Dialogue with Trypho 43.8

Summary: Trypho's teachers read “young woman” and apply the prophecy to Hezekiah; Justin will refute this.

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Greek text · Archambault 1:194

Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὑμεῖς καὶ οἱ διδάσκαλοι ὑμῶν τολμᾶτε λέγειν μηδὲ εἰρῆσθαι ἐν τῇ προφητείᾳ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει, ἀλλʼ Ἰδοὺ ἡ νεᾶνις ἐν γαστρὶ λήψεται καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ ἐξηγεῖσθε τὴν προφητείαν ὡς εἰς Ἐζεκίαν, τὸν γενόμενον ὑμῶν βασιλέα, πειράσομαι καὶ ἐν τούτῳ καθʼ ὑμῶν βραχέα ἐξηγήσασθαι καὶ ἀποδεῖξαι εἰς τοῦτον εἰρῆσθαι τὸν ὁμολογούμενον ὑφʼ ἡμῶν Χριστόν.

English · Claude translation

“But since you and your teachers dare to say that the prophecy of Isaiah does not even say, ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive,’ but, ‘Behold, the young woman shall conceive and bear a son,’ and explain the prophecy as referring to Hezekiah, who became your king, I will try in this too to give a brief explanation against you and to prove that it was spoken of this one whom we confess as Christ.

About this passage

Source
Archambault 1:194 · 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
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.
Scripture
Topics
Christology

Notes

Translation notes

  • The Hebrew ʿalmah means “young woman”; the Septuagint translated it παρθένος, “virgin.” The Jewish translators of the second century (Aquila, Theodotion, Symmachus) used νεᾶνις, “young woman.” Justin's argument (ch. 66–84) rests on the Septuagint.

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 43.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/43/8/).

Plain text
Justin, Dial. 43.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/43/8/).

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