6. Then, I added what I had not said in my previous remarks:
st. justin martyr ham, Isaac, and Jacob, being their God, and my name I did not make known to them, and I made my covenant with them.13
3. "And again when he says, A man wrestled with Jacob,14 he asserts that the man was God, for he declares that Jacob said, I have seen God face to face, and my life is saved.15 And Moses also testifies that Jacob called the place where God appeared to him, wrestled with him, and blessed him, the Face of God.16
4. "Moses also declares that God appeared to Abraham near the oak tree of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent at noon. Then he continues, And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men standing near him; and as soon as he saw them he ran to meet them.17 And shortly afterwards, one of the three promises a son to Abraham: Why did Sarah laugh, saying: Shall I who am an old woman bear a child indeed? Is there anything impossible with God?
At the appointed time I shall return and Sarah shall have a son. And they left Abraham.18 And so again, he speaks thus concerning these men:
5. "And the men rose up from there and turned their eyes toward Sodom.19 Then he who was, and is, spoke to Abraham these words: I will not hide from Abraham what I am about to do." 20
Then I repeated the words of Moses which followed and which I had previously explained. "From these passages," I went on, "it has been proved conclusively that he who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the other patriarchs, was appointed by the Father and Lord, and administers to his will, and is called God."
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
6. Then, I added what I had not said in my previous remarks:
"So, too, when the people desired to eat meat, and Moses had no faith in the one who is there called an angel, when he promised that God would give them all the meat they could eat,21 he himself, being God and angel sent by the Father, is shown to 13. See Ex 6.2–4; Daniélou, 132, 276–78; V. Taylor (cited above, Dial. 100.4 n 18).
14. See Gn 32.25.
15. See Gn 32.31.
16. See Gn 32.30.
17. See Gn 18.1–2.
18. See Gn 18.13–14.
19. See Gn 18.16; Daniélou, 132, 219.
20. See Gn 18.17.
21. Nm 11.4.
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.
The names of Christ in Scripture
have said and done all this. For, thus says the Scripture: And the Lord said to Moses: Shall the hand of the Lord fail to reach? You shall presently know whether my word shall come to pass unto you or not.22
Elsewhere, he says, The Lord also has said to me: You shall not cross over this Jordan. The Lord your God who goes before you will destroy the nations.23 c h a p t e r 127 "And the other statements from the lawgiver and the prophets are very similar. And I presume that I have shown sufficiently that when God says, God went up from Abraham,24 or, The Lord spoke to Moses,25 and, The Lord went down to see the tower which the children of men built,26 or, God closed the ark of Noah from the outside,27 you should not imagine that the Unbegotten God himself went down or went up from any place.
2. "For, the ineffable Father and Lord of all neither comes to any place, nor walks, nor sleeps, nor arises, but always remains in his place, wherever it may be, acutely seeing and hearing, not with eyes or ears, but with a power beyond description. Yet he surveys all things, knows all things,28 and none of us has escaped his notice. Nor is he moved who cannot be contained in any place,29 not even in the whole universe, for he existed even before the universe was created.
3. "How, then, could he converse with anyone, or be seen by anyone, or appear in the smallest place of the world, when the people were not able to behold the glory of God's messenger at Sinai; and when Moses had not the power to enter the tabernacle he had built, when it was resplendent with the glory of God; and when the priest could not remain standing before the shrine when Solomon brought the ark into the building he had erected for it in Jerusalem?
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
4. "Thus, neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor any 22. Nm 11.18–19. See Smit Sibinga, 47–48.
23. Dt 31.2–3.
24. Gn 17.22.
25. Ex 6.29.
26. Gn 11.5.
27. Gn 7.16.
28. See Homer, Odyssey 11.109.
29. Hermas, Mandate 1.1. On the Middle Platonic influence on this concept of God's transcendence see Daniélou, Gospel Message (cited above, Dial. 112.2 n
19), 386–96; Quasten (cited in new Introduction, n 11), 207–11.
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 other man saw the Father and ineffable Lord of all creatures and of Christ himself, but [they saw] him who, according to God's will, is God the Son, and his angel because of his serving the Father's will; him who, by his will, became man through a virgin; who also became fire when he talked to Moses from the bush.
