Dialogue with Trypho 63

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

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Justin pivots from the 'second God who appeared in the OT theophanies' argument (Dial. 56-62) to the 'this same God was incarnate' move that opens the Davidic-messianic prooftext sequence. The hinge is Isaiah 53:8 LXX — 'who shall declare his generation?' — read as a prophetic statement that the begotten Logos has no merely human descent. Justin then deploys Psalm 45 (LXX Ps 44) — 'your throne, O God, is forever and ever' — as the Davidic enthronement prooftext showing that the Messiah-figure is addressed as 'God' by 'your God,' a binitarian configuration parallel to what Justin established at Dial. 56 with Genesis-theophanies.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

Dial. 63's combined use of Isaiah 53:8 ('who shall declare his generation?') and Psalm 45:6-7 ('your throne, O God, is forever... God, your God, has anointed you') is the earliest extant Christian deployment of these two passages as paired Logos-Christology prooftexts. The Hebrews 1:8-9 quotation of Psalm 45:6-7 is the New Testament-internal anchor; Justin's reading here is the conceptual bridge between the apostolic citation in Hebrews and the systematic patristic deployment that will follow. The same dyadic divine-address ('God... your God') the chapter exploits is structurally identical to Philo's articular-vs-anarthrous θεός distinction at Somn. I.§230 (TCR /philo-somn/1/230).

Translation Friction

Trypho's silent acceptance through this chapter is conspicuous. The argument depends on reading Psalm 45 as Davidic enthronement of the Messiah AND on reading the 'God... your God' grammar as two divine subjects. Both moves are contested in Jewish exegesis: Psalm 45 traditionally reads as a royal wedding song (the human Davidic king is the 'God' addressed honorifically); the dyadic-divine-address reading is the rabbinic 'Two Powers' problem condemned at b. Sanhedrin 38b. Justin presses past the contested readings without engaging them directly here — his pattern in Dial. 56-67 is to build the case from compounding prooftexts and let Trypho's objections accumulate.

Connections

Isaiah 53:8 LXX (the suffering servant prooftext for the begotten Logos's non-human generation); Psalm 45:6-7 LXX (the 'throne, O God' enthronement passage); Hebrews 1:8-9 (the NT-internal citation of Psalm 45 as Christological prooftext); Philo, Confusion of Tongues §146 (the title-catalog including Son — TCR /philo-conf/1/146); Philo, On Dreams §230 (the articular vs anarthrous θεός distinction — TCR /philo-somn/1/230); Philo, On the Special Laws §81 (image-Logos through whom cosmos was made — TCR /philo-spec/1/81); Justin, Dial. 61 (the begotten-Logos framework Step 4 shipped — /justin-dialogue/61); Justin, Dial. 76 (later reprise of Psalm 110:1 as Christological prooftext).

Dialogue with Trypho 63:1

ἀποδείκνυμι ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐνανθρώπησεν αὐτὸς οὗτος ὁ θεός, ὃν ἀπεδείξαμεν αὐτὸν ὀφθέντα Ἀβραάμ καὶ Ἰακὼβ καὶ Μωυσῇ, καὶ ἐκ ῥίζης Δαυὶδ διὰ παρθένου γεγενημένον, οὐχ ἄρ' ἐξ ἀνδρώπου σπέρματος ἀλλὰ διὰ θεοῦ.

I will prove to you that this very God — the one we have shown appeared to Abraham, to Jacob, and to Moses — became human through the virgin, from David's lineage, not by human seed but through God.

REF I will show you that this very God — whom we have proved to have appeared to Abraham, to Jacob, and to Moses — was born a man through the virgin from the root of David, not by human seed, but by God. (Schaff, ANF I, p. 229, paraphrased)

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

ἐνανθρώπησεν enanthrōpēsen

"became human / was incarnate as human" — aorist of ἐνανθρωπέω — 'to become human, to take on humanity'; the technical pre-Nicene Christology verb for the incarnation

Justin's term will be deployed by the Nicene Creed of 325/381 in the participial form ἐνανθρωπήσαντα ('having become human'). The verb is distinct from σαρκόω ('to become flesh,' the verb of John 1:14) — ἐνανθρωπέω emphasizes the human-natured assumption rather than the flesh-taking. Both verbs become central to the Christological vocabulary.

ἐκ ῥίζης Δαυίδ ek rhizēs Dauid

"from the root of David" — Septuagintal idiom for Davidic genealogical descent; the Messianic-lineage formula

Same Septuagintal root-imagery as Isaiah 11:1 (ῥάβδος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαί — 'a shoot from the root of Jesse') and Romans 15:12. Justin's combination of root-of-David descent with virgin-birth is the pre-Nicene articulation of the doctrine the Apostles' Creed will eventually crystallize as 'born of the Virgin Mary' + 'of the house of David.'

