77. Trypho replied, " T admit to you, that passages such Christ
His sufferings.
For if it were obscurely told by the Prophets that Christ Dial. should suffer, and afterwards should have rule over all "^^"' things, it was still impossible for any to comprehend it, until He convinced His Apostles that these things were expressly foretold in the Scriptures.
For He declared before His crucifixion. The Son of Man must suffer many Mark 8 thingSy and he rejected of the Scribes and Pharisees^ and he"^-}'. crucified, and rise again the third day.
And David foretold, 22. that before the sun and the moon He should be born of the womb, according to the will of the Father, and declared Ps. 72, that being Christ'', He should be a mighty God, and should 3J
' be worshipped."
77. Trypho replied, " T admit to you, that passages such Christ as these and so numerous are sufficient for our conviction ; r*^?^'^^"
' Kian but I wish you to observe, that I request of you the foretold? explanation of that passage which you have often promised proceed therefore, that we may know how you prove it to have been spoken of this Christ of yours; for we affirm it to have been foretold of Hezekiah."
"I will do this,"
I replied, '^as you wish; but do you first prove to me that it was said of Hezekiah, that Before He had knowledge to cry, father, or mother, He took of the power of Damascus, and the spoil of Samaria, before the king of Assyria; for it will not be allowed you to explain it as you wish, that Hezekiah made war on Damascus or Samaria, in presence of the king of Assyria
: for the prophecy said.
For before the Child shall have u?^.^, A. knowledge to cry, father, or mother, He shall take of the power of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria, in the sight of the king of Assyria ; for if the Spirit of Prophecy had spoken this without the addition of the words. Before the Child knows how to call, mother, or father. He shall take of the powers of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria; and had only said, **she shall bring forth a son, and He shall receive the power of Damascus, and the spoils
Martyr.
Tertullian in the 23d chap.
^ Ben. observes, that Ps.
45, 7. is of his Apology, page 22, Paris, 1664. the passage intended.
See Apol. ii. 6. and St. Cyprian to Demetrian, p. 133. where he insists on the meaning of the Fell, and Epistle 69, page 299, with name Christ, others.
And see on §. 85.
; ;
The sufferings that are foretold hy the Prophets Just, of Samaria," you might say that because God foreknew that —^^ He should take these things, He had therefore foretold it but now the prophecy speaks with this addition, Before the Child knows how to cry, father , or mother , He shall take the power of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria : and you cannot prove that this ever befell any one of the Jews but we can shew that it was fulfilled in our Christ ; for as soon as He was born. Magi from Arabia presented themselves before Him, and worshipped Him, who first came to Herod, then king of your country, whom Scripture for his ungodly and lawless disposition terms king of the Assyrians.
For you are aware,"
I said, " that the Holy Ghost often speaks in parables and by comparisons, as He has done Ezek. indeed to all the people in Jerusalem, often saying to them,
]6, 3.
Thy father tvas an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite.
Pro.
78.
"'^This King Herod learned from the elders of your phecy people, wlicn the Magi came to him from Arabia and said, by the "From the star which has appeared in the East, we know that ^^^^' a King is born in thy country, and we are come to worship
Him," that (Christ was born) in Bethlehem ; for they said, Micali " It is thus written in the Prophet, And thou, Bethlehem, in Matt. 2 t^^^ land ofJudah, are not the least among the Princes ofJudah;
5. 6. j-Qy Qy^t QJ' thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule My people.'"
Now these Magi, who came from Arabia to Bethlehem, worshipped the Child, and brought Him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh ; and then they were commanded by a revelation, after they had worshipped Him in Bethlehem, not to return to Herod.
" And Joseph, who was betrothed to Mary, wishing at first to put her away, supposing her to be with child by commerce with some man, that is by fornication, was commanded in a vision not to do so, the angel who appeared to him telling him, that what she had conceived was by the Holy Ghost; then being afraid, he did not put her away; but when there was an enrolment in Judaea, which was then first made under Cyrenius, he went up from Nazareth, where he lived, to Bethlehem, of which place lie was, to be •^ This section being very confused reader to gather the author's meaning and full of digressions, we have printed with the least trouble to himself, it in such a manner as to enable the
were fulfilled in Christ, and not in Hezekiah,
enrolled, for he was by birth of the tribe of Judah, which Dial. dwelt in that country.