5. "Unless we understand the Scriptures in this manner, we would have to conclude that the Father and Lord of all was not in heaven when what Moses thus described took place: And the Lord rained upon Sodom fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven.30 And, again, when it was said through David, Lift up your gates, O you princes, and be you lifted up, O eternal gates, and the King of Glory shall enter in.31 And yet again, when it says, The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."32
30. Gn 19.24.
31. Ps 23 (24).7.
32. Ps 109 (110).1.
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
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.
T H E U N I T Y O F G O D A N D T H E D I V I N I T Y
O F C H R I S T : R E P R I S E
c h a p t e r 128 "I have shown in many previous statements that Christ is the Lord, and God the Son, that in times gone by he appeared by his power as man and angel, and in the glory of fire as in the bush, and that he was present to execute the judgment against Sodom." Then I repeated all that I had already quoted from Exodus concerning the vision in the bush, and the imposition of the name Jesus [Joshua], and continued, [2.] "Do not consider, you people, that I am verbose or repetitious in my explanations. My remarks are rather lengthy because I know that some of you want to forestall them, and to declare that the power which was sent from the Father of all and appeared to Moses, or Abraham, or Jacob, was called Angel because he came to men
(since by that power the Father's messages are communicated to men); is called Glory, because he sometimes appears in visions that cannot be contained; is called a Man and a Human being, because he appears arrayed in such forms as please the Father; and they call him Word, because he reveals to men the discourses of the Father.
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
3. "But some1 teach that this power is indivisible and inseparable from the Father, just as the light of the sun on earth is indivisible and inseparable from the sun in the skies; for, when
1. Perhaps some Jews, like Philo, or some Christians, like the Monarchians (e.g., Noetus, Praxeas, Paul of Samosata). See R. M. Price, "Hellenization and Logos Doctrine in Justin Martyr," VigChr 42 (1988): 18–23.
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 the sun sets, its light disappears from the earth. So, they claim, the Father by his will can cause his power to go forth and, whenever he wishes, to return again. In this manner, they declare, God also made the angels.
4. "But it has been demonstrated that the angels always exist and are not reduced again into that from which they were created.2 It has also been shown at length that this power which the prophetic Word also calls God and Angel not only is numbered as different by its name (as is the light of the sun), but is something distinct in real number. I have already briefly discussed, when I stated that this power was generated from the Father, by his power and will, but not by abscission, as if the substance of the Father were divided; as all other things, once they are divided and severed, are not the same as they were before the division. To illustrate this point, I cited the example of fires kindled from a fire; the enkindled fires are indeed distinct from the original fire which, though it ignites many other fires, still remains the same undiminished fire. c h a p t e r 129 "And now, to prove this point, I will repeat some of the Scriptural passages I have already quoted. When the prophetic Word says, The Lord rained fire from the Lord out of heaven,3 it indicates that they are two in number: one on earth, who says that he came down to witness the cry of Sodom, and one in heaven, who is Lord of the Lord on earth and as his Father and God was responsible for his being the mighty one and Lord and God.
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
2. "And again, when the Word states that in the beginning God said, Behold Adam has become as one of us,4 the phrase, as one of us, is in itself indicative of number but the words cannot be interpreted in a metaphorical sense, as the sophists attempt to explain them, who can neither know nor speak the truth.
3. "And in the Book of Wisdom it says, If I should tell you the 2. Otto thinks that Justin may be referring to Dial. 85.6.
3. Gn 19.24. Quoted at Dial. 56.23, 60.5, and 127.5. See Skarsaune, 208, 209.
4. Gn 3.22. Quoted at Dial. 62.3. See R. M. Grant, Greek Apologists of the Second Century (Philadelphia, Pa.: Westminster Press, 1988), 61 and 215 n 36:
"Verbally, we are in the realm of Numenius."
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.
The unity of God and the divinity of Christ: reprise
daily events, I would have to enumerate them from the beginning. The Lord made me as the beginning of his ways for his works. From eternity he set me up, in the beginning, before he made the earth, and before the fountains of water came forth, before the mountains were established; and before all the hills he begets me." 5
Having said this, I concluded, "Gentlemen, if you have followed me closely, you can see that Scripture declares that the Son was begotten of the Father before all creatures, and everybody will admit that the Son is numerically distinct from the Father!"
