Dialogue with Trypho 134.1 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Archambault 2:280

Εἰ οὖν καὶ ὑμᾶς δυσωπεῖ τά τε τῶν προφητῶν διδάγματα καὶ τὰ ἐκείνου αὐτοῦ, βέλτιόν ἐστιν ὑμᾶς τῷ θεῷ ἕπεσθαι ἢ τοῖς ἀσυνέτοις καὶ τυφλοῖς διδασκάλοις ὑμῶν, οἵτινες καὶ μέχρι νῦν καὶ τέσσαρας καὶ πέντε ἔχειν ὑμᾶς γυναῖκας ἕκαστον συγχωροῦσι, καὶ ἐὰν εὔμορφόν τις ἰδὼν ἐπιθυμήσῃ αὐτῆς, τὰς Ἰακὼβ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πατριαρχῶν πράξεις ἀνιστοροῦντες καὶ μηδὲν ἀδικεῖν λέγοντες τοὺς τὰ ὅμοια πράττοντας, τάλανες καὶ ἀνόητοι καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο ὄντες.

English · Claude translation

“If, then, the teachings of the prophets and of him himself move you, it is better for you to follow God than your senseless and blind teachers, who even to this day allow each of you to have four and five wives, and if anyone sees a beautiful woman and desires her, they recount the deeds of Jacob, called Israel, and of the other patriarchs, and say that those who do the same do no wrong; being wretched and senseless in this too.

About this passage

Source

Archambault 2:280 · Georges Archambault, ed., Justin: Dialogue avec Tryphon, 2 vols., Textes et documents pour l'étude historique du christianisme 8, 11 (Paris: Picard, 1909) · 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

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.

Scripture

Matt 5:28 · echo, medium confidence

Topics

Marriage, Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

Polygamy was still permitted, though uncommon, in Jewish law of the second century.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong breathing)): καὶ ἑὰν εὔμορφόν → καὶ ἐὰν εὔμορφόν.

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 134.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/134/1/).

Plain text

Justin, Dial. 134.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/134/1/).