Dialogue with Trypho 46.5 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Archambault 1:206

Κἀγὼ πάλιν· Διὰ τὸ σκληροκάρδιον τοῦ λαοῦ ὑμῶν πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐντάλματα νοεῖτε τὸν θεὸν διὰ Μωσέως ἐντειλάμενον ὑμῖν, ἵνα διὰ πολλῶν τούτων ἐν πάσῃ πράξει πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἀεὶ ἔχητε τὸν θεὸν καὶ μήτε ἀδικεῖν μήτε ἀσεβεῖν ἄρχησθε. Καὶ γὰρ τὸ κόκκινον ῥάμμα περιτιθέναι αὐτοῖς ἐνετείλατο ὑμῖν, ἵνα διὰ τούτου μὴ λήθη ὑμᾶς λαμβάνῃ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ φυλακτήριον ἐν ὑμέσι λεπτοτάτοις γεγραμμένων χαρακτήρων τινῶν, ἃ πάντως ἅγια νοοῦμεν εἶναι, περικεῖσθαι ὑμᾶς ἐκέλευσε, καὶ διὰ τούτων δυσωπῶν ὑμᾶς ἀεὶ μνήμην ἔχειν τοῦ θεοῦ, ἅμα τε καὶ ἔλεγχον ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν.

English · Claude translation

And I again said, “Understand that it was because of the hardness of heart of your people that God commanded all such commandments to you through Moses, so that through these many things you might always have God before your eyes in every action, and not begin to act unjustly or ungodly. For he commanded you to put the scarlet thread about you, so that through it forgetfulness of God might not take hold of you; and he ordered you to wear a phylactery of certain letters written on very thin membranes, which we understand to be altogether holy, and by these things to shame you into always keeping God in memory, and at the same time a reproof in your hearts.

About this passage

Source

Archambault 1:206 · 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

Num 15:38 · allusion, high confidence
Deut 6:8 · allusion, high confidence
Deut 11:18 · allusion, medium confidence

Notes

Translation notes

“The scarlet thread”: Justin's description of the tassels of Num 15:38 (whose cord was blue).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong breathing)): ὲν πάσῃ πράξει → ἐν πάσῃ πράξει.

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 46.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/46/5/).

Plain text

Justin, Dial. 46.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/46/5/).