Dialogue with Trypho 1.1–11.5
Greek text: Archambault (Greek text: G. Archambault, Justin: Dialogue avec Tryphon (Paris, 1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885).
Chapter 1
1.1Archambault
Περιπατοῦντί μοι ἕωθεν ἐν τοῖς τοῦ ξυστοῦ περιπάτοις συναντήσας τις μετὰ καὶ ἄλλων· Φιλόσοφε, χαῖρε, ἔφη. Καὶ ἅμα εἰπὼν τοῦτο ἐπιστραφεὶς συμπεριεπάτει μοι· συνεπέστρεφον δʼ αὐτῷ καὶ οἱ φίλοι αὐτοῦ. Κἀγὼ ἔμπαλιν προσαγορεύσας αὐτόν· Τί μάλιστα; ἔφην.
Peripatounti moi heōthen en tois tou xystou peripatois synantēsas tis meta kai allōn; Philosophe, chaire, ephē. Kai hama eipōn touto epistrapheis symperiepatei moi; synepestrephon dʼ autǭ kai hoi philoi autou. Kagō empalin prosagoreusas auton; Ti malista? ephēn.
As I was walking one morning in the walks of the colonnade, someone met me with some others and said, “Greetings, philosopher!” And as he said this he turned and walked along with me, and his friends turned with him. And I in turn greeted him and said, “What is it?”
Notes and citation
Summary: Justin, dressed as a philosopher, is greeted one morning by Trypho and his friends.
- “Colonnade” (ξυστός): a covered walk attached to a gymnasium. Eusebius (Hist. eccl. 4.18.6) places the conversation at Ephesus.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 1.1 (Archambault; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-1-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
1.2Archambault
Ὁ δέ· Ἐδιδάχθην ἐν Ἄργει, φησίν, ὑπὸ Κορίνθου τοῦ Σωκρατικοῦ ὅτι οὐ δεῖ καταφρονεῖν οὐδὲ ἀμελεῖν τῶν περικειμένων τόδε τὸ σχῆμα, ἀλλʼ ἐκ παντὸς φιλοφρονεῖσθαι προσομιλεῖν τε αὐτοῖς, εἴ τι ὄφελος ἐκ τῆς συνουσίας γένοιτο ἢ αὐτῷ ἐκείνῳ ἢ ἐμοί. Ἀμφοτέροις δὲ ἀγαθόν ἐστι, κἂν θάτερος ᾖ ὠφελημένος. Τούτου οὖν χάριν, ὅταν ἴδω τινὰ ἐν τοιούτῳ σχήματι, ἀσμένως αὐτῷ προσέρχομαι, σέ τε κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ ἡδέως νῦν προσεῖπον, οὗτοί τε συνεφέπονταί μοι, προσδοκῶντες καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀκούσεσθαί τι χρηστὸν ἐκ σοῦ.
Ho de; Edidachthēn en Argei, phēsin, hypo Korinthou tou Sōkratikou hoti ou dei kataphronein oude amelein tōn perikeimenōn tode to schēma, allʼ ek pantos philophroneisthai prosomilein te autois, ei ti ophelos ek tēs synousias genoito ē autǭ ekeinǭ ē emoi. Amphoterois de agathon esti, kan thateros ę̄ ōphelēmenos. Toutou oun charin, hotan idō tina en toioutǭ schēmati, asmenōs autǭ proserchomai, se te kata ta auta hēdeōs nyn proseipon, houtoi te synephepontai moi, prosdokōntes kai autoi akousesthai ti chrēston ek sou.
And he said, “I was taught at Argos by Corinthus the Socratic that one should not despise or neglect those who wear this dress, but should show them every kindness and converse with them, in case some benefit might come from the conversation, either to him or to me. And it is good for both, even if only one of them is benefited. For this reason, whenever I see anyone in such a dress, I gladly approach him; and so I have now gladly addressed you, and these men follow me, expecting themselves to hear something useful from you.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Trypho explains that he was taught to seek conversation with philosophers.
- “This dress” (τόδε τὸ σχῆμα): the philosopher's cloak (pallium), which Justin kept wearing as a Christian.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong breathing)): ὲν τοιούτῳ → ἐν τοιούτῳ.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 1.2 (Archambault; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-1-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
1.3Archambault
Τίς δὲ σύ ἐσσι, φέριστε βροτῶν; Οὕτως προσπαίζων αὐτῷ ἔλεγον. Ὁ δὲ καὶ τοὔνομά μοι καὶ τὸ γένος ἐξεῖπεν ἁπλῶς. Τρύφων, φησί, καλοῦμαι· εἰμὶ δὲ Ἑβραῖος ἐκ περιτομῆς, φυγὼν τὸν νῦν γενόμενον πόλεμον, ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι καὶ τῇ Κορίνθῳ τὰ πολλὰ διάγων. Καὶ τί ἄν, ἔφην ἐγώ, τοσοῦτον ἐκ φιλοσοφίας σύ τʼ ἄν ὠφεληθείης, ὅσον παρὰ τοῦ σοῦ νομοθέτου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν; Τί γάρ; Οὐχ οἱ φιλόσοφοι περὶ θεοῦ τὸν ἅπαντα ποιοῦνται λόγον, ἐκεῖνος ἔλεγε, καὶ περὶ μοναρχίας αὐτοῖς καὶ προνοίας αἱ ζητήσεις γίνονται ἑκάστοτε; Ἢ οὐ τοῦτο ἔργον ἐστὶ φιλοσοφίας, ἐξετάζειν περὶ τοῦ θείου;
Tis de sy essi, pheriste brotōn? Houtōs prospaizōn autǭ elegon. Ho de kai tounoma moi kai to genos exeipen haplōs. Tryphōn, phēsi, kaloumai; eimi de Hebraios ek peritomēs, phygōn ton nyn genomenon polemon, en tę̄ Helladi kai tę̄ Korinthǭ ta polla diagōn. Kai ti an, ephēn egō, tosouton ek philosophias sy tʼ an ōphelētheiēs, hoson para tou sou nomothetou kai tōn prophētōn? Ti gar? Ouch hoi philosophoi peri theou ton hapanta poiountai logon, ekeinos elege, kai peri monarchias autois kai pronoias hai zētēseis ginontai hekastote? Ē ou touto ergon esti philosophias, exetazein peri tou theiou?
“And who are you, best of mortals?” I said, jesting with him. And he told me his name and his race simply. “I am called Trypho,” he said, “and I am a Hebrew of the circumcision, who fled the war that has lately taken place, and spend most of my time in Greece and in Corinth.” “And how,” I said, “could you gain as much from philosophy as from your own lawgiver and the prophets?” “Why not?” he said. “Do not the philosophers make their whole discourse about God, and are not their inquiries always about his sole rule and providence? Or is not this the work of philosophy, to inquire about the divine?”
Notes and citation
Summary: Trypho introduces himself as a Jew who fled the recent war in Judea; he says philosophy inquires about God.
- “Best of mortals” is a line from Homer (Iliad 6.123; 15.247), used playfully.
- “The war that has lately taken place”: the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135).
- Trypho has sometimes been identified with the rabbi Tarphon of the Mishnah; the identification is not accepted by most scholars.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong breathing)): Ἣ οὐ τοῦτο → Ἢ οὐ τοῦτο.
Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Il. 6.123 (Homer, Iliad; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 1.3 (Archambault; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-1-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
1.4Archambault 1:6
Ναί, ἔφην, οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς δεδοξάκαμεν. Ἀλλʼ οἱ πλεῖστοι οὐδὲ τούτου πεφροντίκασιν, εἴτε εἶς εἴτε καὶ πλείους εἰσὶ θεοί, καὶ εἴτε προνοοῦσιν ἡμῶν ἑκάστου εἴτε καὶ οὕ, ὡς μηδὲν πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν τῆς γνώσεως ταύτης συντελούσης· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐπιχειροῦσι πείθειν ὡς τοῦ μὲν σύμπαντος καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν γενῶν καὶ εἰδῶν ἐπιμελεῖται θεός, ἐμοῦ δὲ καὶ σοῦ οὐκ ἔτι καὶ τοῦ καθʼ ἕκαστα, ἐπεὶ οὐδʼ ἂν ηὐχόμεθα αὐτῷ διʼ ὅλης νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας.
Nai, ephēn, houtō kai hēmeis dedoxakamen. Allʼ hoi pleistoi oude toutou pephrontikasin, eite eis eite kai pleious eisi theoi, kai eite pronoousin hēmōn hekastou eite kai hou, hōs mēden pros eudaimonian tēs gnōseōs tautēs syntelousēs; alla kai hēmas epicheirousi peithein hōs tou men sympantos kai autōn tōn genōn kai eidōn epimeleitai theos, emou de kai sou ouk eti kai tou kathʼ hekasta, epei oudʼ an ēuchometha autǭ diʼ holēs nyktos kai hēmeras.
“Yes,” I said, “so we too have thought. But most of them have not even cared about this, whether there is one God or several, and whether they take thought for each of us or not, as though this knowledge contributed nothing to happiness. Indeed, they try to persuade us that God cares for the universe and for the kinds and species themselves, but no longer for me and you and for each individual; since otherwise we would not pray to him night and day.
Notes and citation
Summary: Justin replies that most philosophers do not care whether God cares for individuals.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 1.4 (Archambault 1:6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-1-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
1.5Archambault 1:6
Τοῦτο δὲ ὅπη αὐτοῖς τελευτᾷ, οὐ χαλεπὸν συννοῆσαι· ἄδεια γὰρ καὶ ἐλευθερία λέγειν καὶ ἕπεσθαι τοῖς δοξάζουσι ταῦτα, ποιεῖν τε ὃ τι βούλονται καὶ λέγειν, μήτε κόλασιν φοβουμένοις μήτε ἀγαθὸν ἐλπίζουσί τι ἐκ θεοῦ. Πῶς γάρ; Οἵ γε ἀεὶ ταὐτὰ ἔσεσθαι λέγουσι, καὶ ἔτι ἐμὲ καὶ σὲ ἔμπαλιν βιώσεσθαι ὁμοίως, μήτε κρείττονας μήτε χείρους γεγονότας. Ἄλλοι δέ τινες, ὑποστησάμενοι ἀθάνατον καὶ ἀσώματον τὴν ψυχήν, οὔτε κακόν τι δράσαντες ἡγοῦνται δώσειν δίκην (ἀπαθὲς γὰρ τὸ ἀσώματον), οὔτε, ἀθανάτου αὐτῆς ὑπαρχούσης, δέονταί τι τοῦ θεοῦ ἔτι.
Touto de hopē autois teleutą, ou chalepon synnoēsai; adeia gar kai eleutheria legein kai hepesthai tois doxazousi tauta, poiein te ho ti boulontai kai legein, mēte kolasin phoboumenois mēte agathon elpizousi ti ek theou. Pōs gar? Hoi ge aei tauta esesthai legousi, kai eti eme kai se empalin biōsesthai homoiōs, mēte kreittonas mēte cheirous gegonotas. Alloi de tines, hypostēsamenoi athanaton kai asōmaton tēn psychēn, oute kakon ti drasantes hēgountai dōsein dikēn (apathes gar to asōmaton), oute, athanatou autēs hyparchousēs, deontai ti tou theou eti.
And it is not hard to see where this ends for them: those who hold these views have license and freedom to say and do whatever they wish, neither fearing punishment nor hoping for any good from God. How could they? They say that the same things will always be, and that I and you will live again in the same way, having become neither better nor worse. And others, supposing the soul immortal and incorporeal, think that they will neither pay any penalty if they do wrong (for what is incorporeal cannot suffer), nor, since it is immortal, do they need anything from God any longer.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Such views, Justin says, lead to moral license: the Stoics' endless cycles and the Platonists' untouchable immortal soul.
- The first group are the Stoics (eternal recurrence of the same world); the second are Platonists.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 1.5 (Archambault 1:6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-1-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
1.6Archambault 1:6–8
Καὶ ὅς ἀστεῖον ὑπομειδιάσας· Σὺ δὲ πῶς, ἔφη, περὶ τούτων φρονεῖς καὶ τίνα γνώμην περὶ θεοῦ ἔχεις καὶ τίς ἡ σὴ φιλοσοφία, εἰπὲ ἡμῖν.
Kai hos asteion hypomeidiasas; Sy de pōs, ephē, peri toutōn phroneis kai tina gnōmēn peri theou echeis kai tis hē sē philosophia, eipe hēmin.
And he smiled politely and said, “But what do you think about these things, and what opinion do you hold about God, and what is your philosophy? Tell us.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Trypho asks Justin about his own philosophy.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent)): εἰπὲ ἡμὶν → εἰπὲ ἡμῖν.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 1.6 (Archambault 1:6–8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-1-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 2
2.1Archambault 1:8
Ἐγώ σοι, ἔφην, ἐρῶ ὅ γέ μοι καταφαίνεται. Ἔστι γὰρ τῷ ὄντι φιλοσοφία μέγιστον κτῆμα καὶ τιμιώτατον θεῷ, ᾧ τε προσάγει καὶ συνίστησιν ἡμᾶς μόνη, καὶ ὅσιοι ὡς ἀληθῶς οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ φιλοσοφίᾳ τὸν νοῦν προσεσχηκότες. Τί ποτε δέ ἐστι φιλοσοφία καὶ οὗ χάριν κατεπέμφθη εἰς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, τοὺς πολλοὺς λέληθεν; οὐ γὰρ ἂν Πλατωνικοὶ ἦσαν οὐδὲ Στωϊκοὶ οὐδὲ Περιπατητικοὶ οὐδὲ Θεωρητικοὶ οὐδὲ Πυθαγορικοί, μιᾶς οὔσης ταύτης ἐπιστήμης.
Egō soi, ephēn, erō ho ge moi kataphainetai. Esti gar tǭ onti philosophia megiston ktēma kai timiōtaton theǭ, hǭ te prosagei kai synistēsin hēmas monē, kai hosioi hōs alēthōs houtoi eisin hoi philosophią ton noun proseschēkotes. Ti pote de esti philosophia kai hou charin katepemphthē eis tous anthrōpous, tous pollous lelēthen? ou gar an Platōnikoi ēsan oude Stōïkoi oude Peripatētikoi oude Theōrētikoi oude Pythagorikoi, mias ousēs tautēs epistēmēs.
“I will tell you,” I said, “what seems clear to me. Philosophy is in fact the greatest possession and most precious to God, to whom it alone leads us and commends us; and those who have given their minds to philosophy are truly holy. But what philosophy is, and why it was sent down to men, has escaped most people; for otherwise there would not be Platonists, or Stoics, or Peripatetics, or Theoretics, or Pythagoreans, since this knowledge is one.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Justin begins: philosophy is one and leads to God, yet it has split into many schools.
