Dialogue with Trypho 123.4 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: God will take away the wisdom of the wise (Isa 29:14).

Greek text · Archambault 2:232

Ἢ καλὸς ὑμῶν ὁ ἔπαινος τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ θεοῦ μαρτυρία δούλοις πρέπουσα; Οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθε πολλάκις ταὐτὰ ἀκούοντες, οὐδʼ ἀπειλοῦντος τοῦ θεοῦ φρίσσετε, ἀλλʼ ἦ λαὸς μωρὸς καὶ σκληροκάρδιός ἐστε. Διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ προσθήσω τοῦ μεταθεῖναι τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον, λέγει κύριος, καὶ μεταθήσω αὐτούς, καὶ ἀπολῶ τὴν σοφίαν τῶν σοφῶν καὶ τὴν σύνεσιν τῶν συνετῶν κρύψω. Εὐλόγως. Οὐ γὰρ σοφοί ἐστε οὐδὲ συνετοί, ἀλλὰ δριμεῖς καὶ πανοῦργοι· σοφοὶ εἰς τὸ κακοποιῆσαι μόνον, γνῶναι δὲ βουλὴν θεοῦ κεκρυμμένην ἢ διαθήκην κυρίου πιστὴν ἢ τρίβους αἰωνίους εὑρεῖν ἀδύνατοι.

English · Claude translation

“Is God's praise of you a fine one, and God's testimony fitting for servants? You are not ashamed at hearing the same things often, nor do you shudder at God's threats, but you are a foolish and hard-hearted people. ‘Therefore, behold, I will proceed to remove this people, says the Lord, and I will remove them, and I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and hide the understanding of the prudent.’ With reason. For you are not wise nor understanding, but shrewd and crafty; wise only to do evil, but unable to know the hidden counsel of God, or the faithful covenant of the Lord, or to find the eternal paths.

About this passage

Source

Archambault 2:232 · 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

Isa 29:14 · quotation, high confidence
Jer 4:22 · allusion, high confidence

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 123.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/123/4/).

Plain text

Justin, Dial. 123.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/123/4/).