First Apology 33
Summary: Isaiah foretold the virgin birth; the power of God, the Word, overshadowed the virgin without intercourse.
Greek text · Rauschen, 64–66
Καὶ πάλιν ὡς αὐτολεξεὶ διὰ παρθένου μὲν τεχθησόμενος διὰ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου προεφητεύθη, ἀκούσατε. Ἐλέχθη δὲ οὕτως· „Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ ἐροῦσιν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ Μεθʼ ἡμῶν ὁ θεός“. Ἃ γὰρ ἦν ἄπιστα καὶ ἀδύνατα νομιζόμενα παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις γενήσεσθαι, ταῦτα ὁ θεὸς προεμήνυσε διὰ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος μέλλειν γίνεσθαι, ἵνα ὅταν γένηται μὴ ἀπιστηθῇ, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τοῦ προειρῆσθαι πιστευθῇ. Ὅπως δὲ μή τινες, μὴ νοήσαντες τὴν δεδηλωμένην προφητείαν, ἐγκαλέσωσιν ἡμῖν ἅπερ ἐνεκαλέσαμεν τοῖς ποιηταῖς, εἰποῦσιν ἀφροδισίων χάριν ἐληλυθέναι ἐπὶ γυναῖκας τὸν Δία, διασαφῆσαι τοὺς λόγους πειρασόμεθα. Τὸ οὖν „Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει“ σημαίνει οὐ συνουσιασθεῖσαν τὴν παρθένον συλλαβεῖν· εἰ γὰρ ἐσυνουσιάσθη ὑπὸ ὁτουοῦν, οὐκ ἔτι ἦν παρθένος· ἀλλὰ δύναμις θεοῦ ἐπελθοῦσα τῇ παρθένῳ ἐπεσκίασεν αὐτήν, καὶ κυοφορῆσαι παρθένον οὖσαν πεποίηκε. Καὶ ὁ ἀποσταλεὶς δὲ πρὸς αὐτὴν τὴν παρθένον κατʼ ἐκεῖνο τοῦ καιροῦ ἄγγελος θεοῦ εὐηγγελίσατο αὐτὴν εἰπών· „Ἰδοὺ συλλήψῃ ἐν γαστρὶ ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ τέξῃ υἱόν, καὶ υἱὸς ὑψίστου κληθήσεται, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν, αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν“, ὡς οἱ ἀπομνημονεύσαντες πάντα τὰ περὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐδίδαξαν, οἷς ἐπιστεύσαμεν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ διὰ Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προδεδηλωμένου τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα τοῦτον γεννησόμενον, ὡς προεμηνύομεν, ἔφη. Τὸ πνεῦμα οὖν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐδὲν ἄλλο νοῆσαι θέμις ἢ τὸν λόγον, ὃς καὶ πρωτότοκος τῷ θεῷ ἐστι, Μωϋσῆς ὁ προδεδηλωμένος προφήτης ἐμήνυσε· καὶ τοῦτο ἐλθὸν ἐπὶ τὴν παρθένον καὶ ἐπισκιάσαν οὐ διὰ συνουσίας ἀλλὰ διὰ δυνάμεως ἐγκύμονα κατέστησε. Τὸ δὲ Ἰησοῦς, ὄνομα τῇ ἑβραΐδι φωνῇ, σωτὴρ τῇ ἑλληνίδι διαλέκτῳ δηλοῖ. Ὅθεν καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος πρὸς τὴν παρθένον εἶπε· „Καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν· αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν“. Ὅτι δὲ οὐδενὶ ἄλλῳ θεοφοροῦνται οἱ προφητεύοντες εἰ μὴ λόγῳ θείῳ, καὶ ὑμεῖς, ὡς ὑπολαμβάνω, φήσετε.
English · Claude translation
And hear again how it was foretold in express words through Isaiah that he would be born of a virgin. It was said thus: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they shall say in his name, God with us.” For what was thought incredible and impossible among men, God foretold through the prophetic Spirit would come to pass, so that when it happened it might not be disbelieved, but believed because it had been foretold. But so that some, not understanding the prophecy we have cited, may not charge us with the very things we charged the poets with, who say that Zeus came to women for the sake of sexual pleasure, we will try to explain the words. “Behold, the virgin shall conceive,” then, signifies that the virgin conceived without intercourse; for if she had had intercourse with anyone, she would no longer be a virgin; but the power of God came upon the virgin and overshadowed her, and caused her to become pregnant while still a virgin. And the angel of God who was sent to the virgin herself at that time announced the good news to her, saying, “Behold, you will conceive in the womb by the Holy Spirit and bear a son, and he will be called Son of the Most High, and you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins,” as those who recorded all the things about our Savior Jesus Christ taught, whom we believed, since the prophetic Spirit also said through Isaiah, whom we have cited, that he would be born, as we indicated before. It is not right, then, to understand the Spirit and the power from God as anything other than the Word, who is also the first-born of God, as Moses the prophet we have mentioned indicated; and this, coming upon the virgin and overshadowing her, made her pregnant, not by intercourse but by power. And “Jesus,” a name in the Hebrew language, means “savior” in the Greek tongue. Hence the angel also said to the virgin, “And you will call his name Jesus; for he will save his people from their sins.” And that those who prophesy are inspired by no one other than the divine Word, you too, I suppose, will agree.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “Those who recorded” (οἱ ἀπομνημονεύσαντες): Justin's term for the Gospel writers; he calls the Gospels “memoirs of the apostles” (66.3).
- Justin identifies “the Holy Spirit” and “the power of the Most High” in Luke 1:35 with the Word himself, a view later theology did not follow.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (punctuation slip in the digital text (stray full stop)): οὖν καὶ. τὴν δύναμιν → οὖν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν.
Cite this passage
Justin, 1 Apol. 33 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-1-apology/33/).
Plain text
Justin, 1 Apol. 33 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-1-apology/33/).
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