- “Theoretics”: perhaps the Skeptics, or a scribal error; the name is otherwise unknown as a school.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 2.1 (Archambault 1:8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-2-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
2.2Archambault 1:8
Οὗ δὲ χάριν πολύκρανος ἐγενήθη, θέλω εἰπεῖν. Συνέβη τοῖς πρώτοις ἁψαμένοις αὐτῆς καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐνδόξοις γενομένοις ἀκολουθῆσαι τοὺς ἔπειτα μηδὲν ἐξετάσαντας ἀληθείας πέρι, καταπλαγέντας δὲ μόνον τὴν καρτερίαν αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν ἐγκράτειαν καὶ τὸ ξένον τῶν λόγων ταῦτα ἀληθῆ νομίσαι ἅ παρὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου ἕκαστος ἔμαθεν, εἶτα καὶ αὐτούς, τοῖς ἔπειτα παραδόντας τοιαῦτα ἅττα καὶ ἄλλα τούτοις προσεοικότα, τοῦτο κληθῆναι τοὔνομα, ὅπερ ἐκαλεῖτο ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ λόγου.
Hou de charin polykranos egenēthē, thelō eipein. Synebē tois prōtois hapsamenois autēs kai dia touto endoxois genomenois akolouthēsai tous epeita mēden exetasantas alētheias peri, kataplagentas de monon tēn karterian autōn kai tēn enkrateian kai to xenon tōn logōn tauta alēthē nomisai ha para tou didaskalou hekastos emathen, eita kai autous, tois epeita paradontas toiauta hatta kai alla toutois proseoikota, touto klēthēnai tounoma, hoper ekaleito ho patēr tou logou.
I want to say why it became many-headed. It happened that those who first took hold of it, and became famous for that reason, were followed by those after them, who examined nothing about the truth, but, merely amazed at their endurance and self-control and the strangeness of their words, thought true what each had learned from his teacher; and then they too, handing on such things and others like them to those who came after, were called by the name borne by the father of the teaching.
Notes and citation
Summary: The schools arose because disciples followed famous teachers instead of seeking the truth.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 2.2 (Archambault 1:8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-2-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
2.3Archambault 1:8–10
Ἐγώ τε κατʼ ἀρχὰς οὕτω ποθῶν καὶ αὐτὸς συμβαλεῖν τούτων ἑνί, ἐπέδωκα ἐμαυτὸν Στωϊκῷ τινι· καὶ διατρίψας ἱκανὸν μετʼ αὐτοῦ χρόνον, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲν πλέον ἐγίνετό μοι περὶ θεοῦ (οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἠπίστατο, οὐδὲ ἀναγκαίαν ἔλεγε ταύτην εἶναι τὴν μάθησιν), τούτου μὲν ἀπηλλάγην, ἐπʼ ἄλλον δὲ ἦκα, Περιπατητικὸν καλούμενον, δριμύν, ὡς ᾤετο. Καί μου ἀνασχόμενος οὗτος τὰς πρώτας ἡμέρας ἠξίου με ἔπειτα μισθὸν ὁρίσαι, ὡς μὴ ἀνωφελὴς ἡ συνουσία γίνοιτο ἡμῖν. Καὶ αὐτὸν ἐγὼ διὰ ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν κατέλιπον, μηδὲ φιλόσοφον οἰηθεὶς ὅλως.
Egō te katʼ archas houtō pothōn kai autos symbalein toutōn heni, epedōka emauton Stōïkǭ tini; kai diatripsas hikanon metʼ autou chronon, epei ouden pleon egineto moi peri theou (oude gar autos ēpistato, oude anankaian elege tautēn einai tēn mathēsin), toutou men apēllagēn, epʼ allon de ēka, Peripatētikon kaloumenon, drimyn, hōs ǭeto. Kai mou anaschomenos houtos tas prōtas hēmeras ēxiou me epeita misthon horisai, hōs mē anōphelēs hē synousia ginoito hēmin. Kai auton egō dia tautēn tēn aitian katelipon, mēde philosophon oiētheis holōs.
At first, wishing myself too to meet one of these, I gave myself to a certain Stoic; and after spending a good deal of time with him, when I gained nothing more about God (for he did not know himself, and said this knowledge was not necessary), I left him and went to another, called a Peripatetic, shrewd, as he thought. And this man, after putting up with me for the first few days, asked me to set a fee, so that our association might not be unprofitable to us. And I left him too for this reason, thinking him no philosopher at all.
Notes and citation
Summary: Justin tried a Stoic, who knew nothing of God, and a Peripatetic, who wanted a fee.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (damaged spot in the digital text; restored from the sense): δριμ(??)ν → δριμύν.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 2.3 (Archambault 1:8–10; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-2-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
2.4Archambault 1:10
Τῆς δὲ ψυχῆς ἔτι μου σπαργώσης ἀκοῦσαι τὸ ἴδιον καὶ τὸ ἐξαίρετον τῆς φιλοσοφίας, προσῆλθον εὐδοκιμοῦντι μάλιστα Πυθαγορείῳ, ἀνδρὶ πολὺ ἐπὶ τῇ σοφίᾳ φρονοῦντι. Κἄπειτα ὡς διελέχθην αὐτῷ, βουλόμενος ἀκροατὴς αὐτοῦ καὶ συνουσιαστὴς γενέσθαι· Τί δαί; Ὡμίλησας, ἔφη, μουσικῇ καὶ ἀστρονομίᾳ καὶ γεωμετρίᾳ; Ἢ δοκεῖς κατόψεσθαί τι τῶν εἰς εὐδαιμονίαν συντελούντων, εἰ μὴ ταῦτα πρῶτον διδαχθείης, ἃ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τῶν αἰσθητῶν περισπάσει καὶ τοῖς νοητοῖς αὐτὴν παρασκευάσει χρησίμην, ὥστε αὐτὸ κατιδεῖν τὸ καλὸν καὶ αὐτὸ ὅ ἐστιν ἀγαθόν;
Tēs de psychēs eti mou spargōsēs akousai to idion kai to exaireton tēs philosophias, prosēlthon eudokimounti malista Pythagoreiǭ, andri poly epi tę̄ sophią phronounti. Kapeita hōs dielechthēn autǭ, boulomenos akroatēs autou kai synousiastēs genesthai; Ti dai? Hōmilēsas, ephē, mousikę̄ kai astronomią kai geōmetrią? Ē dokeis katopsesthai ti tōn eis eudaimonian syntelountōn, ei mē tauta prōton didachtheiēs, ha tēn psychēn apo tōn aisthētōn perispasei kai tois noētois autēn paraskeuasei chrēsimēn, hōste auto katidein to kalon kai auto ho estin agathon?
But since my soul was still eager to hear what is proper and excellent in philosophy, I went to a very famous Pythagorean, a man who thought much of his wisdom. And when I spoke to him, wishing to become his hearer and disciple, he said, “Well then, have you studied music and astronomy and geometry? Or do you think you will see any of the things that lead to happiness unless you are first taught these, which will draw the soul away from the things of sense and make it fit for the things of the mind, so that it may see the beautiful itself and what the good itself is?”
Notes and citation
Summary: A Pythagorean required him first to study music, astronomy, and geometry.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (missing iota subscript); digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent)): μουσικῆ → μουσικῇ; Ἤ δοκεῖς → Ἢ δοκεῖς.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 2.4 (Archambault 1:10; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-2-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
2.5Archambault 1:10
Πολλά τε ἐπαινέσας ταῦτα τὰ μαθήματα καὶ ἀναγκαῖα εἰπὼν ἀπέπεμπέ με, ἐπεὶ αὐτῷ ὡμολόγησα μὴ εἰδέναι. Ἐδυσφόρουν οὖν, ὡς τὸ εἰκός, ἀποτυχὼν τῆς ἐλπίδος, καὶ μᾶλλον ᾗ ἐπίστασθαί τι αὐτὸν ᾠόμην· πάλιν τε τὸν χρόνον σκοπῶν, ὅν ἔμελλον ἐκτρίβειν περὶ ἐκεῖνα τὰ μαθήματα, οὐκ ἠνειχόμην εἰς μακρὰν ἀποτιθέμενος.
Polla te epainesas tauta ta mathēmata kai anankaia eipōn apepempe me, epei autǭ hōmologēsa mē eidenai. Edysphoroun oun, hōs to eikos, apotychōn tēs elpidos, kai mallon hę̄ epistasthai ti auton ǭomēn; palin te ton chronon skopōn, hon emellon ektribein peri ekeina ta mathēmata, ouk ēneichomēn eis makran apotithemenos.
And after praising these studies at length and calling them necessary, he sent me away, since I admitted to him that I did not know them. So I was vexed, naturally, at failing in my hope, and all the more because I thought he knew something; and again, considering the time I would have to spend on those studies, I could not bear to put it off so long.
Notes and citation
Summary: Sent away, Justin was unwilling to spend years on preliminary studies.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 2.5 (Archambault 1:10; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-2-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
2.6Archambault 1:10–12
Ἐν ἀμηχανίᾳ δέ μου ὄντος ἔδοξέ μοι καὶ τοῖς Πλατωνικοῖς ἐντυχεῖν· πολὺ γὰρ καὶ τούτων ἦν κλέος. Καὶ δὴ νεωστὶ ἐπιδημήσαντι τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ πόλει συνετῷ ἀνδρὶ καὶ προὔχοντι ἐν τοῖς Πλατωνικοῖς συνδιέτριβον ὡς τὰ μάλιστα, καὶ προέκοπτον καὶ πλεῖστον ὅσον ἑκάστης ἡμέρας ἐπεδίδουν. Καί με ᾕρει σφόδρα ἡ τῶν ἀσωμάτων νόησις, καὶ ἡ θεωρία τῶν ἰδεῶν· ἀνεπτέρου μοι τὴν φρόνησιν, ὀλίγου τε ἐντὸς χρόνου ᾤμην σοφὸς γεγονέναι, καὶ ὑπὸ βλακείας ἤλπιζον αὐτίκα κατόψεσθαι τὸν θεόν· τοῦτο γὰρ τέλος τῆς Πλάτωνος φιλοσοφίας.
En amēchanią de mou ontos edoxe moi kai tois Platōnikois entychein; poly gar kai toutōn ēn kleos. Kai dē neōsti epidēmēsanti tę̄ hēmeterą polei synetǭ andri kai prouchonti en tois Platōnikois syndietribon hōs ta malista, kai proekopton kai pleiston hoson hekastēs hēmeras epedidoun. Kai me hę̄rei sphodra hē tōn asōmatōn noēsis, kai hē theōria tōn ideōn; anepterou moi tēn phronēsin, oligou te entos chronou ǭmēn sophos gegonenai, kai hypo blakeias ēlpizon autika katopsesthai ton theon; touto gar telos tēs Platōnos philosophias.
While I was at a loss, I decided to try the Platonists too; for their fame was great. And indeed I spent as much time as I could with an intelligent man, who had lately come to our city and was preeminent among the Platonists, and I made progress and advanced more every day. The contemplation of incorporeal things greatly captivated me, and the vision of the Forms gave wings to my mind; and in a short time I thought I had become wise, and in my folly I hoped at once to see God; for this is the goal of Plato's philosophy.
Notes and citation
Summary: Among the Platonists Justin made rapid progress and hoped soon to see God.
- “Gave wings to my mind”: an echo of Plato, Phaedrus 246–249.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (damaged spot in the digital text; restored from the sense): πολ(??) → πολὺ.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaedr. 246–249 (Plato (works); echo)
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 2.6 (Archambault 1:10–12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-2-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 3
3.1Archambault 1:12–14
Καί μου οὕτως διακειμένου ἐπεὶ ἔδοξέ ποτε πολλῆς ἠρεμίας ἐμφορηθῆναι καὶ τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀλεεῖναι πάτον, ἐπορευόμην εἴς τι χωρίον οὐ μακρὰν θαλάσσης. Πλησίον δέ μου γενομένου ἐκείνου τοῦ τόπου, ἔνθα ἔμελλον ἀφικόμενος πρὸς ἐμαυτῷ ἔσεσθαι, παλαιός τις πρεσβύτης, ἰδέσθαι οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητος, πρᾷον καὶ σεμνὸν ἦθος ἐμφαίνων, ὀλίγον ἀποδέων μου παρείπετο. Ὡς δὲ ἐπεστράφην εἰς αὐτόν, ὑποστάς ἐνητένισα δριμύτερον αὐτῷ.
Kai mou houtōs diakeimenou epei edoxe pote pollēs ēremias emphorēthēnai kai ton tōn anthrōpōn aleeinai paton, eporeuomēn eis ti chōrion ou makran thalassēs. Plēsion de mou genomenou ekeinou tou topou, entha emellon aphikomenos pros emautǭ esesthai, palaios tis presbytēs, idesthai ouk eukataphronētos, prąon kai semnon ēthos emphainōn, oligon apodeōn mou pareipeto. Hōs de epestraphēn eis auton, hypostas enētenisa drimyteron autǭ.
And while I was in this state, since I once wished to be filled with great quiet and to avoid the paths of men, I went to a certain place not far from the sea. And when I was near that spot, where I meant to be alone with myself on arriving, an old man, not contemptible in appearance, showing a gentle and dignified character, followed me at a little distance. And when I turned toward him, I stopped and looked at him keenly.
Notes and citation
Summary: Walking alone near the sea, Justin meets a dignified old man.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 3.1 (Archambault 1:12–14; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-3-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
3.2Archambault 1:14
Καὶ ὅς· Γνωρίζεις με; ἔφη. Ἠρνησάμην ἐγώ. Τί οὖν, μοι ἔφη, οὕτως με κατανοεῖς; Θαυμάζω, ἔφην, ὅτι ἔτυχες ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ μοι γενέσθαι· οὐ γὰρ προσεδόκησα ὄψεσθαί τινα ἀνδρῶν ἐνθάδε. Ὁ δέ· Οἰκείων τινῶν, φησί μοι, πεφρόντικα. Οὗτοι δέ μοί εἰσιν ἀπόδημοι· ἔρχομαι οὖν καὶ αὐτὸς σκοπήσων τὰ περὶ αὐτούς, εἰ ἄρα φανήσονταί ποθεν. Σὺ δὲ τί ἐνθάδε; ἐμοὶ ἐκεῖνος. Χαίρω, ἔφην, ταῖς τοιαύταις διατριβαῖς· ἀνεμπόδιστος γάρ μοι ὁ διάλογος πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν γίνεται, φιλολογίᾳ τε ἀνυτικώτατά ἐστι τὰ τοιάδε χωρία.