5. See Prv 8.21–25. Quoted already at Dial. 61.3–5. See Skarsaune, 387.
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
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.
T H E E L E C T I O N O F T H E J E W S
A N D G E N T I L E S
c h a p t e r 130 When they all assented, I continued, "Permit me to quote now some passages of Scripture which I have not mentioned earlier. They were spoken in parable by that faithful servant,
Moses, and go as follows: Rejoice, you heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him."1 Then I quoted the rest of the passage as follows: "Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people; and let all the angels of God be strengthened in him; for he avenges, and will avenge, the blood of his sons; and will render vengeance to his enemies, and will reward these who hate him; and the Lord shall purge the land of his people.2
2. "By these words he indicates that we Gentiles rejoice with his people, I mean, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the prophets, and quite simply every Jew who is pleasing to God, as we have already agreed. But we know that these words do not apply to all members of your race, for Isaiah tells us that the limbs of sinners shall be consumed by the worm and unquenchable fire, but with it all remaining immortal so as to be a spectacle to all flesh.3
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
3. "Now, gentlemen," I said, "I wish to bring to your attention some other passages from Moses, from which you will perceive that in the beginning God dispersed all men according to nations and languages, and from all these nations he chose for 1. Dt 32.43 (LXX). See Dial. 118; Rom 15.10; Smit Sibinga, 145–47;
Skarsaune, 95, 117, 188.
2. Dt 32.43.
3. See Is 66.24; Skarsaune, 67–69, 153, 181, 370, 449–50.
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.
The election of the Jews and Gentiles
himself yours, a useless, disobedient, and faithless nation.4 And he showed that those of every nationality who were chosen have obeyed his will through Christ, whom he calls Jacob, and surnames Israel, so those should also be Jacob and Israel, as I have proved at great length.5
4. "For, when he exclaims, Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people,6 he gives them a share in a similar legacy and attributes to them a similar name; but by calling them Gentiles, and stating that they rejoice with his people, he does so as a reproach to your nation. For, just as you angered him by your acts of idolatry, so has he deemed them, though they are likewise idolaters, worthy to know his will and to share in his inheritance. c h a p t e r 131 "I will also quote the words which show that God divided up all the nations. Here they are: Ask your father, and he will relate to you; ask your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High divided the nations; when he spread around the sons of Adam, he set the borders of the nations according to the number of the children of Israel.
And the Lord's own portion was Jacob, and Israel was the share of his inheritance." 7 And, having said that, I added, "In the Septuagint it was translated thus: He set the borders of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. But, since here again my argument is in no way weakened by this difference, I have given your exegesis.
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
2. "Now you, if you will confess the truth, must admit that we Christians are more faithful to God than you are. For we, who have been called to God by the mystery of the despised and dishonorable cross (for such faith, obedience, and piety we have been punished, even with the death penalty, by the demons and by the host of the Devil, through the service rendered them by you), endure all things rather than deny, even with a word, Christ, through whom we are called to the salvation prepared for us by the Father.
4. See Gn 11.7–9; Dt 32.8; Hos 8.8; Is 30.9; 65.2.
5. See Dial. 125.
6. Dt 32.43.
7. Dt 32.7–9. See Smit Sibinga, 99, 189; Skarsaune, 347–48; Daniélou, 271.
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 3. "Yet, you were delivered from Egypt by a mighty arm and a visitation of great glory,8 when the sea was divided and a dry road was made for you to cross over, while your enemies, pursuing you with mighty power and magnificent chariots, were slain by him when the sea which had been made passable for you came together again. A pillar of light also shone for you, so that, more than any other people in the world, you might have a peculiar, constant, and unfailing light. For you he rained down food that was the bread of the heavenly angels, that is, manna, lest you should be forced to procure your own food.
For you also, he sweetened the water at Marah.
4. "And a sign of him who was destined to be crucified was given to you, both in the case of the serpents that bit you, as I have already said (thus before all these mysteries were fulfilled they were given to you by a benevolent God, toward whom you are convicted of being always ungrateful), and, by the sign of Moses' outstretched arms and the renaming of Jesus when they were waging war against Amalek, which fact God commanded to be recorded, having admonished you not to forget the name of Jesus, who was going to erase the memory of Amalek from the face of the earth.
