Dialogue with Trypho 86.1

Summary: Wood as a type of the cross: the tree of life, Moses' rod, the wood at Marah.

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Greek text · Archambault 2:62

Καὶ ταῦτα εἰπὼν προσέθηκα· Ὅτι δέ, μετὰ τὸ σταυρωθῆναι τοῦτον ὃν ἔνδοξον πάλιν παραγενήσεσθαι ἀποδεικνύουσιν αἱ γραφαί, σύμβολον εἶχε τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς, ὃ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ πεφυτεῦσθαι ἐλέλεκτο, καὶ τῶν γενησομένων πᾶσι τοῖς δικαίοις, ἀκούσατε. Μωσῆς μετὰ ῥάβδου ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ λαοῦ ἀπολύτρωσιν ἐπέμφθη, καὶ ταύτην ἔχων μετὰ χεῖρας ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ λαοῦ διέτεμε τὴν θάλασσαν, διὰ ταύτης ἀπὸ τῆς πέτρας ὕδωρ ἀναβλύσαν ἑώρα· καὶ ξύλον βαλὼν εἰς τὸ ἐν Μερρᾷ ὕδωρ, πικρὸν ὄν, γλυκὺ ἐποίησε.

English · Claude translation

And having said this I added: “And hear how, after he was crucified, this one, who the Scriptures prove will come again in glory, had as his symbol the tree of life, which was said to have been planted in paradise, and of what would happen to all the righteous. Moses was sent with a rod for the redemption of the people, and holding it in his hands at the head of the people he divided the sea; by it he saw water gush out from the rock; and casting a tree into the water at Marah, which was bitter, he made it sweet.

About this passage

Source
Archambault 2:62 · 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

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong breathing)): πικρὸν ὅν → πικρὸν ὄν.

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 86.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/86/1/).

Plain text
Justin, Dial. 86.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/86/1/).

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