Dialogue with Trypho 8.4 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Archambault 1:42–44

Εἰ οὖν καὶ ἐμοῦ θέλεις ἀκοῦσαι, φίλον γάρ σε ἤδη νενόμικα, πρῶτον μὲν περιτεμοῦ, εἶτα φύλαξον, ὡς νενόμισται, τὸ σάββατον καὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς καὶ τὰς νουμηνίας τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἁπλῶς τὰ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ γεγραμμένα πάντα ποίει, καὶ τότε σοι ἴσως ἔλεος ἔσται παρὰ θεοῦ. Χριστὸς δέ, εἰ καὶ γεγένηται καὶ ἔστι που, ἄγνωστός ἐστι καὶ οὐδὲ αὐτός πω ἑαυτὸν ἐπίσταται οὐδὲ ἔχει δύναμίν τινα, μέχρις ἂν ἐλθὼν Ἡλίας χρίσῃ αὐτὸν καὶ φανερὸν πᾶσι ποιήσῃ· ὑμεῖς δέ, ματαίαν ἀκοὴν παραδεξάμενοι, Χριστὸν ἑαυτοῖς τινα ἀναπλάσσετε καὶ αὐτοῦ χάριν τανῦν ἀσκόπως ἀπόλλυσθε.

English · Claude translation

“If, then, you are willing to listen to me too (for I already consider you a friend), first be circumcised, then keep, as is the custom, the Sabbath and the feasts and God's new moons, and in short do everything written in the law, and then perhaps you will find mercy from God. But the Christ, if he has indeed been born and exists somewhere, is unknown, and does not even know himself yet, nor has he any power, until Elijah comes and anoints him and makes him manifest to all; but you have received an empty report and invented a Christ for yourselves, and for his sake you are now perishing aimlessly.”

About this passage

Source

Archambault 1:42–44 · 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

Mal 4:5 (3:22 LXX) · allusion, medium confidence
John 7:27 · echo, medium confidence
John 1:26 · echo, low confidence

Topics

Christology

Notes

Translation notes

The idea of a hidden Messiah, unknown until Elijah reveals him, is found in later Jewish tradition; compare John 1:26 and 7:27.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong accent)): καἰ οὐδὲ αὐτός → καὶ οὐδὲ αὐτός.

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 8.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/8/4/).

Plain text

Justin, Dial. 8.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/8/4/).