Translator Notes

Goodspeed, p. 164 (Dial. 63.1); Schaff, ANF I, p. 229. The opening sentence of Dial. 63 names the pivot Justin is making: the Logos-figure of the OT theophanies (the 'second God and Lord' established at Dial. 56-62) is the same one who became incarnate through the virgin. The verb ἐνανθρώπησεν ('became human') is the technical pre-Nicene Christology verb for the incarnation; the Nicene Creed will deploy it in the phrase σαρκωθέντα ἐκ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου καὶ Μαρίας τῆς Παρθένου καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσαντα ('was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human').
The phrase ὁ θεός ὃν ἀπεδείξαμεν αὐτὸν ὀφθέντα Ἀβραάμ καὶ Ἰακὼβ καὶ Μωυσῇ ('this God whom we have proved to have appeared to Abraham, to Jacob, and to Moses') back-references the three theophany sequences Justin built in Dial. 56 (Mamre), Dial. 58 (Jacob's visions), and Dial. 59 (Moses at the bush). The continuity argument is structural: same figure across all four theophanies, now revealed as the historical Jesus.
Cross-reference Philo Confusion of Tongues §146 (TCR /philo-conf/1/146): Philo's title catalog includes 'Son' (υἱός is implicit in the catalog via 'firstborn'); Justin's identification of the same multi-titled Logos-figure with the Davidic Son-figure of Psalm 45 makes the catalog explicit. The genealogical move from Philonic title-stacking to Christian Christology completes here.
ἐκ ῥίζης Δαυὶδ ('from David's root') is Septuagintal language from Isaiah 11:10 (ἡ ῥίζα Ἰεσσαί — 'the root of Jesse') and Romans 15:12 (ἡ ῥίζα τοῦ Ἰεσσαί — Paul's citation of the same). The Davidic-root descent + virgin-birth pairing Justin asserts here is unique: the prophesied Messiah comes from David's lineage but not by human seed.

Dialogue with Trypho 63:3

καὶ ὁ Δαυὶδ διὰ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος εἶπε· 'ὁ θρόνος σου, ὁ θεός, εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶνος· ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου· ἠγάπησας δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἐμίσησας ἀνομίαν· διὰ τοῦτο ἔχρισέ σε ὁ θεός, ὁ θεός σου, ἔλαιον ἀγαλλιάσεως παρὰ τοὺς μετόχους σου.'

David, speaking through the prophetic Spirit, said: 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness. You loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore, God — your God — anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions.'

REF And David, by the prophetic Spirit, said: 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, even your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above your companions.' (Schaff, ANF I, p. 230 — quoting Psalm 45:6-7 LXX = Ps 44 LXX)

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

ὁ θεός, ὁ θεός σου ho theos, ho theos sou

"God, your God" — the doubled-divine-address pattern: an absolute 'God' and a relational 'your God' in the same clause

The Septuagintal grammar Justin's argument depends on. Philo's parallel grammatical move at Somn. I.§230 distinguishes ὁ θεός (articular, the supreme God) from θεός (anarthrous, the Logos). Hebrews 1:9 quotes this Psalm 45 line verbatim as Christological proof. The pattern carries the entire pre-Nicene 'binitarian-but-monotheist' configuration in a single clause.

ἔχρισεν echrisen

"anointed" — aorist of χρίω ('to anoint'); the root of χριστός ('anointed one') = Christ; the verbal act that constitutes a king or priest in Septuagintal usage

The verbal etymology of Χριστός. The anointing-God anoints the anointed-God with oil of gladness; the anointed-God is the Christ. Justin's argument: the anointing presupposes a relationship between two distinct divine subjects — anointing-God and anointed-God — which the Psalm grammar makes explicit.

Translator Notes

Goodspeed, pp. 164-165 (Dial. 63.4); Schaff, ANF I, p. 230. Psalm 45:6-7 LXX (= Ps 44:7-8 LXX in the Greek versification, kept as 45 in Hebrew numbering and modern translations). The same passage is cited at Hebrews 1:8-9 as decisive proof of the Son's divine status — 'But to the Son [he says], Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.' Justin's deployment is the earliest extant Christian use of the Psalm 45 prooftext outside the New Testament itself.
The dyadic-divine-address pattern (God anointed by God) is what Justin's pre-Nicene Christology turns on. Compare Philo, On Dreams §230 (TCR /philo-somn/1/230): Philo's anarthrous θεός vs articular ὁ θεός grammatical distinction is the conceptual ancestor of what Justin reads here. Both authors face the same exegetical phenomenon (Septuagintal passages with two divine-titles in proximity) and reach the same configuration (numerical distinction within preserved monotheism).
On the chain of theological-historical reception: Hebrews 1:8-9 (apostolic citation) → Justin Dial. 63 (earliest patristic re-deployment) → Tertullian, Adversus Praxean 13 (Western Latin reading) → Athanasius, Contra Arianos I.49 (anti-Arian deployment) → Augustine, Tractates on John 6 (Latin exegesis). Each major pre-Chalcedonian Christology develops a position on what Justin reads here.
Justin's introductory clause διὰ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος ('through the prophetic Spirit') frames Psalm 45 as Holy-Spirit-inspired Davidic prophecy. The framing matters: Justin is not citing David as a human author but as the prophetic mouthpiece through whom the divine Logos speaks of itself. Same configuration as Dial. 62's reading of Proverbs 8 (where Wisdom speaks 'through Solomon by the Holy Spirit').

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