.8–12.

8. Nm 24.17. On the Star see Daniélou, 214–24.

9. Zec 3.8; 6.12.

10. Is 53.8; 42.1.

11. Rod and Flower: Is 11.1; Cornerstone: Is 28.16; Son of God: see Is 9.5.

12. Zec 12.12.

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