Sophia Scriptura

Dialogue with Trypho 103.3

Justin Martyr · Dialogue with Trypho · ca. 155–160 · Rome · Read in context

Summary: The roaring lion is Herod Antipas, successor of the Herod who killed the infants.

Greek text · Archambault 2:136–138

Καὶ τὸ Ἤνοιξαν ἐπʼ ἐμὲ τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν ὡς λέων ὠρυόμενος δηλοῖ τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἰουδαίων τότε ὄντα, καὶ αὐτὸν Ἡρώδην λεγόμενον, διάδοχον γεγενημένον Ἡρώδου τοῦ, ὅτε ἐγεγέννητο, ἀνελόντος πάντας τοὺς ἐν Βηθλεὲμ ἐκείνου τοῦ καιροῦ γεννηθέντας παῖδας, διὰ τὸ ὑπονοεῖν ἐν αὐτοῖς πάντως εἶναι τὸν περὶ οὗ εἰρήκεισαν αὐτῷ οἱ ἀπὸ Ἀρραβίας ἐλθόντες μάγοι· μὴ ἐπιστάμενος τὴν τοῦ ἰσχυροτέρου πάντων βουλήν, ὡς εἰς Αἴγυπτον τῷ Ἰωσὴφ καὶ τῇ Μαρίᾳ ἐκεκελεύκει ἀπαλλαγῆναι λαβοῦσι τὸ παιδίον, καὶ εἶναι ἐκεῖ ἄχρις ἂν πάλιν αὐτοῖς ἀποκαλυφθῇ ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν· κἀκεῖ ἦσαν ἀπελθόντες ἄχρις ἂν ἀπέθανεν ὁ ἀποκτείνας τὰ ἐν Βηθλεὲμ παιδία Ἡρώδης καὶ Ἀρχέλαος αὐτὸν διεδέξατο· καὶ οὗτος ἐτελεύτα πρὶν τὸν Χριστὸν τὴν οἰκονομίαν τὴν κατὰ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ πατρὸς γεγενημένην ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῷ σταυρωθῆναι ἐλθεῖν.

English · Claude translation

“And ‘They opened their mouth against me like a roaring lion’ indicates the one who was then king of the Jews, also called Herod, who succeeded the Herod who, when he was born, killed all the children born in Bethlehem at that time, because he suspected that among them was certainly the one of whom the Magi who came from Arabia had spoken to him; not knowing the counsel of the one stronger than all, who had commanded Joseph and Mary to take the child and depart to Egypt, and to be there until it should be revealed to them again to return to their own country; and there they remained until Herod who had killed the children in Bethlehem died and Archelaus succeeded him; and he died before Christ came to the dispensation of being crucified which had been ordained by the Father's will.

About this passage

Source
Archambault 2:136–138 · 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
Text
As printed in Archambault. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
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.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Scripture

Notes

Translation notes

  • Justin telescopes the succession: Herod the Great, then Archelaus, then Herod Antipas in Galilee.

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 103.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/103/3/).

Plain text
Justin, Dial. 103.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/103/3/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text

Report an error in this passage