Dialogue with Trypho 62

2 verses • Goodspeed Greek (Die ältesten Apologeten, 1914)

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

The closing chapter of the Dial. 56-62 unit. Justin reinforces the begotten-Logos doctrine with the Genesis 1:26 prooftext 'Let Us make man' — the plural of address that, on Justin's reading, must be God speaking to a being numerically distinct from himself, a rational being capable of being addressed. Justin then cites Proverbs 8:22-31 LXX (the Wisdom hymn) as scriptural proof that the addressed being is the pre-existent Wisdom/Logos. The chapter completes the cross-Pentateuchal argument and closes with the framing for Dial. 63 onward, which will turn to the Davidic and prophetic messianic prooftexts.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

Dial. 62 is the moment Justin makes explicit what has been implicit since §56: the Logos who appeared at Mamre, Bethel, Peniel, and the bush is the same Wisdom that speaks at Proverbs 8:22-31 — 'the Lord made me the beginning of his ways for his works.' The Septuagintal κτίζω at Prov 8:22 (κύριος ἔκτισέν με) — 'the Lord created me' — will become the verbal hinge of the fourth-century Arian-Nicene controversy, since the Arians will read it literally and the Nicenes will read it metaphorically. Justin's pre-Nicene use of the Proverbs prooftext sits at the origin of this debate.

Translation Friction

Justin's reading of 'Let Us make man' as God addressing a numerically distinct rational being is a substantive exegetical commitment. The classical Jewish counter-reading is that God is addressing the angelic court (b. Sanhedrin 38b argues this expressly against the binitarian reading). Justin's pre-Nicene Christian reading is closer to Philo's — Philo at QG I.54 reads 'Let Us make man' as God addressing his Powers / Logos — but Justin closes the interpretation by identifying the addressed being with the historical Christ.

Connections

Genesis 1:26 LXX (ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον — 'let us make man'); Proverbs 8:22-31 LXX (the Wisdom hymn — pre-existent Wisdom 'before the mountains were formed'); Philo, On the Creation §134 (the two-Adam reading — the heavenly Adam of Gen 1:26-27 made κατ' εἰκόνα; TCR /philo-opif/1/134); Philo, Confusion of Tongues §146 (ὁ κατ' εἰκόνα ἄνθρωπος — the title 'Man-after-the-Image' applied to the Logos; TCR /philo-conf/1/146); Philo, Questions on Genesis I.54 (Armenian — Philo's exegesis of 'Let Us make man' as address to the divine Powers); 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 (the two Adams Christologized); Colossians 1:15-18 (image, firstborn, beginning); b. Sanhedrin 38b (the rabbinic counter-reading: 'Let Us' = address to angels); Athanasius, Contra Arianos II.18-22 (cites Prov 8:22 against the Arian reading).

Dialogue with Trypho 62:2

ὅτε γὰρ φησιν Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν, φανερὸν ἐστιν, ὅτι πρὸς τινα διελέγετο ἀριθμῷ μὲν ὄντα ἕτερον αὐτοῦ καὶ λογικόν.

When God says 'Let Us make humanity in our image and according to our likeness,' it is clear he was conversing with someone numerically distinct from himself — and a rational being.

REF When God says 'Let Us make man in our image and likeness,' it is plain that he was conversing with some being who was numerically distinct from himself, and who is also a rational being. (Schaff, ANF I, p. 228, paraphrased)

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

ποιήσωμεν poiēsōmen

"let us make" — first-person plural aorist subjunctive of ποιέω ('to make'); the plural-of-address that anchors trinitarian/binitarian readings of Gen 1:26

The Septuagintal first-person plural that has structured Jewish-Christian theological interpretation since at least the second century BCE. Pre-Nicene Christian readings universally treat the plural as plural of divine subjects; rabbinic Jewish readings universally treat it as plural of address to the angelic court.

λογικόν logikon

"rational" — rational, possessing logos, capable of reasoned discourse

Justin's argumentative anchor. God does not address non-rational beings with proposals like 'Let Us make.' The addressee must be λογικόν — possessing logos — which Justin reads as the Logos. The wordplay (the addressee of the divine proposal must be λογικόν / 'logos-bearing' = the Logos) is intentional.