Kai hos; Gnōrizeis me? ephē. Ērnēsamēn egō. Ti oun, moi ephē, houtōs me katanoeis? Thaumazō, ephēn, hoti etyches en tǭ autǭ moi genesthai; ou gar prosedokēsa opsesthai tina andrōn enthade. Ho de; Oikeiōn tinōn, phēsi moi, pephrontika. Houtoi de moi eisin apodēmoi; erchomai oun kai autos skopēsōn ta peri autous, ei ara phanēsontai pothen. Sy de ti enthade? emoi ekeinos. Chairō, ephēn, tais toiautais diatribais; anempodistos gar moi ho dialogos pros emauton ginetai, philologią te anytikōtata esti ta toiade chōria.
And he said, “Do you know me?” I said no. “Why then,” he said to me, “do you look at me so?” “I am surprised,” I said, “that you happened to be in the same place as I; for I did not expect to see anyone here.” And he said to me, “I am concerned about some of my household. They are away from home; so I have come myself to look out for them, in case they appear from somewhere. But what are you doing here?” “I enjoy such walks,” I said, “for here my conversation with myself is unhindered, and such places are most suitable for the love of discussion.”
Notes and citation
Summary: The old man is waiting for members of his household; Justin says he comes there to think.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent)): Τί οὗν, μοι ἔφη → Τί οὖν, μοι ἔφη.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 3.2 (Archambault 1:14; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-3-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
3.3Archambault 1:14–16
Φιλόλογος οὖν τις εἶ σύ, ἔφη, φιλεργὸς δὲ οὐδαμῶς οὐδὲ φιλαλήθης, οὐδὲ πειρᾷ πρακτικὸς εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ σοφιστής; Τί δʼ ἄν, ἔφην ἐγώ, τούτου μεῖζον ἔργον ἄν τις ἐργάσαιτο, τοῦ δεῖξαι μὲν τὸν λόγον ἡγεμονεύοντα πάντων, συλλαβόντα δὲ καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ ὀχούμενον καθορᾶν τὴν τῶν ἄλλων πλάνην καὶ τὰ ἐκείνων ἐπιτηδεύματα, ὡς οὐδὲν ὑγιὲς δρῶσιν οὐδὲ θεῷ φίλον; Ἄνευ δὲ φιλοσοφίας καὶ ὀρθοῦ λόγου οὐκ ἄν τῳ παρείη φρόνησις. Διὸ χρὴ πάντα ἄνθρωπον φιλοσοφεῖν καὶ τοῦτο μέγιστον καὶ τιμιώτατον ἔργον ἡγεῖσθαι, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ δεύτερα καὶ τρίτα, καὶ φιλοσοφίας μὲν ἀπηρτημένα μέτρια καὶ ἀποδοχῆς ἄξια, στερηθέντα δὲ ταύτης καὶ μὴ παρεπομένης τοῖς μεταχειριζομένοις αὐτὰ φορτικὰ καὶ βάναυσα.
Philologos oun tis ei sy, ephē, philergos de oudamōs oude philalēthēs, oude peirą praktikos einai mallon ē sophistēs? Ti dʼ an, ephēn egō, toutou meizon ergon an tis ergasaito, tou deixai men ton logon hēgemoneuonta pantōn, syllabonta de kai epʼ autǭ ochoumenon kathoran tēn tōn allōn planēn kai ta ekeinōn epitēdeumata, hōs ouden hygies drōsin oude theǭ philon? Aneu de philosophias kai orthou logou ouk an tǭ pareiē phronēsis. Dio chrē panta anthrōpon philosophein kai touto megiston kai timiōtaton ergon hēgeisthai, ta de loipa deutera kai trita, kai philosophias men apērtēmena metria kai apodochēs axia, sterēthenta de tautēs kai mē parepomenēs tois metacheirizomenois auta phortika kai banausa.
“You are a lover of words, then,” he said, “but not at all a lover of deeds or of truth, and you do not try to be practical rather than a sophist?” “And what greater work could anyone do,” I said, “than to show that reason rules all things, and, having grasped it and riding upon it, to look down on the errors of others and their pursuits, how they do nothing sound or pleasing to God? Without philosophy and right reason no one could have understanding. That is why every man should practice philosophy and consider it the greatest and most honorable work, and everything else second and third; things that depend on philosophy are of moderate worth and acceptable, but, deprived of it and not accompanied by it in those who handle them, they are vulgar and base.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Justin defends philosophy as the highest work.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 3.3 (Archambault 1:14–16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-3-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
3.4Archambault 1:16
Ἦ οὖν φιλοσοφία εὐδαιμονίαν ποιεῖ; ἔφη ὑποτυχὼν ἐκεῖνος. Καὶ μάλιστα, ἔφην ἐγώ, καὶ μόνη. Τί γάρ ἐστι φιλοσοφία, φησί, καὶ τίς ἡ εὐδαιμονία αὐτῆς, εἰ μή τι κωλύει φράζειν, φράσον. Φιλοσοφία μέν, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, ἐπιστήμη ἐστὶ τοῦ ὄντος καὶ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς ἐπίγνωσις, εὐδαιμονία δὲ ταύτης τῆς ἐπιστήμης καὶ τῆς σοφίας γέρας.
Ē oun philosophia eudaimonian poiei? ephē hypotychōn ekeinos. Kai malista, ephēn egō, kai monē. Ti gar esti philosophia, phēsi, kai tis hē eudaimonia autēs, ei mē ti kōlyei phrazein, phrason. Philosophia men, ēn dʼ egō, epistēmē esti tou ontos kai tou alēthous epignōsis, eudaimonia de tautēs tēs epistēmēs kai tēs sophias geras.
“Does philosophy, then, produce happiness?” he answered. “Certainly,” I said, “and it alone.” “What is philosophy,” he said, “and what is the happiness it gives? Tell me, if nothing prevents you.” “Philosophy,” I said, “is knowledge of what is and understanding of the truth, and happiness is the reward of this knowledge and wisdom.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Justin defines philosophy as knowledge of being and truth.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 3.4 (Archambault 1:16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-3-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
3.5Archambault 1:16–18
Θεὸν δὲ σὺ τί καλεῖς; ἔφη. Τὸ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἀεὶ ἔχον καὶ τοῦ εἶναι πᾶσι τοῖς ἄλλοις αἴτιον, τοῦτο δή ἐστιν ὁ θεός. Οὕτως ἐγὼ ἀπεκρινάμην αὐτῷ· καὶ ἐτέρπετο ἐκεῖνος ἀκούων μου, οὕτως τέ με ἤρετο πάλιν. Ἐπιστήμη οὐκ ἔστι κοινὸν ὄνομα διαφόρων πραγμάτων; Ἔν τε γὰρ ταῖς τέχναις ἀπάσαις ὁ ἐπιστάμενος τούτων τινὰ ἐπιστήμων καλεῖται, ἔν τε στρατηγικῇ καὶ κυβερνητικῇ καὶ ἰατρικῇ ὁμοίως. Ἔν τε τοῖς θείοις καὶ ἀνθρωπείοις οὐχ οὕτως ἔχει. Ἐπιστήμη τίς ἐστιν ἡ παρέχουσα αὐτῶν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων καὶ τῶν θείων γνῶσιν, ἔπειτα τῆς τούτων θειότητος καὶ δικαιοσύνης ἐπίγνωσιν; Καὶ μάλα, ἔφην.
Theon de sy ti kaleis? ephē. To kata ta auta kai hōsautōs aei echon kai tou einai pasi tois allois aition, touto dē estin ho theos. Houtōs egō apekrinamēn autǭ; kai eterpeto ekeinos akouōn mou, houtōs te me ēreto palin. Epistēmē ouk esti koinon onoma diaphorōn pragmatōn? En te gar tais technais apasais ho epistamenos toutōn tina epistēmōn kaleitai, en te stratēgikę̄ kai kybernētikę̄ kai iatrikę̄ homoiōs. En te tois theiois kai anthrōpeiois ouch houtōs echei. Epistēmē tis estin hē parechousa autōn tōn anthrōpinōn kai tōn theiōn gnōsin, epeita tēs toutōn theiotētos kai dikaiosynēs epignōsin? Kai mala, ephēn.
“And what do you call God?” he said. “That which is always the same and in the same way, and is the cause of existence to all other things: that is God.” So I answered him; and he was pleased to hear me, and asked me again: “Is not ‘knowledge’ a common name for different things? For in all the arts the one who knows any of them is called skilled, and likewise in generalship and navigation and medicine. But it is not so in divine and human things. Is there a knowledge that gives understanding of human and divine things themselves, and then of their divinity and justice?” “Certainly,” I said.
Notes and citation
Summary: The old man asks what God is, and whether knowledge of God is like knowledge of an art.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 3.5 (Archambault 1:16–18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-3-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
3.6Archambault 1:18
Τί οὖν; Ὁμοίως ἐστὶν ἄνθρωπον εἰδέναι καὶ θεόν, ὡς μουσικὴν καὶ ἀριθμητικὴν καὶ ἀστρονομίαν ἤ τι τοιοῦτον; Οὐδαμῶς, ἔφην. Οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἄρα ἀπεκρίθης ἐμοί, ἔφη ἐκεῖνος· αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ μαθήσεως προσγίνονται ἡμῖν ἢ διατριβῆς τινος, αἱ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ἰδέσθαι παρέχουσι τὴν ἐπιστήμην. Εἴ γέ σοι λέγοι τις ὅτι ἐστὶν ἐν Ἰνδίᾳ ζῶον φυὴν οὐχ ὅμοιον τοῖς ἄλλοις πᾶσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖον ἢ τοῖον, πολυειδὲς καὶ ποικίλον, οὐκ ἄν πρότερον εἰδείης ἢ ἴδοις αὐτό, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ λόγον ἄν ἔχοις εἰπεῖν αὐτοῦ τινα εἰ μὴ ἀκούσαις τοῦ ἑωρακότος.
Ti oun? Homoiōs estin anthrōpon eidenai kai theon, hōs mousikēn kai arithmētikēn kai astronomian ē ti toiouton? Oudamōs, ephēn. Ouk orthōs ara apekrithēs emoi, ephē ekeinos; hai men gar ek mathēseōs prosginontai hēmin ē diatribēs tinos, hai de ek tou idesthai parechousi tēn epistēmēn. Ei ge soi legoi tis hoti estin en Indią zōon phyēn ouch homoion tois allois pasin, alla toion ē toion, polyeides kai poikilon, ouk an proteron eideiēs ē idois auto, allʼ oude logon an echois eipein autou tina ei mē akousais tou heōrakotos.
“What then? Is it the same to know man and God as to know music and arithmetic and astronomy or something of that kind?” “Not at all,” I said. “Then you did not answer me correctly,” he said; “for some kinds of knowledge come to us from learning or some practice, but others give knowledge by seeing. If someone told you that in India there is an animal unlike all others in nature, but of such and such a kind, many-formed and varied, you would not know it before you saw it, nor could you give any account of it unless you heard from someone who had seen it.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Some things are known only by seeing, or from one who has seen.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent); digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong breathing)): ἢ τι τοιοῦτον → ἤ τι τοιοῦτον; ἡμῖν ἣ διατριβῆς → ἡμῖν ἢ διατριβῆς.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 3.6 (Archambault 1:18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-3-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
3.7Archambault 1:18
Οὐ γάρ, φημί. Πῶς οὖν ἄν, ἔφη, περὶ θεοῦ ὀρθῶς φρονοῖεν οἱ φιλόσοφοι ἢ λέγοιέν τι ἀληθές, ἐπιστήμην αὐτοῦ μὴ ἔχοντες, μηδὲ ἰδόντες ποτὲ ἢ ἀκούσαντες; Ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἔστιν ὀφθαλμοῖς, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, αὐτοῖς, πάτερ, ὁρατὸν τὸ θεῖον ὡς τὰ ἄλλα ζῶα, ἀλλὰ μόνῳ νῷ καταληπτόν, ὥς φησι Πλάτων, καὶ ἐγὼ πείθομαι αὐτῷ.
Ou gar, phēmi. Pōs oun an, ephē, peri theou orthōs phronoien hoi philosophoi ē legoien ti alēthes, epistēmēn autou mē echontes, mēde idontes pote ē akousantes? Allʼ ouk estin ophthalmois, ēn dʼ egō, autois, pater, horaton to theion hōs ta alla zōa, alla monǭ nǭ katalēpton, hōs phēsi Platōn, kai egō peithomai autǭ.
“No,” I said. “How then,” he said, “could the philosophers think correctly about God or say anything true, when they have no knowledge of him, having never seen or heard him?” “But the divine, father,” I said, “is not visible to the eyes as other living things are, but can be grasped by the mind alone, as Plato says; and I believe him.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Justin answers that God is seen by the mind alone, as Plato says.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent)): αὐτοὺ μὴ ἔχοντες → αὐτοῦ μὴ ἔχοντες.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaedr. 247c (Plato (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 3.7 (Archambault 1:18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-3-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 4
4.1Archambault 1:18–20
Ἔστιν οὖν, φησί, τῷ νῷ ἡμῶν τοιαύτη τις καὶ τοσαύτη δύναμις, ἢ μὴ τὸ ὄν διʼ αἰσθήσεως ἔλαβεν; Ἦ τὸν θεὸν ἀνθρώπου νοῦς ὄψεταί ποτε μὴ ἁγίῳ πνεύματι κεκοσμημένος; Φησὶ γὰρ Πλάτων, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, αὐτὸ τοιοῦτον εἶναι τὸ τοῦ νοῦ ὄμμα καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο ἡμῖν δεδόσθαι, ὡς δύνασθαι καθορᾶν αὐτὸ ἐκεῖνο τὸ ὄν εἰλικρινεῖ αὐτῷ ἐκείνῳ, ὅ τῶν νοητῶν ἁπάντων ἐστὶν αἴτιον, οὐ χρῶμα ἔχον, οὐ σχῆμα, οὐ μέγεθος, οὐδὲ οὐδὲν ὧν ὀφθαλμὸς βλέπει· ἀλλά τι ὅν τοῦτʼ αὐτό, φησί, ὂν ἐπέκεινα πάσης οὐσίας, οὔτε ῥητὸν οὔτε ἀγορευτόν, ἀλλὰ μόνον καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθόν, ἐξαίφνης ταῖς εὖ πεφυκυίαις ψυχαῖς ἐγγινόμενον διὰ τὸ συγγενὲς καὶ ἔρωτα τοῦ ἰδέσθαι.
Estin oun, phēsi, tǭ nǭ hēmōn toiautē tis kai tosautē dynamis, ē mē to on diʼ aisthēseōs elaben? Ē ton theon anthrōpou nous opsetai pote mē hagiǭ pneumati kekosmēmenos? Phēsi gar Platōn, ēn dʼ egō, auto toiouton einai to tou nou omma kai pros touto hēmin dedosthai, hōs dynasthai kathoran auto ekeino to on eilikrinei autǭ ekeinǭ, ho tōn noētōn hapantōn estin aition, ou chrōma echon, ou schēma, ou megethos, oude ouden hōn ophthalmos blepei; alla ti hon toutʼ auto, phēsi, on epekeina pasēs ousias, oute rhēton oute agoreuton, alla monon kalon kai agathon, exaiphnēs tais eu pephykuiais psychais enginomenon dia to syngenes kai erōta tou idesthai.
