Dialogue with Trypho 22.11 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: Sacrifices and the temple were given because of Israel's sins, not because God needed them.

Greek text · Archambault 1:102–104

Οὔτε οὖν θυσίας παρʼ ὑμῶν λαμβάνει, οὔτε ὡς ἐνδεὴς τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐνετείλατο ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν. Καὶ γὰρ τὸν ναὸν τὸν ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπικληθέντα οὐχ ὡς ἐνδεὴς ὢν ὡμολόγησεν οἶκον αὐτοῦ ἢ αὐλήν, ἀλλʼ ὅπως καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο προσέχοντες αὐτῷ μὴ εἰδωλολατρῆτε. Καὶ ὅτι τοῦτό ἐστιν, Ἡσαΐας λέγει· Ποῖον οἶκον ᾠκοδομήσατέ μοι; λέγει κύριος. Ὁ οὐρανός μοι θρόνος, καὶ ἡ γῆ ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν μου.

English · Claude translation

“So he neither accepts sacrifices from you, nor did he command them in the beginning as though he needed them, but because of your sins. For he did not acknowledge the temple in Jerusalem, which was called his house or court, as though he needed it, but so that, attending to him in this way too, you might not worship idols. And that this is so, Isaiah says: ‘What house have you built me? says the Lord. Heaven is my throne, and the earth the footstool of my feet.’”

About this passage

Source

Archambault 1:102–104 · 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 66:1 · quotation, high confidence
Acts 7:49 · echo, medium confidence

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 22.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/22/11/).

Plain text

Justin, Dial. 22.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/22/11/).