Translator Notes

Goodspeed, p. 163 (Dial. 62.2); Schaff, ANF I, p. 228. The Genesis 1:26 LXX prooftext anchors Justin's binitarian reading. The plural 'Let Us' (ποιήσωμεν, first-person plural subjunctive) must, on Justin's reading, indicate plurality of subjects in the divine address — and the addressed subject must be rational (λογικόν), since God's commands are not addressed to non-rational creation.
The classical Jewish counter-reading — that God is addressing the angelic court — was already developed by the rabbis and is preserved at b. Sanhedrin 38b. Philo's parallel reading at QG I.54 (preserved in Armenian) takes a third path: God is addressing his own Powers / Logos. Justin's reading is closest to Philo's: God addresses the begotten Logos. The identification of that Logos with the historical Christ is the Christian innovation.
ἀριθμῷ ἕτερον ('numerically distinct') is the same formula Justin used at Dial. 59 (ἕτερος ἀριθμῷ, οὐ γνώμῃ ἕτερος — 'distinct in number, not distinct in mind'). The phrase is one of Justin's signature pre-Nicene Christological articulations.
Cross-reference Philo, On the Creation §134 (TCR /philo-opif/1/134): Philo's two-Adam reading distinguishes the heavenly humanity made κατ' εἰκόνα at Gen 1:26-27 from the earthly humanity formed ἐκ χοῦ at Gen 2:7. Justin's reading here engages the same Genesis 1:26 text but at the moment of divine address rather than at the moment of human creation. The complementary readings illuminate each other.
Cross-reference Philo, Confusion of Tongues §146 (TCR /philo-conf/1/146): ὁ κατ' εἰκόνα ἄνθρωπος — 'the Man-after-the-Image' — is the third of Philo's five Logos-titles. Justin's reading of Gen 1:26 as the begetting-prior conversation with the Logos fits exactly into Philo's framework: the Image after which humanity is made is the Logos itself.

Dialogue with Trypho 62:4

ἡ δὲ ἀρχὴ πρὸ πάντων τῶν κτισμάτων αὕτη ἐστιν, ἥτις διὰ Σολομῶντος ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος οὕτως λέγει· ἐὰν ἀναγγείλω ὑμῖν τὰ καθ' ἡμέραν γινόμενα, μνημονεύσω τὰ ἀπ' αἰῶνος ἀριθμῆσαι. κύριος ἔκτισέ με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἔργα αὐτοῦ.

This Beginning who is before all creatures is the one who speaks through Solomon by the Holy Spirit: 'If I declare to you the things that happen each day, I will be mindful to count the things from of old. The Lord made me the beginning of his ways, for his works.'

REF This Beginning, before all creatures, is the one who through Solomon speaks by the Holy Spirit: 'If I shall declare to you what happens day by day, I will be mindful to enumerate the things from of old. The Lord made me the beginning of his ways for his works.' (Schaff, ANF I, p. 228 — quoting Proverbs 8 LXX)

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

κτίζω (ἔκτισεν) ktizō / ektisen

"to create / created / established" — to found, to establish, to bring into being; in Septuagintal usage, applied to divine creative acts and also to the establishment of cities, institutions, etc.

The Septuagintal verb at Prov 8:22 that will become the centerpiece of the Arian-Nicene controversy. The Arians read it as 'made,' implying the Son is a creature. The Nicenes read it as 'established / begotten,' compatible with the Son's uncreated co-eternity with the Father. The verb's lexical range supports both readings, which is why the controversy could not be resolved by lexicography alone.

ἀρχὴ ὁδῶν archē hodōn

"beginning of ways" — the first / principle of God's ways; the inaugurating Wisdom of cosmic ordering

The Septuagintal Prov 8:22 phrase that Colossians 1:18 (ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή — 'who is the beginning') and Revelation 3:14 (ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς κτίσεως — 'the beginning of God's creation') will transfer to Christ. The continuity of the formula across Prov 8 → Justin Dial. 62 → Col 1 / Rev 3 is decisive evidence of the unified theological-historical tradition Justin is articulating.

Translator Notes

Goodspeed, p. 163 (Dial. 62.4); Schaff, ANF I, p. 228. Justin's prooftext is Proverbs 8:22 LXX: κύριος ἔκτισέν με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἔργα αὐτοῦ — 'the Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works.' The Septuagintal verb ἔκτισεν ('created / established') will become the verbal hinge of the fourth-century Arian-Nicene controversy: the Arians will read the verb literally (the Wisdom = Logos = Son was created), and the Nicenes will read it metaphorically (Prov 8:22's ἔκτισεν refers to the eternal begetting, not to creation in time). Justin's pre-Nicene use of this prooftext sits at the historical origin of the debate.
The identification of the Proverbs 8 Wisdom with the Logos is one of the most pervasive pre-Nicene exegetical moves — found in Theophilus, Ad Autolycum II.10; Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses IV.20.3; Origen, Comm. Jo. I.34; and later in Athanasius, Contra Arianos II.18-22. Justin's identification here is the earliest extant Christian deployment of the move. Philo's identification of the Logos with the Wisdom of Proverbs 8 is implicit in his title-clusters (e.g., Conf. §146's Logos includes 'Wisdom' — σοφία — though Philo does not always foreground this title).
Note Justin's careful framing: the Wisdom of Prov 8 speaks 'through Solomon by the Holy Spirit.' Three figures structure the speech-act: the Holy Spirit inspires Solomon; Solomon speaks; the Wisdom is the proper subject who speaks through Solomon. The proto-Trinitarian theological grammar (Spirit + speaking-prophet + speaking-Wisdom) is present but not yet articulated as Trinity.
ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἔργα αὐτοῦ — 'the beginning of his ways for his works' — exactly matches Colossians 1:15-18's vocabulary: πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως ('firstborn of all creation') + ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή ('who is the beginning') + ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα ('in him all things were created'). The Septuagintal Prov 8:22 + Christian Colossians 1 fusion is what later Christian theology will call 'the begotten-not-made' doctrine in proto-form.

Chapter 61 Report an error Dialogue with Trypho index Chapter 63