Dialogue with Trypho 121.2 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: No one dies for the sun, but many die for Christ's name, which shines brighter than the sun.

Greek text · Archambault 2:222–224

Τὸν μὲν ἥλιον ὁ θεὸς ἐδεδώκει πρότερον εἰς τὸ προσκυνεῖν αὐτόν, ὡς γέγραπται, καὶ οὐδένα οὐδέποτε ἰδεῖν ἔστιν ὑπομείναντα διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον πίστιν ἀποθανεῖν· διὰ δὲ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐκ παντὸς γένους ἀνθρώπων καὶ ὑπομείναντας καὶ ὑπομένοντας πάντα πάσχειν ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ ἀρνήσασθαι αὐτὸν ἰδεῖν ἔστι. Πυρωδέστερος γὰρ αὐτοῦ ὁ τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ σοφίας λόγος καὶ φωτεινότερος μᾶλλον τῶν ἡλίου δυνάμεών ἐστι, καὶ εἰς τὰ βάθη τῆς καρδίας καὶ τοῦ νοῦ εἰσδύνων. Ὅθεν καὶ ὁ λόγος ἔφη· Ὑπὲρ τὸν ἥλιον ἀνατελεῖ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ. Καὶ πάλιν Ἀνατολὴ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ζαχαρίας φησί. Καὶ περὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ λέγων εἶπεν, ὅτι Κόψονται φυλὴ κατὰ φυλήν.

English · Claude translation

“God had formerly given the sun to be worshiped, as it is written, and no one can ever be seen to have endured to die for faith in the sun; but one can see men of every race who have endured and endure to suffer anything rather than deny Jesus because of his name. For the word of his truth and wisdom is more fiery and more luminous than the powers of the sun, and penetrates to the depths of the heart and the mind. Hence the word said: ‘His name shall rise above the sun.’ And again Zechariah says: ‘The East is his name.’ And speaking of the same one, he said: ‘They shall mourn tribe by tribe.’

About this passage

Source

Archambault 2:222–224 · 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

Deut 4:19 · allusion, high confidence
Ps 72:17 (71:17 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
Zech 6:12 · quotation, high confidence
Zech 12:12 · quotation, high confidence
Heb 4:12 · echo, medium confidence

Topics

Martyrdom, Christology

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 121.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/121/2/).

Plain text

Justin, Dial. 121.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/121/2/).