Sophia Scriptura

Dialogue with Trypho 23.5

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

Summary: Women cannot be circumcised, yet can be righteous; so circumcision is only a sign.

Greek text · Archambault 1:108

Καὶ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι δὲ τὸ θῆλυ γένος τὴν σαρκικὴν περιτομὴν λαμβάνειν δείκνυσιν ὅτι εἰς σημεῖον ἡ περιτομὴ αὕτη δέδοται, ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὡς ἔργον δικαιοσύνης· τὰ γὰρ δίκαια καὶ ἐνάρετα ἅπαντα ὁμοίως καὶ τὰς θηλείας δύνασθαι φυλάσσειν ὁ θεὸς ἐποίησεν. Ἀλλὰ σχῆμα μὲν τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς ἕτερον καὶ ἕτερον ὁρῶμεν γεγενημένον ἄρρενος καὶ θηλείας, διὰ δὲ τοῦτο οὐδὲ δίκαιον οὐδὲ ἄδικον οὐδέτερον αὐτῶν ἐπιστάμεθα, ἀλλὰ διʼ εὐσέβειαν καὶ δικαιοσύνην.

English · Claude translation

“And the fact that the female sex cannot receive fleshly circumcision shows that this circumcision was given as a sign, and not as a work of righteousness; for God made women equally able to observe all that is righteous and virtuous. We see that the bodily form of male and female was made different; but we know that neither of them is righteous or unrighteous for this reason, but because of piety and righteousness.

About this passage

Source
Archambault 1:108 · 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
Topics
Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • An early argument from the equal capacity of women for righteousness.

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 23.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/23/5/).

Plain text
Justin, Dial. 23.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/23/5/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text

Report an error in this passage