5. "It is obvious, however, that the memory of Amalek remains even after the time of the son of Nun. God makes it clear that by the crucified Jesus, of whom even those signs were predictions of what would happen to him, the demons were to be destroyed, and to shudder at his name; and that all the authorities and kingdoms were likewise to tremble before him; and that out of every nationality those who believe in him would be shown to be pious and peaceful. Both [Scripture] makes clear and the facts, Trypho, have borne out this prediction.
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
6. "And when you had a craving for meat, so many quails were sent to you that they could not be counted.9 And water gushed forth from a rock for your benefit, and a cloud followed you as a shade from the heat and a defense against the cold, indicating the fashion and promise of another new heaven;10 the 8. See Ex 6.1; Gn 50.24–25; Ex 16.10.
9. See Nm 11.31–32; Ex 16.13.
10. See Ex 13.21–22; Is 65.17.
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.
The election of the Jews and Gentiles
laces of shoes were not broken,11 nor did the shoes themselves age or the clothes wear out, but also the children's apparel kept pace with their growth. c h a p t e r 132 "And besides all this, you still constructed the golden calf, and you were eager to fornicate with the daughters of aliens and to worship idols.12 And you did the same things even after the land was handed over to you with such a miraculous display of power that you witnessed the sun stand in the heaven and not set for thirty-six hours at the command of him who was surnamed Jesus,13 and you beheld all the other miraculous events that took place each in its time for your benefit. One of these, I think, I must now mention because it will help give you a better understanding of Jesus, whom we acknowledge as Christ the Son of God, who was crucified and arose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will come to judge every man who ever lived, even back to Adam himself.
2. "You certainly know then, I said, that when the Tabernacle of Testimony was carried off by the enemies who inhabited the region of Azotus, and a dreadfully incurable plague had broken out among them, they decided to place the Tabernacle upon a cart to which they yoked cows that had recently borne calves, in order to determine whether they had been plagued by God's power because of the Tabernacle, and whether it were God's will that it be returned to the place from which they had taken it.14
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
3. "In the execution of this plan, the cows, without any human guidance, proceeded, not to the place from which the Tabernacle had been taken, but to the farm of a man named
Joshua, the same name as his whose name was changed to Jesus [Joshua], as was said above, and who led your people into the 11. See Dt 8.4; 29.5; Is 5.27; Skarsaune, 316 n 166, "an element of rabbinic haggadah."
12. See Ex 32.4–6; Acts 7.41 (calf); 1 Kgs 11.4–6 (Solomon's proclivities).
13. It would seem that Justin supposed that Joshua started to pray at daybreak, and that the sun did not set until the following evening. Sir 46.4 says simply, "so that one day became as two."
14. See 1 Sm 5.1–6.
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 promised land and distributed it among them by lot. When the cows came to this farm they halted.15 Thus it was shown to you that they were guided by the powerful name, just as the survivors among your people who fled Egypt were guided into the promised land by him whose name was changed from Hosea to Jesus [Joshua]. c h a p t e r 133 "And although these and many such marvelous miracles were performed for you, and were witnessed by you as they happened, still you are censured by the prophets for having even sacrificed your own children to the demons,16 and for having, besides all this, dared, and still dare, to do such things against Christ; for all of which may God forgive you, and grant you mercy and salvation from himself and Christ.
2. "Knowing beforehand that you would be guilty of such excesses, God pronounced this curse against you through Isaiah:
Woe to their soul! They have taken evil counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the Just One, because he is distasteful to us. Therefore they eat the fruit of their own doings. Woe to the wicked man! Evil shall befall him according to the work of his hands. O my people, your oppressors plunder you, and your exactors shall rule over you.
3. "O my people, they that call you blessed cause you to err, and disturb the way of your steps. But now the Lord will stand up to judge, and will bring his people to judgment. The Lord himself will enter into judgment with the ancients of the people and its princes. But why have you burnt up my vineyard? And why is the spoil of the poor in your houses?
Why do you afflict my people, and cause the faces of the poor to blush? 17
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
4. "And in different words the prophet made the same point:
Woe to them that draw their sins, as it were, with a long rope, and iniquities, as it were, with a cart-rope; who say: Let him make haste, and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it. Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put light for darkness, and darkness for light; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.