I^IIE'
" Then he was commanded, together with Mary, to go into Egypt, and there to remain with the Child until they should be again warned to return to Judaea.
" The Child then having been born in Bethlehem, when Joseph could find no place in the village where he might lodge, he put up in a cave which was near the village
; and when they were there, Mary brought forth the Christ, and laid Him in a manger, where the Magi, who came from Arabia, found Him.
** But I have already mentioned to you," I said, '* how Isaiah foretold even the token of the cave
; but for the sake of those who have joined us to-day, I will repeat the passage again."
Whereupon I cited the passage which I have already transcribed from Isaiah; on which I said, "from these words the priests of the mysteries of Mithras are urged by the devil to say, that in a place which they call a cave, their converts are initiated by them"^.
" When then the Arabian Magi did not come back to Herod as he requested, but returned to their own country, as they were commanded, by another way ; and when Joseph, with Mary and the Child, had gone into Egypt, as they also were directed by Revelation, [the king,] not knowing the Child whom the Magi had come to worship, commanded that all the children absolutely which were in Bethlehem should be slain.
And this also Vv^as foretold by <i Ed. Ben. observes, that those who fire, and the like; and Tertullian, in were initiated into the mysteries of his Ue Corona, describes the manner of Mithras, were supposed to be initiated initiation in the cave, as referred to by by Mithras himself, and that the priests
St. Justin. would say it was so.
And he therefore Dr. Hyde however, in the 4th chapter proposes to read " him" for " them" in of his learned and valuable work, " Histhe text, which is probably right, toria ReJigionis veterum Persarum,"
Mithras was the Sun, and Suidas tells says, that the Greeks and Romans us, that his votaries were initiated by borrowed the worship of Mithras from the practice of diflFerent kinds of torthe Persians, and perverted it; offerture, by which they proved themselves ing genuine worship to it as to a Diviholy and without passion, {oaiou koI nity (which the Persians did not) with airadrj.) St. Gregory of Nazianzum, in human sacrifices.
He mistrusts Terhis 3d Oration, alludes to the same ; and tuUian's account, saying, "in deteriorem
Elias of Crete, in his Annotations upon sensum trahit ;" and he affirms, that the it, says, that those tortures (which some tortures were all Roman additions to state to have been eight, others twelve, the original worship, the religion of and others again as many as eighty in Zoroaster strictly forbidding every thing number) consisted of hunger, thirst, of the sort, scourging, burning or branding with
Prophecies fu Ifilled of Ch 7'is .
Just. Jeremiah, the Holy Ghost speaking thus by him, A voice [ART. was heard i?i Hamah, weeping and great mourning ; Rachel
31, 15. weeping for her children, and she would not he comforted, because they are not.
Through the voice then which was to be heard from Ramah, that is, from Arabia, (for there is even now a place in Arabia called Ramah,) weeping was to fill the place where Rachel, the wife of the holy Patriarch Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, was buried, that is, Bethlehem, the women w^eeping for their children that were slain, and having no comfort, because of that which had happened to them.
Is. 8,4.
"For this saying of Isaiah, He shall take the potver of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria, signifies that the power of the evil demon, who inhabited in Damascus, should be overcome by Christ, as soon as He was born, which we see to have come to pass ; for the Magi who had been led as spoils to all the evil actions which were done by that wicked spirit, in coming and worshipping Christ, shewed themselves revolters against the power that made them his spoils; which power the Scripture has signified to us by a parable to be dwelling in Damascus.
And as it is a sinful and unjust one, it is well termed by parable Samaria.
But that Damascus both was and is a part of the land of Arabia, although it is now attached to that which is called SyroPhoenicia, none of you can deny.
So that it would be well for you, my friends, to learn what you do not understand from those who have grace from God, that is, from us Christians, and not every way endeavour to defend your own doctrines, dishonouring those of God.
Wherefore has this grace been also transferred to us, as Isaiah says in Is. 29, the following words.
This people draweth near Me, ivith ^^' ^^' their lips they honour Me, hut their heart is far from Me, But in vain do they worship Me, teaching the commandments a7id doctrines of men.
Therefore, behold, I loill proceed to transplant this people, and I will transplayit them.
And I will take away the wisdom of their wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of their prudent.'"
Apo79. Then Trypho grew somewhat angry ; but, still re- " specting the Scriptures, as was shewn by his countenance, \\\\ angels, said to me, ''The words of God are holy; but your ex~