“Is there then,” he said, “such and so great a power in our mind? Or does it grasp being otherwise than through sense perception? Will the mind of man ever see God unless it is adorned with the Holy Spirit?” “Plato says,” I said, “that the eye of the mind is of such a kind, and was given us for this purpose, that we might be able to see with it, pure itself, that very Being which is the cause of all things known to the mind, which has no color, no shape, no size, nor anything that the eye sees; but is something, he says, that is beyond all essence, neither speakable nor expressible, but alone beautiful and good, coming suddenly into souls that are well endowed, because of their kinship with it and their longing to see it.”
Notes and citation
Summary: The old man asks whether the mind can see God without the Holy Spirit; Justin cites Plato on the eye of the mind.
- Justin combines phrases from Plato: Republic 509b (“beyond being”), Phaedrus 247c, Seventh Letter 341c (“suddenly”).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip (missing space); digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent)): οὕτε ἀγορευτόν → οὔτε ἀγορευτόν; καλὸνκαὶ → καλὸν καὶ.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 509b (Plato (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 4.1 (Archambault 1:18–20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-4-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
4.2Archambault 1:20–22
Τίς οὖν ἡμῖν, ἔλεγε, συγγένεια πρὸς τὸν θεόν ἐστιν; Ἢ καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ θεία καὶ ἀθάνατός ἐστι καὶ αὐτοῦ ἐκείνου τοῦ βασιλικοῦ νοῦ μέρος; Ὡς δὲ ἐκεῖνος ὁρᾷ τὸν θεόν, οὕτως καὶ ἡμῖν ἐφικτὸν τῷ ἡμετέρῳ νῷ συλλαβεῖν τὸ θεῖον καὶ τοὐντεῦθεν ἤδη εὐδαιμονεῖν; Πάνυ μὲν οὖν, ἔφην. Πᾶσαι δʼ αὐτὸ διὰ πάντων αἱ ψυχαὶ χωροῦσι τῶν ζώων, ἠρώτα, ἢ ἄλλη μὲν ἀνθρώπου, ἄλλη δὲ ἵππου καὶ ὄνου; Οὔκ, ἀλλʼ αἱ αὐταὶ ἐν πᾶσίν εἰσιν, ἀπεκρινάμην.
Tis oun hēmin, elege, syngeneia pros ton theon estin? Ē kai hē psychē theia kai athanatos esti kai autou ekeinou tou basilikou nou meros? Hōs de ekeinos horą ton theon, houtōs kai hēmin ephikton tǭ hēmeterǭ nǭ syllabein to theion kai tounteuthen ēdē eudaimonein? Pany men oun, ephēn. Pasai dʼ auto dia pantōn hai psychai chōrousi tōn zōōn, ērōta, ē allē men anthrōpou, allē de hippou kai onou? Ouk, allʼ hai autai en pasin eisin, apekrinamēn.
“What kinship, then,” he said, “do we have with God? Is the soul too divine and immortal and a part of that royal mind? And as that mind sees God, so is it possible for us too to grasp the divine with our mind and thereby to be happy?” “Certainly,” I said. “And do all the souls of all living things take it in,” he asked, “or is the soul of a man one thing and that of a horse or an ass another?” “No,” I answered, “they are the same in all.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Justin, as a Platonist, holds that the soul is divine and that all animals have the same kind of soul.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 4.2 (Archambault 1:20–22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-4-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
4.3Archambault 1:22
Ὄψονται ἄρα, φησί, καὶ ἵπποι καὶ ὄνοι ἢ εἶδόν ποτε τὸν θεόν; Οὔ, ἔφην· οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, εἰ μή τις ἐν δίκῃ βιώσαιτο, καθηράμενος δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ ἀρετῇ πάσῃ. Οὐκ ἄρα, ἔφη, διὰ τὸ συγγενὲς ὁρᾷ τὸν θεόν, οὐδʼ ὅτι νοῦς ἐστιν, ἀλλʼ ὅτι σώφρων καὶ δίκαιος; Ναί, ἔφην, καὶ διὰ τὸ ἔχειν ᾧ νοεῖ τὸν θεόν. Τί οὖν; Ἀδικοῦσί τινα αἶγες ἢ πρόβατα; Οὐδὲν οὐδένα, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ.
Opsontai ara, phēsi, kai hippoi kai onoi ē eidon pote ton theon? Ou, ephēn; oude gar hoi polloi tōn anthrōpōn, ei mē tis en dikę̄ biōsaito, kathēramenos dikaiosynę̄ kai tę̄ allę̄ aretę̄ pasę̄. Ouk ara, ephē, dia to syngenes horą ton theon, oudʼ hoti nous estin, allʼ hoti sōphrōn kai dikaios? Nai, ephēn, kai dia to echein hǭ noei ton theon. Ti oun? Adikousi tina aiges ē probata? Ouden oudena, ēn dʼ egō.
“Then horses and asses too,” he said, “will see, or have seen, God?” “No,” I said, “nor do most men, unless someone lives justly, purified by righteousness and every other virtue.” “Then he does not see God because of his kinship,” he said, “nor because he is a mind, but because he is self-controlled and just?” “Yes,” I said, “and because he has that by which he perceives God.” “What then? Do goats or sheep wrong anyone?” “No one in any way,” I said.
Notes and citation
Summary: Seeing God depends on virtue, not on kinship; yet animals do no wrong.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 4.3 (Archambault 1:22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-4-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
4.4Archambault 1:22
Ὄψονται ἄρα, φησί, κατὰ τὸν σὸν λόγον καὶ ταῦτα τὰ ζῶα; Οὔ· τὸ γὰρ σῶμα αὐτοῖς, τοιοῦτον ὄν, ἐμπόδιόν ἐστιν. Εἰ λάβοιεν φωνὴν τὰ ζῶα ταῦτα, ὑποτυχὼν ἐκεῖνος, εὖ ἴσθι ὅτι πολὺ ἂν εὐλογώτερον ἐκεῖνα τῷ ἡμετέρῳ σώματι λοιδοροῖντο· νῦν δʼ ἐάσωμεν οὕτω, καί σοι ὡς λέγεις συγκεχωρήσθω. Ἐκεῖνο δέ μοι εἰπέ· Ἕως ἐν τῷ σώματί ἐστιν ἡ ψυχὴ βλέπει, ἢ ἀπαλλαγεῖσα τούτου;
Opsontai ara, phēsi, kata ton son logon kai tauta ta zōa? Ou; to gar sōma autois, toiouton on, empodion estin. Ei laboien phōnēn ta zōa tauta, hypotychōn ekeinos, eu isthi hoti poly an eulogōteron ekeina tǭ hēmeterǭ sōmati loidorointo; nyn dʼ easōmen houtō, kai soi hōs legeis synkechōrēsthō. Ekeino de moi eipe; Heōs en tǭ sōmati estin hē psychē blepei, ē apallageisa toutou?
“Then by your reasoning,” he said, “these animals too will see?” “No; for their body, being what it is, is a hindrance to them.” “If these animals could speak,” he replied, “be sure that they would with much better reason abuse our body. But let us leave it so for now, and let it be granted to you as you say. But tell me this: does the soul see while it is in the body, or when it has been set free from it?”
Notes and citation
Summary: The old man presses Justin's Platonism with the example of animals.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent)): εὗ ἴσθι → εὖ ἴσθι.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 4.4 (Archambault 1:22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-4-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
4.5Archambault 1:22–24
Καὶ ἕως μέν ἐστιν ἐν ἀνθρώπου εἴδει, δυνατὸν αὐτῇ, φημί, ἐγγενέσθαι διὰ τοῦ νοῦ, μάλιστα δὲ ἀπολυθεῖσα τοῦ σώματος καὶ αὐτὴ καθʼ ἑαυτὴν γενομένη τυγχάνει οὗ ἤρα πάντα τὸν χρόνον. Ἦ καὶ μέμνηται τούτου πάλιν ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ γενομένη; Οὔ μοι δοκεῖ, ἔφην. Τί οὖν ὄφελος ταῖς ἰδούσαις, ἢ τί πλέον τοῦ μὴ ἰδόντος ὁ ἰδὼν ἔχει, εἰ μηδὲ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὅτι εἶδε μέμνηται;
Kai heōs men estin en anthrōpou eidei, dynaton autę̄, phēmi, engenesthai dia tou nou, malista de apolytheisa tou sōmatos kai autē kathʼ heautēn genomenē tynchanei hou ēra panta ton chronon. Ē kai memnētai toutou palin en anthrōpǭ genomenē? Ou moi dokei, ephēn. Ti oun ophelos tais idousais, ē ti pleon tou mē idontos ho idōn echei, ei mēde auto touto hoti eide memnētai?
“While it is in the form of a man,” I said, “it can attain it through the mind; but above all when it is freed from the body and comes to be by itself, it obtains what it longed for all the time.” “And does it remember this again when it comes into a man?” “I do not think so,” I said. “What profit, then, have those that saw, or what more has the one who saw than the one who did not, if he does not even remember that he saw?”
Notes and citation
Summary: If souls forget their vision of God when reborn, it profits them nothing.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (missing accent)): διὰ τοῦ νου → διὰ τοῦ νοῦ.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 4.5 (Archambault 1:22–24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-4-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
4.6Archambault 1:24
Οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ. Αἱ δὲ ἀνάξιαι ταύτης τῆς θέας κριθεῖσαι τί πάσχουσιν; ἔφη. Εἴς τινα θηρίων ἐνδεσμεύονται σώματα, καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶ κόλασις αὐτῶν. Οἴδασιν οὖν ὅτι διὰ ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν ἐν τοιούτοις εἰσὶ σώμασι καὶ ὅτι ἐξήμαρτόν τι; Οὐ νομίζω.
Ouk echō eipein, ēn dʼ egō. Hai de anaxiai tautēs tēs theas kritheisai ti paschousin? ephē. Eis tina thēriōn endesmeuontai sōmata, kai hautē esti kolasis autōn. Oidasin oun hoti dia tautēn tēn aitian en toioutois eisi sōmasi kai hoti exēmarton ti? Ou nomizō.
“I cannot say,” I said. “And what happens to those judged unworthy of this sight?” he said. “They are imprisoned in the bodies of certain wild beasts, and this is their punishment.” “Do they know, then, that it is for this reason that they are in such bodies, and that they have sinned?” “I do not think so.”
Notes and citation
Summary: The Platonist doctrine of transmigration as punishment is questioned.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 4.6 (Archambault 1:24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-4-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
4.7Archambault 1:24–26
Οὐδὲ ταύταις ἄρα ὄφελός τι τῆς κολάσεως, ὡς ἔοικεν· ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ κολάζεσθαι αὐτὰς λέγοιμι, εἰ μὴ ἀντιλαμβάνονται τῆς κολάσεως. Οὐ γάρ. Οὔτε οὖν δρῶσι τὸν θεὸν αἱ ψυχαί, οὔτε μεταμείβουσιν εἰς ἕτερα σώματα· ᾔδεσαν γὰρ ἂν ὅτι κολάζονται οὕτως, καὶ ἐφοβοῦντο ἂν καὶ τὸ τυχὸν ἐξαμαρτεῖν ὕστερον. Νοεῖν δὲ αὐτὰς δύνασθαι ὅτι ἔστι θεὸς καὶ δικαιοσύνη καὶ εὐσέβεια καλόν, κἀγὼ συντίθεμαι, ἔφη. Ὀρθῶς λέγεις, εἶπον.
Oude tautais ara ophelos ti tēs kolaseōs, hōs eoiken; allʼ oude kolazesthai autas legoimi, ei mē antilambanontai tēs kolaseōs. Ou gar. Oute oun drōsi ton theon hai psychai, oute metameibousin eis hetera sōmata; ę̄desan gar an hoti kolazontai houtōs, kai ephobounto an kai to tychon examartein hysteron. Noein de autas dynasthai hoti esti theos kai dikaiosynē kai eusebeia kalon, kagō syntithemai, ephē. Orthōs legeis, eipon.
“Then there is no profit to them from their punishment, it seems; indeed I would not say that they are punished at all, if they are not aware of the punishment.” “No indeed.” “So the souls neither see God, nor pass into other bodies; for they would know that they are punished in this way, and would be afraid to commit even a chance sin afterwards. But I too agree,” he said, “that they can perceive that God exists, and that righteousness and piety are good.” “You are right,” I said.
Notes and citation
Summary: Justin concedes that souls neither see God nor transmigrate, though they can know that God exists.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 4.7 (Archambault 1:24–26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-4-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 5
5.1Archambault 1:26–28
Οὐδὲν οὖν ἴσασι περὶ τούτων ἐκεῖνοι οἱ φιλόσοφοι· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὅ τί ποτέ ἐστι ψυχὴ ἔχουσιν εἰπεῖν. Οὐκ ἔοικεν. Οὐδὲ μὴν ἀθάνατον χρὴ λέγειν αὐτήν· ὅτι εἰ ἀθάνατός ἐστι, καὶ ἀγέννητος δηλαδή. Ἀγέννητος δὲ καὶ ἀθάνατός ἐστι κατά τινας λεγομένους Πλατωνικούς. Ἦ καὶ τὸν κόσμον σὺ ἀγέννητον λέγεις; Εἰσὶν οἱ λέγοντες, οὐ μέντοι γε αὐτοῖς συγκατατίθεμαι ἐγώ.
Ouden oun isasi peri toutōn ekeinoi hoi philosophoi; oude gar ho ti pote esti psychē echousin eipein. Ouk eoiken. Oude mēn athanaton chrē legein autēn; hoti ei athanatos esti, kai agennētos dēladē. Agennētos de kai athanatos esti kata tinas legomenous Platōnikous. Ē kai ton kosmon sy agennēton legeis? Eisin hoi legontes, ou mentoi ge autois synkatatithemai egō.
“Those philosophers, then, know nothing about these things; for they cannot even say what the soul is.” “It seems not.” “Nor indeed should one call it immortal; for if it is immortal, it is clearly also unbegotten.” “But it is unbegotten and immortal according to some who are called Platonists.” “Do you also say that the world is unbegotten?” “There are some who say so; but I do not agree with them.”
