First Apology 63
Summary: The one who spoke to Moses from the bush was the Son, the Word, who is also God; the Jews wrongly think it was the Father.
Greek text · Rauschen, 102–104
Ἰουδαῖοι δὲ πάντες καὶ νῦν διδάσκουσι τὸν ἀνωνόμαστον θεὸν λελαληκέναι τῷ Μωυσεῖ. Ὅθεν τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα διὰ Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προμεμηνυμένου προφήτου ἐλέγχον αὐτούς, ὡς προεγράψαμεν, εἶπεν· „Ἔγνω βοῦς τὸν κτησάμενον καὶ ὄνος τὴν φάτνην τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ, Ἰσραὴλ δέ με οὐκ ἔγνω καὶ ὁ λαός με οὐ συνῆκε“. Καὶ Ἰησοῦς δὲ ὁ Χριστός, ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνωσαν Ἰουδαῖοι, τί πατὴρ καὶ τί υἱός, ὁμοίως ἐλέγχων αὐτοὺς καὶ αὐτὸς εἶπεν· „Οὐδεὶς ἔγνω τὸν πατέρα εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱός, οὐδὲ τὸν υἱὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ πατὴρ καὶ οἷς ἂν ἀποκαλύψῃ ὁ υἱός“. Ὁ λόγος δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ, ὡς προέφημεν. Καὶ ἄγγελος δὲ καλεῖται καὶ ἀπόστολος· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἀπαγγέλλει, ὅσα δεῖ γνωσθῆναι, καὶ ἀποστέλλεται μηνύσων, ὅσα ἀγγέλλεται, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν εἶπεν· „Ὁ ἐμοῦ ἀκούων ἀκούει τοῦ ἀποστείλαντός με“. Καὶ ἐκ τῶν τοῦ Μωϋσέως δὲ συγγραμμάτων φανερὸν τοῦτο γενήσεται. Λέλεκται δὲ ἐν αὐτοῖς οὕτως· „Καὶ ἐλάλησε Μωϋσεῖ ἄγγελος θεοῦ ἐν φλογὶ πυρὸς ἐκ τῆς βάτου καὶ εἶπεν· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν, θεὸς Ἀβραάμ, θεὸς Ἰσαάκ, θεὸς Ἰακώβ, ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων σου. Κάτελθε εἰς Αἴγυπτον καὶ ἐξάγαγε τὸν λαόν μου“. Τὰ δʼ ἑπόμενα ἐξ ἐκείνων βουλόμενοι μαθεῖν δύνασθε· οὐ γὰρ δυνατὸν ἐν τούτοις ἀναγράψαι πάντα. Ἀλλʼ εἰς ἀπόδειξιν γεγόνασιν οἵδε οἱ λόγοι, ὅτι υἱὸς θεοῦ καὶ ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός ἐστι, πρότερον λόγος ὤν, καὶ ἐν ἰδέᾳ πυρὸς ποτὲ φανείς, ποτὲ δὲ καὶ ἐν εἰκόνι ἀσωμάτῳ· νῦν δὲ διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου γένους ἄνθρωπος γενόμενος ὑπέμεινε καὶ παθεῖν, ὅσα αὐτὸν ἐνήργησαν οἱ δαίμονες διατεθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνοήτων Ἰουδαίων. Οἵτινες ἔχοντες ῥητῶς εἰρημένον ἐν τοῖς Μωϋσέως συντάγμασι· „Καὶ ἐλάλησεν ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ τῷ Μωϋσεῖ ἐν πυρὶ φλογὸς ἐν βάτῳ καὶ εἶπεν· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν, ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰακώβ“, τὸν τῶν ὅλων πατέρα καὶ δημιουργὸν τὸν ταῦτα εἰπόντα λέγουσιν εἶναι. Ὅθεν καὶ τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα ἐλέγχον αὐτοὺς εἶπεν· „Ἰσραὴλ δέ με οὐκ ἔγνω, καὶ ὁ λαός με οὐ συνῆκε“. Καὶ πάλιν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ὡς ἐδηλώσαμεν, παρʼ αὐτοῖς ὢν εἶπεν· „Οὐδεὶς ἔγνω τὸν πατέρα εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱός, οὐδὲ τὸν υἱὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ πατὴρ καὶ οἷς ἂν ὁ υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψῃ“. Ἰουδαῖοι οὖν ἡγησάμενοι ἀεὶ τὸν πατέρα τῶν ὅλων λελαληκέναι τῷ Μωϋσεῖ, τοῦ λαλήσαντος αὐτῷ ὄντος υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὃς καὶ ἄγγελος καὶ ἀπόστολος κέκληται, δικαίως ἐλέγχονται καὶ διὰ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὡς οὔτε τὸν πατέρα οὔτε τὸν υἱὸν ἔγνωσαν. Οἱ γὰρ τὸν υἱὸν πατέρα φάσκοντες εἶναι ἐλέγχονται μήτε τὸν πατέρα ἐπιστάμενοι, μηθʼ ὅτι ἐστὶν υἱὸς τῷ πατρὶ τῶν ὅλων γινώσκοντες· ὃς λόγος καὶ πρωτότοκος ὢν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ θεὸς ὑπάρχει. Καὶ πρότερον διὰ τῆς τοῦ πυρὸς μορφῆς καὶ εἰκόνος ἀσωμάτου τῷ Μωϋσεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἑτέροις προφήταις ἐφάνη· νῦν δʼ ἐν χρόνοις τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀρχῆς, ὡς προείπομεν, διὰ παρθένου ἄνθρωπος γενόμενος κατὰ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς βουλὴν ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας τῶν πιστευόντων αὐτῷ καὶ ἐξουθενηθῆναι καὶ παθεῖν ὑπέμενεν, ἵνα ἀποθανὼν καὶ ἀναστὰς νικήσῃ τὸν θάνατον. Τὸ δὲ εἰρημένον ἐκ βάτου τῷ Μωϋσεῖ· „Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν, ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰακὼβ καὶ ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων σου“, σημαντικὸν τοῦ καὶ ἀποθανόντας ἐκείνους μένειν καὶ εἶναι αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀνθρώπους· καὶ γὰρ πρῶτοι τῶν πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἐκεῖνοι περὶ θεοῦ ζήτησιν ἠσχολήθησαν, Ἀβραὰμ μὲν πατὴρ ὢν τοῦ Ἰσαάκ, Ἰσαὰκ δὲ τοῦ Ἰακώβ, ὡς καὶ Μωϋσῆς ἀνέγραψε.