15. See 1 Sm 6.14.
16. See Ps 105 (106).37.
17. Is 3.9–15. See Skarsaune, 30–32, 160–61.
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.
The election of the Jews and Gentiles
5. "Woe to those who are mighty among you, who drink wine, and men of strength, who mingle strong drink; who justify the wicked for rewards, and take away the justice of the just. Therefore, as rubble shall be burnt with coals of fire, and shall be consumed with a burning flame; their root shall be as down, and their blossom shall go up as dust; for they have cast away the law of the Lord of Hosts, and have despised the word of the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. And the Lord of Hosts was very angry, and laid his hands upon them, and struck them; and he was provoked to anger against the mountains, and their corpses became as dung in the middle of the street. And for all this they have not repented, but their hand is lifted up still.18
6. "Indeed, your hand is still raised to do evil, because, although you have slain Christ, you do not repent; on the contrary, you hate and, whenever you have the power, kill us who through him believe in God, the Father of the universe.19 And you cease not to curse him and those who belong to him, though we pray for you and for all men, as we were instructed by Christ, our Lord. For he taught us to pray even for our enemies, and to love those that hate us, and to bless those that curse us.20 c h a p t e r 134 "If, then, both the precepts of his prophets and those of God himself trouble you, then it would be better for you to obey
God rather than your stupid, blind teachers, who even now permit each of you to have four or five wives;21 and, if any of you see a beautiful woman and desire to have her, they cite the actions of Jacob, who was Israel, and the other patriarchs to prove that there is no evil in such practices. How wretched and ignorant they are even in this respect!
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
2. "For, as I said already,22 in each such action certain divine plans were mysteriously fulfilled. I will explain what divine de18. Is 5.18–25. See Skarsaune, 30–31, 111, 160.
19. On Jewish persecution, a recurring theme see Dial. 16.4; 93.4; 95.4; 96.2; 110.5.
20. See Mt 5.44; Lk 6.27–28.
21. Comparing this statement with that made in Dial. 141.4, it may be inferred that monogamy was the normal and usual Jewish practice, even though certain Jewish rabbis saw no harm in polygamy. See Marcovich, 301, for documentation.
22. Dial. 112.1–2.
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 sign and prophecy were accomplished in the marriages of Jacob, that you may finally come to know that even in this your teachers never considered the more divine in the purpose for which each thing was done, but rather what concerned base and corruptible passions. Pay attention, therefore, to my words.
3. "The marriages of Jacob were prototypes of what Christ would do. It was not lawful for Jacob to marry two sisters at the same time.23 So he worked in the service of Laban for [one of] his daughters, and, when he was deceived about the younger, he worked another seven years.24 Now, Leah represented your people and the Synagogue, while Rachel was a figure of our
Church. And Christ still serves for them and for his servants that are in both.
4. "For, while Noah gave to his two sons the seed of the third as servants, Christ has now come to redeem both the free sons and their servants, conferring the same blessings upon all who keep his commandments, just as all those who were born to Jacob of the free women and of the bond women became his sons, and were given equal honor. And it was foretold what each would be in rank and in foreknowledge.
5. "Jacob served Laban for the spotted and speckled sheep,25 and Christ served, even to the servitude of the cross, for men of different colors and features from every nationality, redeeming them by his blood and the mystery of the cross. As the eyes of Leah were weak26 so, too, are the eyes of your souls exceedingly weak. As Rachel stole the gods of Laban27 and hid them to this day, so, too, have we been stripped of our ancestral and material gods.
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
6. "Jacob was always hated by his brother,28 just as now we and our Lord himself are hated by you and, in general, all other men who are all brothers by nature. Jacob was surnamed Is23. That is, by custom and unwritten law. It was explicitly forbidden in the Law during the time of Moses. See Lv 19.18.
24. See Gn 29.
25. See Gn 30.
26. See Gn 29.17. Marcovich, p. vii, sees this as an example of a Christian haggadah. He also (303) cites Plato, Rep. 7.519b3 on "eyes of the soul."
27. See Gn 31.19.
28. See Gn 27.
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.