Notes and citation
Summary: The old man argues that if the soul were immortal by nature it would also be uncreated.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 5.1 (Archambault 1:26–28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-5-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
5.2Archambault 1:28–30
Ὀρθῶς ποιῶν. Τίνα γὰρ λόγον ἔχει σῶμα οὕτω στερεὸν καὶ ἀντιτυπίαν ἔχον καὶ σύνθετον καὶ ἀλλοιούμενον καὶ φθίνον καὶ γινόμενον ἑκάστης ἡμέρας μὴ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς τινος ἡγεῖσθαι γεγονέναι; Εἰ δὲ ὁ κόσμος γεννητός, ἀνάγκη καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς γεγονέναι καὶ οὐκ εἶναί ποι τάχα· διὰ γὰρ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐγένοντο καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ζῶα, εἰ ὅλως κατʼ ἰδίαν καὶ μὴ μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων σωμάτων φήσεις αὐτὰς γεγονέναι. Οὕτως δοκεῖ ὀρθῶς ἔχειν. Οὐκ ἄρα ἀθάνατοι. Οὔκ, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ὁ κόσμος γεννητὸς ἡμῖν ἐφάνη.
Orthōs poiōn. Tina gar logon echei sōma houtō stereon kai antitypian echon kai syntheton kai alloioumenon kai phthinon kai ginomenon hekastēs hēmeras mē apʼ archēs tinos hēgeisthai gegonenai? Ei de ho kosmos gennētos, anankē kai tas psychas gegonenai kai ouk einai poi tacha; dia gar tous anthrōpous egenonto kai ta alla zōa, ei holōs katʼ idian kai mē meta tōn idiōn sōmatōn phēseis autas gegonenai. Houtōs dokei orthōs echein. Ouk ara athanatoi. Ouk, epeidē kai ho kosmos gennētos hēmin ephanē.
“You are right. For what reason is there to think that a body so solid, which offers resistance, and is composite and changing and perishing and coming into being every day, did not come into being from some beginning? And if the world is begotten, the souls too must have come into being, and perhaps not exist somewhere; for they came into being for the sake of men and the other living things, if you say at all that they came into being separately and not with their own bodies.” “That seems right.” “Then they are not immortal.” “No, since the world too has appeared to us to be begotten.”
Notes and citation
Summary: The world had a beginning, and so did souls; so they are not immortal by nature.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent)): εἶναὶ ποι → εἶναί ποι.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 5.2 (Archambault 1:28–30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-5-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
5.3Archambault 1:30
Ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδὲ ἀποθνήσκειν φημὶ πάσας τὰς ψυχὰς ἐγώ· ἕρμαιον γὰρ ἦν ὡς ἀληθῶς τοῖς κακοῖς. Ἀλλὰ τί; Τὰς μὲν τῶν εὐσεβῶν ἐν κρείττονί ποι χώρῳ μένειν, τὰς δὲ ἀδίκους καὶ πονηρὰς ἐν χείρονι, τὸν τῆς κρίσεως ἐκδεχομένας χρόνον τότε. Οὕτως αἱ μέν, ἄξιαι τοῦ θεοῦ φανεῖσαι, οὐκ ἀποθνήσκουσιν ἔτι· αἱ δὲ κολάζονται, ἔστʼ ἂν αὐτὰς καὶ εἶναι καὶ κολάζεσθαι ὁ θεὸς θέλῃ.
Alla mēn oude apothnēskein phēmi pasas tas psychas egō; hermaion gar ēn hōs alēthōs tois kakois. Alla ti? Tas men tōn eusebōn en kreittoni poi chōrǭ menein, tas de adikous kai ponēras en cheironi, ton tēs kriseōs ekdechomenas chronon tote. Houtōs hai men, axiai tou theou phaneisai, ouk apothnēskousin eti; hai de kolazontai, estʼ an autas kai einai kai kolazesthai ho theos thelę̄.
“But I do not say that all souls die; for that would truly be a godsend to the wicked. What then? The souls of the godly remain in a better place, and those of the unjust and wicked in a worse, awaiting the time of judgment then. Thus some, having appeared worthy of God, die no more; and others are punished, as long as God wills them both to exist and to be punished.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Souls do not die at once: the godly and the wicked await judgment in different places.
- The old man's view, that souls live on only by God's will, was held by several early Christian writers; Justin does not clearly teach the later annihilation of the wicked, and the phrase “as long as God wills” is debated.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip (word split)): κολά ζονται → κολάζονται.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 5.3 (Archambault 1:30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-5-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
5.4Archambault 1:30–32
Ἆρα τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν ὅ λέγεις, οἷον καὶ Πλάτων ἐν Τιμαίῳ αἰνίσσεται περὶ τοῦ κόσμου, λέγων ὅτι αὐτὸς μὲν καὶ φθαρτός ἐστιν ᾗ γέγονεν, οὐ λυθήσεται δὲ οὐδὲ τεύξεται θανάτου μοίρας διὰ τὴν βούλησιν τοῦ θεοῦ; Τοῦτʼ αὐτό σοι δοκεῖ καὶ περὶ ψυχῆς καὶ ἀπλῶς πάντων πέρι λέγεσθαι; Ὅσα γάρ ἐστι μετὰ τὸν θεὸν ἢ ἔσται ποτέ, ταῦτα φύσιν φθαρτὴν ἔχειν, καὶ οἷά τε ἐξαφανισθῆναι καὶ μὴ εἶναι ἔτι· μόνος γὰρ ἀγέννητος καὶ ἄφθαρτος ὁ θεὸς καὶ διὰ τοῦτο θεός ἐστι, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ πάντα μετὰ τοῦτον γεννητὰ καὶ φθαρτά.
Ara toiouton estin ho legeis, hoion kai Platōn en Timaiǭ ainissetai peri tou kosmou, legōn hoti autos men kai phthartos estin hę̄ gegonen, ou lythēsetai de oude teuxetai thanatou moiras dia tēn boulēsin tou theou? Toutʼ auto soi dokei kai peri psychēs kai aplōs pantōn peri legesthai? Hosa gar esti meta ton theon ē estai pote, tauta physin phthartēn echein, kai hoia te exaphanisthēnai kai mē einai eti; monos gar agennētos kai aphthartos ho theos kai dia touto theos esti, ta de loipa panta meta touton gennēta kai phtharta.
“Is what you say something like what Plato hints in the Timaeus about the world, saying that it is indeed perishable insofar as it came into being, but that it will not be dissolved or meet the lot of death because of the will of God? Does the same seem to you to be said about the soul, and in a word about all things? For whatever exists after God, or will ever exist, has a perishable nature, and can be blotted out and exist no more; for God alone is unbegotten and incorruptible, and for this reason he is God, while all other things after him are begotten and perishable.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Only God is uncreated and imperishable; everything else exists by his will, as Plato hints in the Timaeus.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (damaged spot in the digital text; restored from the sense; digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent); digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong breathing); digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong diacritic)): οἶον καὶ Πλάτων → οἷον καὶ Πλάτων; λέγων ὃτι → λέγων ὅτι; ἧ γέγονεν → ᾗ γέγονεν; τοῦ θεο(??) → τοῦ θεοῦ; καὶ οἶά τε → καὶ οἷά τε.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Tim. 41a–b (Plato (works); allusion)
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 5.4 (Archambault 1:30–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-5-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
5.5Archambault 1:32
Τούτου χάριν καὶ ἀποθνήσκουσιν αἱ ψυχαὶ καὶ κολάζονται· ἐπεὶ εἰ ἀγέννητοι ἦσαν, οὔτʼ ἂν ἐξημάρτανον οὔτε ἀφροσύνης ἀνάπλεῳ ἦσαν, οὐδὲ δειλαὶ καὶ θρασεῖαι πάλιν, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἑκοῦσαί ποτε εἰς σύας ἐχώρουν καὶ ὄφεις καὶ κύνας, οὐδὲ μὴν ἀναγκάζεσθαι αὐτὰς θέμις, εἴπερ εἰσὶν ἀγέννητοι. Τὸ γὰρ ἀγέννητον τῷ ἀγεννήτῳ ὅμοιόν ἐστι καὶ ἴσον καὶ ταὐτόν, καὶ οὔτε δυνάμει οὔτε τιμῇ προκριθείῃ ἂν θατέρου τὸ ἕτερον.
Toutou charin kai apothnēskousin hai psychai kai kolazontai; epei ei agennētoi ēsan, outʼ an exēmartanon oute aphrosynēs anapleǭ ēsan, oude deilai kai thraseiai palin, allʼ oude hekousai pote eis syas echōroun kai opheis kai kynas, oude mēn anankazesthai autas themis, eiper eisin agennētoi. To gar agennēton tǭ agennētǭ homoion esti kai ison kai tauton, kai oute dynamei oute timę̄ prokritheię̄ an thaterou to heteron.
“For this reason souls both die and are punished; since if they were unbegotten, they would neither sin nor be full of folly, nor be cowardly and then again rash; nor would they ever willingly go into swine and serpents and dogs; nor indeed would it be right for them to be compelled, if they are unbegotten. For the unbegotten is like the unbegotten and equal and the same, and neither could be preferred to the other in power or in honor.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Souls that sin and change cannot be uncreated.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 5.5 (Archambault 1:32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-5-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
5.6Archambault 1:32
Ὅθεν οὐδὲ πολλά ἐστι τὰ ἀγέννητα· εἰ γὰρ διαφορά τις ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς, οὐκ ἂν εὕροις ἀναζητῶν τὸ αἴτιον τῆς διαφορᾶς, ἀλλʼ, ἐπʼ ἄπειρον ἀεὶ τὴν διάνοιαν πέμπων, ἐπὶ ἑνός ποτε στήσῃ ἀγεννήτου καμὼν καὶ τοῦτο φήσεις ἁπάντων αἴτιον. Ἢ ταῦτα ἔλαθε, φημὶ ἐγώ, Πλάτωνα καὶ Πυθαγόραν, σοφοὺς ἄνδρας, οἳ ὥσπερ τεῖχος ἡμῖν καὶ ἔρεισμα φιλοσοφίας ἐξεγένοντο;
Hothen oude polla esti ta agennēta; ei gar diaphora tis ēn en autois, ouk an heurois anazētōn to aition tēs diaphoras, allʼ, epʼ apeiron aei tēn dianoian pempōn, epi henos pote stēsę̄ agennētou kamōn kai touto phēseis hapantōn aition. Ē tauta elathe, phēmi egō, Platōna kai Pythagoran, sophous andras, hoi hōsper teichos hēmin kai ereisma philosophias exegenonto?
“Hence there are not many unbegotten things either; for if there were some difference among them, you would not find the cause of the difference by searching, but, sending your thought on and on to infinity, you would at last grow weary and stop at one unbegotten being, and say that this is the cause of all.” “Did these things escape Plato and Pythagoras,” I said, “wise men, who have become for us like a wall and a buttress of philosophy?”
Notes and citation
Summary: There can be only one uncreated being, the cause of all.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 5.6 (Archambault 1:32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-5-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 6
6.1Archambault 1:32–34
Οὐδὲν ἐμοί, ἔφη, μέλει Πλάτωνος οὐδὲ Πυθαγόρου οὐδὲ ἁπλῶς οὐδενὸς ὅλως τοιαῦτα δοξάζοντος. Τὸ γὰρ ἀληθὲς οὕτως ἔχει· μάθοις δʼ ἂν ἐντεῦθεν. Ἡ ψυχὴ ἤτοι ζωή ἐστιν ἢ ζωὴν ἔχει. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ζωή ἐστιν, ἄλλο τι ἆν ποιήσειε ζῆν, οὐχ ἑαυτήν, ὡς καὶ κίνησις ἄλλο τι κινήσειε μᾶλλον ἢ ἑαυτήν. Ὃτι δὲ ζῇ ψυχή, οὐδεὶς ἀντείποι. Εἰ δὲ ζῇ, οὐ ζωὴ οὖσα ζῇ, ἀλλὰ μεταλαμβάνουσα τῆς ζωῆς· ἕτερον δέ τι τὸ μετέχον τινὸς ἐκείνου οὗ μετέχει. Ζωῆς δὲ ψυχὴ μετέχει, ἐπεὶ ζῆν αὐτὴν ὁ θεὸς βούλεται.
Ouden emoi, ephē, melei Platōnos oude Pythagorou oude haplōs oudenos holōs toiauta doxazontos. To gar alēthes houtōs echei; mathois dʼ an enteuthen. Hē psychē ētoi zōē estin ē zōēn echei. Ei men oun zōē estin, allo ti an poiēseie zēn, ouch heautēn, hōs kai kinēsis allo ti kinēseie mallon ē heautēn. Hoti de zę̄ psychē, oudeis anteipoi. Ei de zę̄, ou zōē ousa zę̄, alla metalambanousa tēs zōēs; heteron de ti to metechon tinos ekeinou hou metechei. Zōēs de psychē metechei, epei zēn autēn ho theos bouletai.
“I do not care,” he said, “about Plato or Pythagoras, or in a word about anyone at all who holds such opinions. For the truth is this, and you may learn it from here. The soul either is life or has life. If it is life, it would make something else live, not itself, just as motion would move something else rather than itself. But no one would deny that the soul lives. And if it lives, it lives not as being life, but as partaking of life; and what partakes of something is different from that of which it partakes. And the soul partakes of life because God wills it to live.
Notes and citation
Summary: The soul is not life itself but receives life from God.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 6.1 (Archambault 1:32–34; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-6-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
6.2Archambault 1:34–36
Οὕτως ἄρα καὶ οὐ μεθέξει ποτέ, ὅταν αὐτὴν μὴ θέλοι ζῆν. Οὐ γὰρ ἴδιον αὐτῆς ἐστι τὸ ζῆν ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ· ἀλλὰ ὥσπερ ἄνθρωπος οὐ διὰ παντός ἐστιν οὐδὲ σύνεστιν ἀεὶ τῇ ψυχῇ τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλʼ, ὅταν δέῃ λυθῆναι τὴν ἁρμονίαν ταύτην, καταλείπει ἡ ψυχὴ τὸ σῶμα καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἔστιν, οὕτως καί, ὅταν δέῃ τὴν ψυχὴν μηκέτι εἶναι, ἀπέστη ἀπʼ αὐτῆς τὸ ζωτικὸν πνεῦμα καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ψυχὴ ἔτι, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὴ ὅθεν ἐλήφθη ἐκεῖσε χωρεῖ πάλιν.
Houtōs ara kai ou methexei pote, hotan autēn mē theloi zēn. Ou gar idion autēs esti to zēn hōs tou theou; alla hōsper anthrōpos ou dia pantos estin oude synestin aei tę̄ psychę̄ to sōma, allʼ, hotan deę̄ lythēnai tēn harmonian tautēn, kataleipei hē psychē to sōma kai ho anthrōpos ouk estin, houtōs kai, hotan deę̄ tēn psychēn mēketi einai, apestē apʼ autēs to zōtikon pneuma kai ouk estin hē psychē eti, alla kai autē hothen elēphthē ekeise chōrei palin.