English · Claude translation
All the Jews even now teach that the nameless God spoke to Moses. So the prophetic Spirit, rebuking them through Isaiah, the prophet mentioned before, said, as we wrote above: “The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master's manger; but Israel has not known me, and my people has not understood.” And Jesus the Christ, because the Jews did not know what the Father is and what the Son is, likewise rebuking them, himself said: “No one knew the Father except the Son, nor the Son except the Father and those to whom the Son reveals him.” Now the Word of God is his Son, as we said before. And he is called Angel and Apostle; for he himself announces whatever must be known, and is sent to make known whatever is announced; as our Lord himself also said, “He who hears me hears him who sent me.” And this will be made clear also from the writings of Moses. In them it is said thus: “And the angel of God spoke to Moses in a flame of fire out of the bush and said, I am he who is, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of your fathers. Go down into Egypt and bring out my people.” What follows after this you can learn if you wish; for it is not possible to write it all out here. But these words have been given to prove that Jesus the Christ is the Son of God and his Apostle, being formerly the Word, and appearing sometimes in the form of fire, and sometimes in a bodiless image; but now, having become man by the will of God for the human race, he endured also to suffer whatever the demons worked the senseless Jews to inflict on him. They have it expressly said in the writings of Moses: “And the angel of God spoke to Moses in a fire of flame in a bush and said, I am he who is, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob”; and yet they say that the one who said these things is the Father and Maker of all. Therefore the prophetic Spirit also, rebuking them, said: “Israel has not known me, and my people has not understood.” And again Jesus, as we showed, while he was among them said: “No one knew the Father except the Son, nor the Son except the Father and those to whom the Son reveals him.” So the Jews, having always thought that it was the Father of all who spoke to Moses, when it was the Son of God who spoke to him, who is called both Angel and Apostle, are justly rebuked both by the prophetic Spirit and by Christ himself, as knowing neither the Father nor the Son. For those who say that the Son is the Father are shown to know neither the Father nor that the Father of all has a Son; who, being the Word and first-begotten of God, is also God. And formerly he appeared to Moses and the other prophets in the form of fire and in a bodiless image; but now, in the times of your rule, as we said before, having become man through a virgin according to the Father's will, for the salvation of those who believe in him, he endured also to be despised and to suffer, so that by dying and rising again he might conquer death. And what was said to Moses out of the bush, “I am he who is, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and the God of your fathers,” signifies that those men, even though dead, remain and belong to Christ himself; for they were the first of all people to occupy themselves with the search for God, Abraham being the father of Isaac, and Isaac of Jacob, as Moses also recorded.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Justin identifies the “angel of the Lord” of the Old Testament appearances with the pre-incarnate Son, a view he develops at length in the Dialogue with Trypho.
- “Who, being the Word and first-begotten of God, is also God” (καὶ θεὸς ὑπάρχει): an explicit statement of Christ's divinity.
- “No one knew the Father except the Son”: Justin's form of Matt 11:27 (Luke 10:22), with “knew” in the past tense and the Father named first.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization slip (detached breathing mark); digitization slip against Rauschen's printed text (garbled ending); digitization slip against Rauschen's printed text (missing accent); digitization slip against Rauschen's printed text (missing breathing); digitization slip against Rauschen's printed text (wrong letter); digitization slip against Rauschen's printed text (wrong vowel); digitization slip against Rauschen's printed text (wrong vowel; the participle is required)): Ὁθεν τὸ → Ὅθεν τὸ; ὁ Χριστός, ότι οὐκ → ὁ Χριστός, ὅτι οὐκ; αὐτὸς ἱ κύριος → αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος; Κάτελθε εἰς Αἰγυπτον → Κάτελθε εἰς Αἴγυπτον; λόγοι, ότι υἱὸς → λόγοι, ὅτι υἱὸς; ἀπόστολος ᾿Ιησοῦς → ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦς; ἐν ἰδέᾳ πυρὶ ς ποτὲ → ἐν ἰδέᾳ πυρὸς ποτὲ; ὁ ὤν, ἱ θεὸς → ὁ ὤν, ὁ θεὸς; τῶν όλων πατέρα → τῶν ὅλων πατέρα; παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἂν εἶπεν → παρʼ αὐτοῖς ὢν εἶπεν; εἰ μἰ ὁ υἱός → εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱός; οἷς ἂν ἱ υἱὸς → οἷς ἂν ὁ υἱὸς; τᾶν ὅλων → τῶν ὅλων; μηθʼ ότι → μηθʼ ὅτι; θεὶς ὑπάρχει → θεὸς ὑπάρχει; Τὶ δὲ εἰρημένον → Τὸ δὲ εἰρημένον.
Cite this passage
Justin, 1 Apol. 63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-1-apology/63/).
Plain text
Justin, 1 Apol. 63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-1-apology/63/).
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