Dialogue with Trypho 55.1 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: Trypho asks for proof of “another God,” not merely the use of “gods” for idols.

Greek text · Archambault 1:240–242

Καὶ ὁ Τρύφων ἀπεκρίνατο· Μεμνησόμεθα καὶ ταύτης τῆς ἐξηγήσεώς σου, ἐὰν καὶ διʼ ἄλλων κρατύνῃς καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἀπόρημα. Τανῦν δὲ ἤδη ἀναλαβὼν τὸν λόγον ἀπόδειξον ἡμῖν ὅτι ἕτερος θεὸς παρὰ τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων ὑπὸ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος ὡμολόγηται εἶναι, φυλαξάμενος λέγειν τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην, ἃ γέγραπται τοῖς ἔθνεσι συγκεχωρηκέναι τὸν θεὸν ὡς θεοὺς προσκυνεῖν· καὶ τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ ὡς παραχρώμενοι προφῆται πολλάκις λέγουσιν ὅτι Ὁ θεός σου θεὸς τῶν θεῶν ἐστι καὶ κύριος τῶν κυρίων, προστιθέντες ὁ μέγας καὶ ἰσχυρὸς καὶ φοβερὸς πολλάκις.

English · Claude translation

And Trypho answered, “We will remember this interpretation of yours too, if you confirm this difficulty by other passages as well. But now take up the argument and prove to us that another God besides the Maker of all things is acknowledged by the prophetic Spirit, taking care not to speak of the sun and the moon, which it is written God allowed the nations to worship as gods; and the prophets often misuse this expression, saying, ‘Your God is God of gods and Lord of lords,’ often adding ‘the great and mighty and terrible.’

About this passage

Source

Archambault 1:240–242 · 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
Deut 10:17 · quotation, high confidence
Ps 136:2 (135:2 LXX) · echo, medium confidence

Topics

Trinity

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 55.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/55/1/).

Plain text

Justin, Dial. 55.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/55/1/).