“So it will also no longer partake, whenever he does not will it to live. For life is not its own as it is God's; but just as a man does not exist forever, nor is the body always with the soul, but when this harmony must be dissolved, the soul leaves the body and the man no longer exists, so also, when the soul must no longer exist, the life-giving spirit departs from it, and the soul no longer exists, but itself goes back again to the place from which it was taken.”
Eccl 12:7 (echo, medium confidence) · Gen 2:7 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Life belongs to God; the soul lives only as long as God gives it life.
- Compare Eccl 12:7, “the spirit returns to God who gave it.”
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 6.2 (Archambault 1:34–36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-6-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 7
7.1Archambault 1:36
Τίνι οὖν, φημί, ἔτι τις χρήσαιτο διδασκάλῳ ἢ πόθεν ὠφεληθείη τις, εἰ μηδὲ ἐν τούτοις τὸ ἀληθές ἐστιν; Ἐγένοντό τινες πρὸ πολλοῦ χρόνου πάντων τούτων τῶν νομιζομένων φιλοσόφων παλαιότεροι, μακάριοι καὶ δίκαιοι καὶ θεοφιλεῖς, θείῳ πνεύματι λαλήσαντες καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα θεσπίσαντες, ἃ δὴ νῦν γίνεται· προφήτας δὲ αὐτοὺς καλοῦσιν. Οὗτοι μόνοι τὸ ἀληθὲς καὶ εἶδον καὶ ἐξεῖπον ἀνθρώποις, μήτʼ εὐλαβηθέντες μήτε δυσωπηθέντες τινά, μὴ ἡττημένοι δόξης, ἀλλὰ μόνα ταῦτα εἰπόντες ἃ ἤκουσαν καὶ ἃ εἶδον ἁγίῳ πληρωθέντες πνεύματι.
Tini oun, phēmi, eti tis chrēsaito didaskalǭ ē pothen ōphelētheiē tis, ei mēde en toutois to alēthes estin? Egenonto tines pro pollou chronou pantōn toutōn tōn nomizomenōn philosophōn palaioteroi, makarioi kai dikaioi kai theophileis, theiǭ pneumati lalēsantes kai ta mellonta thespisantes, ha dē nyn ginetai; prophētas de autous kalousin. Houtoi monoi to alēthes kai eidon kai exeipon anthrōpois, mētʼ eulabēthentes mēte dysōpēthentes tina, mē hēttēmenoi doxēs, alla mona tauta eipontes ha ēkousan kai ha eidon hagiǭ plērōthentes pneumati.
“What teacher, then,” I said, “could one still use, or from where could one gain any benefit, if the truth is not even in these?” “There were, long before all these reputed philosophers, certain men more ancient, blessed and righteous and loved by God, who spoke by the divine Spirit and foretold what was to come, which is now taking place; they are called prophets. These alone both saw the truth and declared it to men, neither fearing nor standing in awe of anyone, not overcome by desire for glory, but speaking only what they heard and saw, filled with the Holy Spirit.
2 Pet 1:21 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The old man points Justin to the prophets, older than the philosophers, who spoke the truth by the Holy Spirit.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (damaged spot in the digital text; restored from the sense): διδασκάλῳ (??) πόθεν → διδασκάλῳ ἢ πόθεν.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 7.1 (Archambault 1:36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-7-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
7.2Archambault 1:36–38
Συγγράμματα δὲ αὐτῶν ἔτι καὶ νῦν διαμένει, καὶ ἔστιν ἐντυχόντα τούτοις πλεῖστον ὠφεληθῆναι καὶ περὶ ἀρχῶν καὶ περὶ τέλους καὶ ὧν χρὴ εἰδέναι τὸν φιλόσοφον, πιστεύσαντα ἐκείνοις. Οὐ γὰρ μετὰ ἀποδείξεως πεποίηνται τότε τοὺς λόγους, ἅτε ἀνωτέρω πάσης ἀποδείξεως ὄντες ἀξιόπιστοι μάρτυρες τῆς ἀληθείας· τὰ δὲ ἀποβάντα καὶ ἀποβαίνοντα ἐξαναγκάζει συντίθεσθαι τοῖς λελαλημένοις διʼ αὐτῶν.
Syngrammata de autōn eti kai nyn diamenei, kai estin entychonta toutois pleiston ōphelēthēnai kai peri archōn kai peri telous kai hōn chrē eidenai ton philosophon, pisteusanta ekeinois. Ou gar meta apodeixeōs pepoiēntai tote tous logous, hate anōterō pasēs apodeixeōs ontes axiopistoi martyres tēs alētheias; ta de apobanta kai apobainonta exanankazei syntithesthai tois lelalēmenois diʼ autōn.
“Their writings still remain even now, and whoever reads them, believing them, can gain very much both about first principles and about the end, and about the things a philosopher ought to know. For they did not then make their discourses with demonstration, since they were witnesses to the truth worthy of belief above all demonstration; but the things that have happened and are happening compel one to agree with what was spoken through them.
Notes and citation
Summary: The prophets' writings still exist; fulfilled prophecy proves them true.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong breathing)): ἃτε ἀνωτέρω → ἅτε ἀνωτέρω.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 7.2 (Archambault 1:36–38; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-7-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
7.3Archambault 1:38–40
Καίτοι γε καὶ διὰ τὰς δυνάμεις, ἃς ἐπετέλουν, πιστεύεσθαι δίκαιοι ἦσαν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν καὶ πατέρα ἐδόξαζον καὶ τὸν παρʼ αὐτοῦ Χριστὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ κατήγγελλον· ὅπερ οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ πλάνου καὶ ἀκαθάρτου πνεύματος ἐμπιπλάμενοι ψευδοπροφῆται οὔτε ἐποίησαν οὔτε ποιοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ δυνάμεις τινὰς ἐνεργεῖν εἰς κατάπληξιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τολμῶσι καὶ τὰ τῆς πλάνης πνεύματα καὶ δαιμόνια δοξολογοῦσιν. Εὔχου δέ σοι πρὸ πάντων φωτὸς ἀνοιχθῆναι πύλας· οὐ γὰρ συνοπτὰ οὐδὲ συννοητὰ πᾶσίν ἐστιν, εἰ μή τῳ θεὸς δῷ συνιέναι καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς αὐτοῦ.
Kaitoi ge kai dia tas dynameis, has epeteloun, pisteuesthai dikaioi ēsan, epeidē kai ton poiētēn tōn holōn theon kai patera edoxazon kai ton parʼ autou Christon huion autou katēngellon; hoper hoi apo tou planou kai akathartou pneumatos empiplamenoi pseudoprophētai oute epoiēsan oute poiousin, alla dynameis tinas energein eis kataplēxin tōn anthrōpōn tolmōsi kai ta tēs planēs pneumata kai daimonia doxologousin. Euchou de soi pro pantōn phōtos anoichthēnai pylas; ou gar synopta oude synnoēta pasin estin, ei mē tǭ theos dǭ synienai kai ho Christos autou.
“And indeed they deserved to be believed also because of the mighty works they performed, since they both glorified God, the Maker of all things and Father, and proclaimed Christ his Son, who is from him; which the false prophets, filled with the deceitful and unclean spirit, neither did nor do, but they dare to work certain wonders to astonish men, and glorify the spirits of error and demons. But pray above all that the gates of light may be opened to you; for these things cannot be seen or understood by all, unless God and his Christ grant someone to understand.”
1 John 4:1 (echo, medium confidence) · Matt 24:24 (echo, medium confidence) · Luke 24:45 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The prophets proclaimed the Father and his Son Christ; the old man urges Justin to pray for understanding.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent)): ψευδοπροφῆται οὕτε ἐποίησαν → ψευδοπροφῆται οὔτε ἐποίησαν.
Topics: Christology, Prayer
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 7.3 (Archambault 1:38–40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-7-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 8
8.1Archambault 1:40
Ταῦτα καὶ ἔτι ἄλλα πολλὰ εἰπὼν ἐκεῖνος, ἃ νῦν καιρὸς οὐκ ἔστι λέγειν, ᾤχετο, κελεύσας διώκειν αὐτά· καὶ οὐκέτι αὐτὸν εἶδον. Ἐμοὶ δὲ παραχρῆμα πῦρ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ἀνήφθη, καὶ ἔρως εἶχέ με τῶν προφητῶν καὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐκείνων, οἵ εἰσι Χριστοῦ φίλοι· διαλογιζόμενός τε πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ ταύτην μόνην εὕρισκον φιλοσοφίαν ἀσφαλῆ τε καὶ σύμφορον.
Tauta kai eti alla polla eipōn ekeinos, ha nyn kairos ouk esti legein, ǭcheto, keleusas diōkein auta; kai ouketi auton eidon. Emoi de parachrēma pyr en tę̄ psychę̄ anēphthē, kai erōs eiche me tōn prophētōn kai tōn andrōn ekeinōn, hoi eisi Christou philoi; dialogizomenos te pros emauton tous logous autou tautēn monēn heuriskon philosophian asphalē te kai symphoron.
When he had said these and many other things, which there is no time to tell now, he went away, bidding me pursue them; and I saw him no more. But immediately a fire was kindled in my soul, and a love of the prophets and of those men who are friends of Christ possessed me; and turning his words over in my mind, I found this philosophy alone to be safe and profitable.
Luke 24:32 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Justin never saw the old man again, but a fire was kindled in him, and he found in the prophets and Christ the only sure philosophy.
- Justin's account of his conversion; whether it is literal or partly literary is debated.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (missing accent)): ἃ νυν καιρὸς → ἃ νῦν καιρὸς.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 8.1 (Archambault 1:40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-8-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
8.2Archambault 1:40–42
Οὕτως δὴ καὶ διὰ ταῦτα φιλόσοφος ἐγώ. Βουλοίμην δʼ ἂν καὶ πάντας ἴσον ἐμοὶ θυμὸν ποιησαμένους μὴ ἀφίστασθαι τῶν τοῦ σωτῆρος λόγων· δέος γάρ τι ἔχουσιν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ ἱκανοὶ δυσωπῆσαι τοὺς ἐκτρεπομένους τῆς ὀρθῆς ὁδοῦ, ἀνάπαυσίς τε ἡδίστη γίνεται τοῖς ἐκμελετῶσιν αὐτούς. Εἰ οὖν τι καὶ σοὶ περὶ σεαυτοῦ μέλει καὶ ἀντιποιῇ σωτηρίας καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ θεῷ πέποιθας, ἅπερ οὐκ ἀλλοτρίῳ τοῦ πράγματος, πάρεστιν ἐπιγνόντι σοὶ τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τελείῳ γενομένῳ εὐδαιμονεῖν.
Houtōs dē kai dia tauta philosophos egō. Bouloimēn dʼ an kai pantas ison emoi thymon poiēsamenous mē aphistasthai tōn tou sōtēros logōn; deos gar ti echousin en heautois, kai hikanoi dysōpēsai tous ektrepomenous tēs orthēs hodou, anapausis te hēdistē ginetai tois ekmeletōsin autous. Ei oun ti kai soi peri seautou melei kai antipoię̄ sōtērias kai epi tǭ theǭ pepoithas, haper ouk allotriǭ tou pragmatos, parestin epignonti soi ton Christon tou theou kai teleiǭ genomenǭ eudaimonein.
“Thus, and for these reasons, I am a philosopher. And I would wish that all, having the same spirit as I, would not stand aloof from the words of the Savior; for they have a certain awe in them, and are able to shame those who turn aside from the right way, and the sweetest rest comes to those who practice them. If, then, you have any care for yourself and seek salvation and trust in God, as one not a stranger to the matter, you may know the Christ of God, and, becoming perfect, be happy.”
Matt 11:29 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Justin invites Trypho to know Christ and so find happiness.
- The last sentence is uncertain in the text; “as one not a stranger to the matter” may refer to Trypho as a Jew who knows the Scriptures.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (garbled letters); restored from the sense): Εὗ οἰν τι → Εἰ οὖν τι.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 8.2 (Archambault 1:40–42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-8-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
8.3Archambault 1:42
Ταῦτά μου, φίλτατε, εἰπόντος οἱ μετὰ τοῦ Τρύφωνος ἀνεγέλασαν, αὐτὸς δὲ ὑπομειδιάσας· Τὰ μὲν ἄλλα σου, φησίν, ἀποδέχομαι καὶ ἄγαμαι τῆς περὶ τὸ θεῖον ὁρμῆς, ἄμεινον δὲ ἦν φιλοσοφεῖν ἔτι σε τὴν Πλάτωνος ἢ ἄλλου του φιλοσοφίαν, ἀσκοῦντα καρτερίαν καὶ ἐγκράτειαν καὶ σωφροσύνην, ἢ λόγοις ἐξαπατηθῆναι ψευδέσι καὶ ἀνθρώποις ἀκολουθῆσαι οὐδενὸς ἀξίοις. Μένοντι γάρ σοι ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ τῆς φιλοσοφίας τρόπῳ καὶ ζῶντι ἀμέμπτως ἐλπὶς ὑπελείπετο ἀμείνονος μοίρας· καταλιπόντι δὲ τὸν θεὸν καὶ εἰς ἄνθρωπον ἐλπίσαντι ποία ἔτι περιλείπεται σωτηρία;
Tauta mou, philtate, eipontos hoi meta tou Tryphōnos anegelasan, autos de hypomeidiasas; Ta men alla sou, phēsin, apodechomai kai agamai tēs peri to theion hormēs, ameinon de ēn philosophein eti se tēn Platōnos ē allou tou philosophian, askounta karterian kai enkrateian kai sōphrosynēn, ē logois exapatēthēnai pseudesi kai anthrōpois akolouthēsai oudenos axiois. Menonti gar soi en ekeinǭ tǭ tēs philosophias tropǭ kai zōnti amemptōs elpis hypeleipeto ameinonos moiras; kataliponti de ton theon kai eis anthrōpon elpisanti poia eti perileipetai sōtēria?
When I, my friend, had said this, those with Trypho laughed, but he smiled and said, “I accept the rest of what you say, and I admire your zeal for the divine; but it would have been better for you to go on practicing the philosophy of Plato or of someone else, cultivating endurance and self-control and moderation, than to be deceived by false words and follow men of no account. For while you remained in that way of philosophy and lived blamelessly, a hope of a better lot remained; but when you have forsaken God and put your hope in a man, what salvation is still left for you?
Notes and citation
Summary: Trypho says Justin was better off as a Platonist than trusting in a man.
- “My friend” (φίλτατε): Justin addresses the person to whom the Dialogue is dedicated, Marcus Pompeius (see ch. 141).
