Dialogue with Trypho 81.3 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: “The days of the tree” mean a thousand years: Adam died within a “day” of a thousand years.

Greek text · Archambault 2:38–42

Τὸ οὖν εἰρημένον ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις, ἔφην· Κατὰ γὰρ τὰς ἡμέρας τοῦ ξύλου αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ λαοῦ μου ἔσονται, τὰ ἔργα τῶν πόνων αὐτῶν παλαιώσουσι, νενοήκαμεν ὅτι χίλια ἔτη ἐν μυστηρίῳ μηνύει. Ὡς γὰρ τῷ Ἀδὰμ εἴρητο, ὅτι ᾗ δʼ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου, ἐν ἐκείνῃ ἀποθανεῖται, ἔγνωμεν αὐτὸν μὴ ἀναπληρώσαντα χίλια ἔτη. Συνήκαμεν καὶ τὸ εἰρημένον, ὅτι Ἡμέρα κυρίου ὡς χίλια ἔτη, εἰς τοῦτο συνάγειν.

English · Claude translation

“Now what is said in these words,” I said, “‘For according to the days of the tree shall be the days of my people; they shall enjoy long the works of their labors,’ we have understood to indicate a thousand years in a mystery. For as it was said to Adam that in the day he ate of the tree he would die, we know that he did not complete a thousand years. We have understood also that the saying, ‘The day of the Lord is as a thousand years,’ bears on this.

About this passage

Source

Archambault 2:38–42 · 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 65:22 · quotation, high confidence
Gen 2:17 · allusion, high confidence
Ps 90:4 (89:4 LXX) · allusion, high confidence
2 Pet 3:8 · echo, high confidence

Extrabiblical texts

Barn. 15.4 (Epistle of Barnabas) · echo, medium confidence

Topics

Eschatology

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 81.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/81/3/).

Plain text

Justin, Dial. 81.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/81/3/).