The election of the Jews and Gentiles
rael; 29 and it has been shown that Israel is also Christ, who is, and is called, Jesus. c h a p t e r 135 "Now, when Scripture says, I am the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, who showed Israel your king,30 will you not admit that Christ the eternal king is meant? For you know that Jacob, the son of Isaac, was never king. Thus, in explaining what king is meant by the name of Jacob and Israel, Scripture says:
2. "Jacob is my servant, I will uphold him; and Israel is my elect, my soul shall embrace him. I have placed my spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor shall his voice be heard abroad. The bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench, until he shall bring forth judgment to victory.
He shall take up judgment, and he shall not be broken, until he set judgment on the earth; and in his name shall the Gentiles trust.31
3. "Is it, therefore, in the patriarch Jacob, and not in Christ, that you and the former Gentiles trust? As Christ is called Israel and Jacob, so we, hewn out of the side of Christ,32 are the true people of Israel.
4. "But let us listen to the word itself: And I will give Jacob offspring to come after him, and Judah, heirs who shall possess my holy mountain. My elect and my servants shall inherit it, and shall dwell there. And there shall be in the forest folds of sheep, and the valley of Achor shall be to my people who sought me a resting place for their herds.
But as for you, who forsake and forget my holy mountain, and prepare a table for the demons, and fill mixed wine for the demons, I will deliver you up to the sword. You shall all fall by slaughter, because I called you and you did not obey; I spoke and you did not heed; and you did evil in my eyes, and you have chosen the things that displease me." 33
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
5. "Those then are the words of Scripture. You yourselves can comprehend that the seed of Jacob mentioned above refers to someone else, and is not spoken, as someone might think,
29. Gn 32.29. See also Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.21.3 and Hippolytus, Commentary on the Song of Songs 3–4.
30. Is 43.15.
31. Is 42.1–4. See Skarsaune, 61.
32. This mixed metaphor probably explains Is 51.1.
33. Is 65.9–12. See Skarsaune, 187.
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 about your people. For it is not possible that the one who threatened to leave behind those born of Jacob would then lead back34 the offspring of Jacob, or that he who repudiated his people as being unworthy of his inheritance should promise it to them again, as if he accepted them.
6. "But the prophet says, And now, O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord. For he has dismissed his people, the house of Jacob; because their land was filled, as from the beginning, with oracles and divinations.35
"So, we must here conclude that there were two seeds of Judah, and two races, as there are two houses of Jacob: the one born of flesh and blood, the other of faith and the Spirit.36 c h a p t e r 136 "You see how he speaks now to another people, after stating above, As a grain shall be found in the cluster, and they shall say:
Harm it not, for a blessing is in it, so will I do for the sake of my servants. For his sake I will destroy them all.37 And then he adds, And I shall bring forth the seed of Jacob and of Judah.38 It is quite evident, therefore, that if he is angry with them and threatens to save only a very few of them, he swears to bring forth others who will dwell in his mountain.39
2. "Those are the persons he said he would sow and beget. For you ignore him when he calls, and you do not listen when he speaks, but you have sinned in his presence. And the height of your iniquity is this, that you hate the Just One, whom you put to death, as well as those who through his grace are pious, just, and charitable. For this reason, the Lord said, Woe to their soul, because they have taken evil counsel against themselves, saying, Let us take away the Just One, for he is distasteful to us.40
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
3. "Though you did not offer sacrifice to Baal, as your forefa34. Marcovich (p. viii) notes that "all editors and scholars .l.l. translate as 'right of entrance' .l.l. A's reading ejpeivsaxin (which is a vox nihili) [which] is a corruption of e[p<eita> ejxavxein."
35. Is 2.5–6. See Skarsaune, 158–59.
36. See Jn 1.13; 1 Cor 2.4–5.
37. Is 65.8. See Skarsaune, 187, 351–53.
38. Is 65.9.
39. See Is 65.9.
40. Is 3.9. See Skarsaune, 114.
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.
The election of the Jews and Gentiles
thers did, nor offer cakes in groves and on hills to the heavenly army, yet [you were warned because] you did not accept his
Christ.41 For he who is ignorant of him is likewise ignorant of God's will; and he who scorns and hates him clearly hates and scorns him also who sent him; and he who has no faith in him does not believe the words of the prophets, who preached his
Gospel and proclaimed him to all men."
41. See Jer 7.18.
Copyright © 2003. Catholic University of America Press. All rights reserved.
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.