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 8.3 (Archambault 1:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-8-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
8.4Archambault 1:42–44
Εἰ οὖν καὶ ἐμοῦ θέλεις ἀκοῦσαι, φίλον γάρ σε ἤδη νενόμικα, πρῶτον μὲν περιτεμοῦ, εἶτα φύλαξον, ὡς νενόμισται, τὸ σάββατον καὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς καὶ τὰς νουμηνίας τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἁπλῶς τὰ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ γεγραμμένα πάντα ποίει, καὶ τότε σοι ἴσως ἔλεος ἔσται παρὰ θεοῦ. Χριστὸς δέ, εἰ καὶ γεγένηται καὶ ἔστι που, ἄγνωστός ἐστι καὶ οὐδὲ αὐτός πω ἑαυτὸν ἐπίσταται οὐδὲ ἔχει δύναμίν τινα, μέχρις ἂν ἐλθὼν Ἡλίας χρίσῃ αὐτὸν καὶ φανερὸν πᾶσι ποιήσῃ· ὑμεῖς δέ, ματαίαν ἀκοὴν παραδεξάμενοι, Χριστὸν ἑαυτοῖς τινα ἀναπλάσσετε καὶ αὐτοῦ χάριν τανῦν ἀσκόπως ἀπόλλυσθε.
Ei oun kai emou theleis akousai, philon gar se ēdē nenomika, prōton men peritemou, eita phylaxon, hōs nenomistai, to sabbaton kai tas heortas kai tas noumēnias tou theou, kai haplōs ta en tǭ nomǭ gegrammena panta poiei, kai tote soi isōs eleos estai para theou. Christos de, ei kai gegenētai kai esti pou, agnōstos esti kai oude autos pō heauton epistatai oude echei dynamin tina, mechris an elthōn Hēlias chrisę̄ auton kai phaneron pasi poiēsę̄; hymeis de, mataian akoēn paradexamenoi, Christon heautois tina anaplassete kai autou charin tanyn askopōs apollysthe.
“If, then, you are willing to listen to me too (for I already consider you a friend), first be circumcised, then keep, as is the custom, the Sabbath and the feasts and God's new moons, and in short do everything written in the law, and then perhaps you will find mercy from God. But the Christ, if he has indeed been born and exists somewhere, is unknown, and does not even know himself yet, nor has he any power, until Elijah comes and anoints him and makes him manifest to all; but you have received an empty report and invented a Christ for yourselves, and for his sake you are now perishing aimlessly.”
Mal 4:5 (3:22 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · John 7:27 (echo, medium confidence) · John 1:26 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Trypho urges Justin to keep the law; the Messiah, if he has come, remains hidden until Elijah anoints him.
- The idea of a hidden Messiah, unknown until Elijah reveals him, is found in later Jewish tradition; compare John 1:26 and 7:27.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent)): καἰ οὐδὲ αὐτός → καὶ οὐδὲ αὐτός.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 8.4 (Archambault 1:42–44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-8-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 9
9.1Archambault 1:44
Συγγνώμη σοι, ἔφην, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, καὶ ἀφεθείη σοι· οὐ γὰρ οἶδας ὃ λέγεις, ἀλλὰ πειθόμενος τοῖς διδασκάλοις, οἳ οὐ συνίασι τὰς γραφάς, καὶ ἀπομαντευόμενος λέγεις ὅ τι ἄν σοι ἐπὶ θυμὸν ἔλθοι. Εἰ δὲ βούλοιο τούτου πέρι δέξασθαι λόγον, ὡς οὐ πεπλανήμεθα οὐδὲ παυσόμεθα ὁμολογοῦντες τοῦτον, κἂν τὰ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἡμῖν ἐπιφέρωνται ὀνείδη, κἂν ὁ δεινότατος ἀπειπεῖν ἀναγκάζῃ τύραννος· παρεστῶτι γὰρ δείξω ὅτι οὐ κενοῖς ἐπιστεύσαμεν μύθοις οὐδὲ ἀναποδείκτοις λόγοις, ἀλλὰ μεστοῖς πνεύματος θείου καὶ δυνάμει βρύουσι καὶ τεθηλόσι χάριτι.
Syngnōmē soi, ephēn, ō anthrōpe, kai aphetheiē soi; ou gar oidas ho legeis, alla peithomenos tois didaskalois, hoi ou syniasi tas graphas, kai apomanteuomenos legeis ho ti an soi epi thymon elthoi. Ei de bouloio toutou peri dexasthai logon, hōs ou peplanēmetha oude pausometha homologountes touton, kan ta ex anthrōpōn hēmin epipherōntai oneidē, kan ho deinotatos apeipein anankazę̄ tyrannos; parestōti gar deixō hoti ou kenois episteusamen mythois oude anapodeiktois logois, alla mestois pneumatos theiou kai dynamei bryousi kai tethēlosi chariti.
“May you be pardoned and forgiven, sir,” I said; “for you do not know what you are saying, but, trusting teachers who do not understand the Scriptures, you speak by guesswork whatever comes into your head. But if you would receive an account of this, that we have not been deceived and will not cease confessing him, even if reproaches from men are brought against us, even if the most terrible tyrant forces us to deny him, I will show you, if you stay, that we have not believed empty myths or unproven words, but words full of the divine Spirit, and teeming with power, and flourishing with grace.”
Luke 23:34 (echo, medium confidence) · 2 Pet 1:16 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Justin forgives Trypho's words and offers to prove his faith from the Scriptures.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 9.1 (Archambault 1:44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-9-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
9.2Archambault 1:44–46
Ἀνεγέλασαν οὖν πάλιν οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἄκοσμον ἀνεφθέγγοντο. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἀναστὰς οἶός τʼ ἤμην ἀπέρχεσθαι· ὁ δέ μου τοῦ ἱματίου λαβόμενος οὐ πρὶν ἀνήσειν ἔφη, πρὶν ὅ ὑπεσχόμην ἐκτελέσαι. Μὴ οὖν, ἔφην, θορυβείτωσαν οἱ ἑταῖροί σου μηδὲ ἀσχημονείτωσαν οὕτως, ἀλλʼ, εἰ μὲν βούλονται, μετὰ ἡσυχίας ἀκροάσθωσαν, εἰ δὲ καὶ ἀσχολία τις αὐτοῖς ὑπέρτερος ἐμποδών ἐστιν, ἀπίτωσαν· ἡμεῖς δέ, ὑποχωρήσαντές ποι καὶ ἀναπαυσάμενοι, περαίνωμεν τὸν λόγον.
Anegelasan oun palin hoi metʼ autou kai akosmon anephthengonto. Egō de anastas oios tʼ ēmēn aperchesthai; ho de mou tou himatiou labomenos ou prin anēsein ephē, prin ho hypeschomēn ektelesai. Mē oun, ephēn, thorybeitōsan hoi hetairoi sou mēde aschēmoneitōsan houtōs, allʼ, ei men boulontai, meta hēsychias akroasthōsan, ei de kai ascholia tis autois hyperteros empodōn estin, apitōsan; hēmeis de, hypochōrēsantes poi kai anapausamenoi, perainōmen ton logon.
Then those with him laughed again and shouted rudely. And I rose and was about to leave; but he took hold of my cloak and said he would not let me go until I had done what I promised. “Then,” I said, “let your companions not make a disturbance or behave so shamefully; but if they wish, let them listen quietly, and if some more pressing business stands in their way, let them go; and let us go aside somewhere and rest, and finish the discussion.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Trypho holds Justin back; Justin asks the others to listen quietly or leave.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 9.2 (Archambault 1:44–46; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-9-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
9.3Archambault 1:46
Ἔδοξε καὶ τῷ Τρύφωνι οὕτως ἡμᾶς ποιῆσαι, καὶ δὴ ἐκνεύσαντες εἰς τὸ μέσον τοῦ ξυστοῦ στάδιον ᾔειμεν· τῶν δὲ σὺν αὐτῷ δύο, χλευάσαντες καὶ τὴν σπουδὴν ἡμῶν ἐπισκώψαντες, ἀπηλλάγησαν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ὡς ἐγενόμεθα ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ τόπῳ, ἔνθα ἑκατέρωθεν λίθινοί εἰσι θῶκοι, ἐν τῷ ἑτέρῳ καθεσθέντες οἱ μετὰ τοῦ Τρύφωνος, ἐμβαλόντος τινὸς αὐτῶν λόγον περὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν γενομένου πολέμου, διελάλουν.
Edoxe kai tǭ Tryphōni houtōs hēmas poiēsai, kai dē ekneusantes eis to meson tou xystou stadion ę̄eimen; tōn de syn autǭ dyo, chleuasantes kai tēn spoudēn hēmōn episkōpsantes, apēllagēsan. Hēmeis de hōs egenometha en ekeinǭ tǭ topǭ, entha hekaterōthen lithinoi eisi thōkoi, en tǭ heterǭ kathesthentes hoi meta tou Tryphōnos, embalontos tinos autōn logon peri tou kata tēn Ioudaian genomenou polemou, dielaloun.
Trypho too agreed that we should do this, and we turned aside and went into the middle of the colonnade's open space; and two of those with him, mocking and jeering at our earnestness, went away. And when we came to that place, where there are stone seats on both sides, those with Trypho sat down on one side, and when one of them brought up the war that had taken place in Judea, they talked about it.
Notes and citation
Summary: They sit down in the colonnade; two of Trypho's friends leave.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 9.3 (Archambault 1:46; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-9-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 10
10.1Archambault 1:46–48
Ὡς δὲ ἀνεπαύσαντο, ἐγώ οὕτως αὐτοῖς πάλιν ἠρξάμην· Μὴ ἄλλο τί ἐστιν ὃ ἐπιμέμφεσθε ἡμᾶς, ἄνδρες φίλοι, ἢ τοῦτο ὅτι οὐ κατὰ τὸν νόμον βιοῦμεν, οὐδὲ ὁμοίως τοῖς προγόνοις ὑμῶν περιτεμνόμεθα τὴν σάρκα, οὐδὲ ὡς ὑμεῖς σαββατίζομεν; Ἢ καὶ ὁ βίος ἡμῶν καὶ τὸ ἦθος διαβέβληται παρʼ ὑμῖν; Τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶν ὃ λέγω, μὴ καὶ ὑμεῖς πεπιστεύκατε περὶ ἡμῶν, ὅτι δὴ ἐσθίομεν ἀνθρώπους καὶ μετὰ τὴν εἰλαπίνην ἀποσβεννύντες τοὺς λύχνους ἀθέσμοις μίξεσιν ἐγκυλιόμεθα, ἢ αὐτὸ τοῦτο καταγινώσκετε ἡμῶν μόνον, ὅτι τοιούτοις προσέχομεν λόγοις καὶ οὐκ ἀληθεῖ, ὡς οἴεσθε, πιστεύομεν δόξῃ;
Hōs de anepausanto, egō houtōs autois palin ērxamēn; Mē allo ti estin ho epimemphesthe hēmas, andres philoi, ē touto hoti ou kata ton nomon bioumen, oude homoiōs tois progonois hymōn peritemnometha tēn sarka, oude hōs hymeis sabbatizomen? Ē kai ho bios hēmōn kai to ēthos diabeblētai parʼ hymin? Touto dʼ estin ho legō, mē kai hymeis pepisteukate peri hēmōn, hoti dē esthiomen anthrōpous kai meta tēn eilapinēn aposbennyntes tous lychnous athesmois mixesin enkyliometha, ē auto touto kataginōskete hēmōn monon, hoti toioutois prosechomen logois kai ouk alēthei, hōs oiesthe, pisteuomen doxę̄?
When they had finished, I began again thus: “Is there anything else, friends, for which you blame us than this, that we do not live according to the law, nor are circumcised in the flesh like your forefathers, nor keep the Sabbath as you do? Or are our life and character also slandered among you? I mean this: have you too believed about us that we eat men, and that after the feast we put out the lamps and roll about in lawless unions? Or do you condemn us only for this, that we hold to such teachings and believe an opinion that is not, as you think, true?”
Notes and citation
Summary: Justin asks whether Trypho objects only to Christians' not keeping the law, or believes the rumors of cannibalism and orgies.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (missing accent); digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent)): Ἥ καὶ ὁ βίος → Ἢ καὶ ὁ βίος; μετα τὴν εἰλαπίνην → μετὰ τὴν εἰλαπίνην.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 10.1 (Archambault 1:46–48; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-10-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
10.2Archambault 1:48
Τοῦτʼ ἔστιν ὃ θαυμάζομεν, ἔφη ὁ Τρύφων, περὶ δὲ ὧν οἱ πολλοὶ λέγουσιν, οὐ πιστεῦσαι ἄξιον· πόρρω γὰρ κεχώρηκε τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως. Ὑμῶν δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐν τῷ λεγομένῳ εὐαγγελίῳ παραγγέλματα θαυμαστὰ οὕτως καὶ μεγάλα ἐπίσταμαι εἶναι, ὡς ὑπολαμβάνειν μηδένα δύνασθαι φυλάξαι αὐτά· ἐμοὶ γὰρ ἐμέλησεν ἐντυχεῖν αὐτοῖς.
Toutʼ estin ho thaumazomen, ephē ho Tryphōn, peri de hōn hoi polloi legousin, ou pisteusai axion; porrō gar kechōrēke tēs anthrōpinēs physeōs. Hymōn de kai ta en tǭ legomenǭ euangeliǭ parangelmata thaumasta houtōs kai megala epistamai einai, hōs hypolambanein mēdena dynasthai phylaxai auta; emoi gar emelēsen entychein autois.
“This is what we wonder at,” said Trypho; “but what most people say is not worth believing, for it is far removed from human nature. And I know that your precepts in what is called the Gospel are so wonderful and great that I suspect no one can keep them; for I took the trouble to read them.
Notes and citation
Summary: Trypho dismisses the rumors and says he has read the Gospel, whose commands seem impossible to keep.
- “What is called the Gospel” (singular), a written book, which Trypho says he has read.
Topics: Scripture and canon, Ethics
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 10.2 (Archambault 1:48; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-10-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
10.3Archambault 1:48–50
Ἐκεῖνο δὲ ἀποροῦμεν μάλιστα, εἰ ὑμεῖς, εὐσεβεῖν λέγοντες καὶ τῶν ἄλλων οἰόμενοι διαφέρειν, κατʼ οὐδὲν αὐτῶν ἀπολείπεσθε, οὐδὲ διαλλάσσετε ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν τὸν ὑμέτερον βίον, ἐν τῷ μήτε τὰς ἑορτὰς μήτε τὰ σάββατα τηρεῖν μήτε τὴν περιτομὴν ἔχειν, καὶ ἔτι, ἐπʼ ἄνθρωπον σταυρωθέντα τὰς ἐλπίδας ποιούμενοι, ὅμως ἐλπίζετε τεύξεσθαι ἀγαθοῦ τινος παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, μὴ ποιοῦντες αὐτοῦ τὰς ἐντολάς. Ἢ οὐκ ἀνέγνως, ὅτι Ἐξολοθρευθήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ἐκείνη ἐκ τοῦ γένους αὐτῆς, ἥτις οὐ περιτμηθήσεται τῇ ὀγδόῃ ἡμέρᾳ; Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀλλογενῶν καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀργυρωνήτων διέσταλται.
Ekeino de aporoumen malista, ei hymeis, eusebein legontes kai tōn allōn oiomenoi diapherein, katʼ ouden autōn apoleipesthe, oude diallassete apo tōn ethnōn ton hymeteron bion, en tǭ mēte tas heortas mēte ta sabbata tērein mēte tēn peritomēn echein, kai eti, epʼ anthrōpon staurōthenta tas elpidas poioumenoi, homōs elpizete teuxesthai agathou tinos para tou theou, mē poiountes autou tas entolas. Ē ouk anegnōs, hoti Exolothreuthēsetai hē psychē ekeinē ek tou genous autēs, hētis ou peritmēthēsetai tę̄ ogdoę̄ hēmerą? Homoiōs de kai peri tōn allogenōn kai peri tōn argyrōnētōn diestaltai.
“But this is what we are most at a loss about: that you, who say you are pious and think yourselves superior to others, are in no way separated from them, and do not make your life different from the Gentiles, in that you keep neither the feasts nor the Sabbaths nor have circumcision; and further, though you set your hopes on a crucified man, you nevertheless hope to obtain some good from God, without keeping his commandments. Or have you not read that ‘that soul shall be cut off from its people which shall not be circumcised on the eighth day’? And the same is laid down about strangers and about slaves bought with money.
Gen 17:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 17:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 17:13 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Trypho's real objection: Christians claim piety but ignore circumcision, Sabbaths, and feasts, and hope in a crucified man.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 10.3 (Archambault 1:48–50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-10-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
10.4Archambault 1:50
Ταύτης οὖν τῆς διαθήκης εὐθέως καταφρονήσαντες ὑμεῖς ἀμελεῖτε καὶ τῶν ἔπειτα, καὶ πείθειν ἡμᾶς ἐπιχειρεῖτε ὡς εἰδότες τὸν θεόν, μηδὲν πράσσοντες ὧν οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν θεόν. Εἰ οὖν ἔχεις πρὸς ταῦτα ἀπολογήσασθαι, καὶ ἐπιδεῖξαι ᾧτινι τρόπῳ ἐλπίζετε ὁτιοῦν, κἂν μὴ φυλάσσοντες τὸν νόμον, τοῦτό σου ἡδέως ἀκούσαιμεν μάλιστα, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα δὲ ὁμοίως συνεξετάσωμεν.
Tautēs oun tēs diathēkēs eutheōs kataphronēsantes hymeis ameleite kai tōn epeita, kai peithein hēmas epicheireite hōs eidotes ton theon, mēden prassontes hōn hoi phoboumenoi ton theon. Ei oun echeis pros tauta apologēsasthai, kai epideixai hǭtini tropǭ elpizete hotioun, kan mē phylassontes ton nomon, touto sou hēdeōs akousaimen malista, kai ta alla de homoiōs synexetasōmen.
“You, then, despising this covenant outright, neglect also what follows, and try to persuade us that you know God, though you do none of the things done by those who fear God. If, then, you can defend yourself on these points, and show in what way you hope for anything even though you do not keep the law, we would gladly hear this from you above all, and let us examine the other matters in the same way.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Trypho asks Justin to explain how Christians can hope in God without keeping the law.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip (word split); digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong breathing)): ὑμεῖς ἁμελεῖτε → ὑμεῖς ἀμελεῖτε; ἀπολο γήσασθαι → ἀπολογήσασθαι.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 10.4 (Archambault 1:50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-10-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 11
11.1Archambault 1:50
Οὔτε ἔσται ποτὲ ἄλλος θεός, ὦ Τρύφων, οὔτε ἦν ἀπʼ αἰῶνος, ἐγὼ οὕτως πρὸς αὐτόν, πλὴν τοῦ πονήσαντος καὶ διατάξαντος τόδε τὸ πᾶν. Οὐδὲ ἄλλον μὲν ἡμῶν, ἄλλον δὲ ὑμῶν ἡγούμεθα θεόν, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἐξαγαγόντα τοὺς πατέρας ὑμῶν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου ἐν χειρὶ κραταιᾷ καὶ βραχίονι ὑψηλῷ· οὐδʼ εἰς ἄλλον τινὰ ἠλπίκαμεν, οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν, ἀλλʼ εἰς τοῦτον εἰς ὃν καὶ ὑμεῖς, τὸν θεὸν τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ. Ἠλπίκαμεν δὲ οὐ διὰ Μωσέως οὐδὲ διὰ τοῦ νόμου· ἦ γὰρ ἂν τὸ αὐτὸ ὑμῖν ἐποιοῦμεν.
Oute estai pote allos theos, ō Tryphōn, oute ēn apʼ aiōnos, egō houtōs pros auton, plēn tou ponēsantos kai diataxantos tode to pan. Oude allon men hēmōn, allon de hymōn hēgoumetha theon, allʼ auton ekeinon ton exagagonta tous pateras hymōn ek gēs Aigyptou en cheiri krataią kai brachioni hypsēlǭ; oudʼ eis allon tina ēlpikamen, ou gar estin, allʼ eis touton eis hon kai hymeis, ton theon tou Abraam kai Isaak kai Iakōb. Ēlpikamen de ou dia Mōseōs oude dia tou nomou; ē gar an to auto hymin epoioumen.
“There will never be another God, Trypho, nor has there been from eternity,” I said to him, “except the one who made and ordered this universe. Nor do we think that our God is one and yours another, but that he is the very one who brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; nor have we hoped in any other (for there is none), but in the same one in whom you too hope, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. But we have not hoped through Moses or through the law; for then we would be doing the same as you.
Deut 5:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 3:6 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians worship the same God as the Jews, the God of Abraham, but do not hope in him through the law of Moses.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent)): Οὕτε ἔσται → Οὔτε ἔσται.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 11.1 (Archambault 1:50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-11-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
11.2Archambault 1:50–52
Νυνὶ δὲ ἀνέγνων γάρ, ὦ Τρύφων, ὅτι ἔσοιτο καὶ τελευταῖος νόμος καὶ διαθήκη κυριωτάτη πασῶν, ἣν νῦν δέον φυλάσσειν πάντας ἀνθρώπους, ὅσοι τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ κληρονομίας ἀντιποιοῦνται. Ὁ γὰρ ἐν Χωρὴβ παλαιὸς ἤδη νόμος καὶ ὑμῶν μόνων, ὁ δὲ πάντων ἁπλῶς· νόμος δὲ κατὰ νόμου τεθεὶς τὸν πρὸ αὐτοῦ ἔπαυσε, καὶ διαθήκη μετέπειτα γενομένη τὴν προτέραν ὁμοίως ἔστησεν. Αἰώνιός τε ἡμῖν νόμος καὶ τελευταῖος ὁ Χριστὸς ἐδόθη καὶ ἡ διαθήκη πιστή, μεθʼ ἣν οὐ νόμος, οὐ πρόσταγμα, οὐκ ἐντολή.
Nyni de anegnōn gar, ō Tryphōn, hoti esoito kai teleutaios nomos kai diathēkē kyriōtatē pasōn, hēn nyn deon phylassein pantas anthrōpous, hosoi tēs tou theou klēronomias antipoiountai. Ho gar en Chōrēb palaios ēdē nomos kai hymōn monōn, ho de pantōn haplōs; nomos de kata nomou tetheis ton pro autou epause, kai diathēkē metepeita genomenē tēn proteran homoiōs estēsen. Aiōnios te hēmin nomos kai teleutaios ho Christos edothē kai hē diathēkē pistē, methʼ hēn ou nomos, ou prostagma, ouk entolē.
“But now (for I have read, Trypho) there was to be a final law and a covenant more binding than all, which all men must now keep, as many as lay claim to the inheritance of God. For the law given at Horeb is now old, and belongs to you alone, but this one to all without exception. And a law set against a law has abolished the one before it, and a covenant made afterward has likewise set aside the former one. And an eternal and final law, Christ, has been given to us, and the covenant is trustworthy, after which there is no law, no ordinance, no commandment.
Heb 8:13 (echo, medium confidence) · Isa 55:3 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ is the final and eternal law and covenant, for all people, replacing the law given at Horeb.
- “Christ, has been given to us as an eternal and final law”: Justin calls Christ himself the new law; compare Isa 2:3 and 51:4.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 11.2 (Archambault 1:50–52; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-11-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
11.3Archambault 1:52–54
Ἢ σὺ ταῦτα οὐκ ἀνέγνως ἅ φησιν Ἡσαΐας; Ἀκούσατέ μου, ἀκούσατέ μου, λαός μου, καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς πρός με ἐνωτίζεσθε, ὅτι νόμος παρʼ ἐμοῦ ἐξελεύσεται καὶ ἡ κρίσις μου εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν. Ἐγγίζει ταχὺ ἡ δικαιοσύνη μου, καὶ ἐξελεύσεται τὸ σωτήριόν μου, καὶ εἰς τὸν βραχίονά μου ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσι. Καὶ διὰ Ἱερεμίου περὶ ταύτης αὐτῆς τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης οὕτω φησίν· Ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, λέγει κύριος, καὶ διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰούδα διαθήκην καινήν, οὐχ ἣν διεθέμην τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ ἐπελαβόμην τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν ἐξαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου.
Ē sy tauta ouk anegnōs ha phēsin Hēsaïas? Akousate mou, akousate mou, laos mou, kai hoi basileis pros me enōtizesthe, hoti nomos parʼ emou exeleusetai kai hē krisis mou eis phōs ethnōn. Engizei tachy hē dikaiosynē mou, kai exeleusetai to sōtērion mou, kai eis ton brachiona mou ethnē elpiousi. Kai dia Hieremiou peri tautēs autēs tēs kainēs diathēkēs houtō phēsin; Idou hēmerai erchontai, legei kyrios, kai diathēsomai tǭ oikǭ Israēl kai tǭ oikǭ Iouda diathēkēn kainēn, ouch hēn diethemēn tois patrasin autōn, en hēmerą hę̄ epelabomēn tēs cheiros autōn exagagein autous ek gēs Aigyptou.
“Or have you not read what Isaiah says? ‘Hear me, hear me, my people, and you kings, give ear to me; for a law will go out from me, and my judgment for a light to the nations. My righteousness draws near quickly, and my salvation will go out, and the nations will hope in my arm.’ And through Jeremiah he says thus about this same new covenant: ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will make with the house of Israel and the house of Judah a new covenant, not like the one I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.’
Isa 51:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 51:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 31:31 (38:31 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 31:32 (38:32 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Isaiah and Jeremiah foretold a new law and a new covenant.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent); digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong diacritic); the editor's reference (Jer 31:31–32), printed in the text, removed): Ἤ σὺ ταῦτα → Ἢ σὺ ταῦτα; ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ᾖ ἐπελαβόμην → ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ ἐπελαβόμην; Αἰγύπτου [JÉR., XXXI, 31-32. → Αἰγύπτου..
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 11.3 (Archambault 1:52–54; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-11-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
11.4Archambault 1:54
Εἰ οὖν ὁ θεὸς διαθήκην καινὴν ἐκήρυξε μέλλουσαν διαταχθήσεσθαι καὶ ταύτην εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν, ὁρῶμεν δὲ καὶ πεπείσμεθα διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ τοῦ σταυρωθέντος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἀδικίας προσελθόντας τῷ θεῷ καὶ μέχρι θανάτου ὑπομένοντας τὴν ὁμολογίαν καὶ εὐσέβειαν ποιεῖσθαι, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἔργων καὶ ἐκ τῆς παρακολουθούσης δυνάμεως συνιέναι πᾶσι δυνατὸν ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ καινὸς νόμος καὶ ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη καὶ ἡ προσδοκία τῶν ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀναμενόντων τὰ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀγαθά.
Ei oun ho theos diathēkēn kainēn ekēryxe mellousan diatachthēsesthai kai tautēn eis phōs ethnōn, horōmen de kai pepeismetha dia tou onomatos autou tou staurōthentos Iēsou Christou apo tōn eidōlōn kai tēs allēs adikias proselthontas tǭ theǭ kai mechri thanatou hypomenontas tēn homologian kai eusebeian poieisthai, kai ek tōn ergōn kai ek tēs parakolouthousēs dynameōs synienai pasi dynaton hoti houtos estin ho kainos nomos kai hē kainē diathēkē kai hē prosdokia tōn apo pantōn tōn ethnōn anamenontōn ta para tou theou agatha.
“If, then, God proclaimed a new covenant that was to be established, and this for a light to the nations, and we see and are persuaded that through the name of this crucified Jesus Christ people come to God from idols and other wickedness, and hold fast their confession and piety even to death, then all can understand, both from the deeds and from the power that goes with them, that he is the new law and the new covenant and the expectation of those from all the nations who wait for the good things from God.
Gen 49:10 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The conversion and steadfastness of the Gentiles show that Christ is the new covenant.
Topics: Christology, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 11.4 (Archambault 1:54; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-11-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
11.5Archambault 1:54
Ἰσραηλιτικὸν γὰρ τὸ ἀληθινόν, πνευματικόν, καὶ Ἰούδα γένος καὶ Ἰακὼβ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἀβραάμ, τοῦ ἐν ἀκροβυστίᾳ ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει μαρτυρηθέντος ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ εὐλογηθέντος καὶ πατρὸς πολλῶν ἐθνῶν κληθέντος, ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν, οἱ διὰ τούτου τοῦ σταυρωθέντος Χριστοῦ τῷ θεῷ προσαχθέντες, ὡς καὶ προκοπτόντων ἡμῖν τῶν λόγων ἀποδειχθήσεται.
Israēlitikon gar to alēthinon, pneumatikon, kai Iouda genos kai Iakōb kai Isaak kai Abraam, tou en akrobystią epi tę̄ pistei martyrēthentos hypo tou theou kai eulogēthentos kai patros pollōn ethnōn klēthentos, hēmeis esmen, hoi dia toutou tou staurōthentos Christou tǭ theǭ prosachthentes, hōs kai prokoptontōn hēmin tōn logōn apodeichthēsetai.
“For the true, spiritual Israelite race, and the race of Judah and Jacob and Isaac and Abraham (who was attested by God for his faith while uncircumcised, and blessed, and called the father of many nations), are we, who have been brought to God through this crucified Christ, as will be shown as our discussion goes on.”
Rom 4:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 4:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 17:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 6:16 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians, brought to God through Christ, are the true spiritual Israel.
- Justin is the first extant writer to call the church “the true Israel” in so many words.
Cite (SBL): Justin, Dial. 11.5 (Archambault 1:54; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1-1/#p-11-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.