FACULTY OF THEOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF THEOLOGY

Course TCSP10
ELABORATE

Iustinus Mart., Dialogus cum Tryphone Iudaeo 43,3-8,

(+ before 168 AD): The dispute with Judaism on the
interpretation of Is. 7,14 (virgin birth of the Messiah)

Student: SIMON Tony Michael

Matricola: 166211

Professor: SKEB Matthias

Academic Year 2022 – 2023

 INTRODUCTION

Isaiah 7:14 as rendered by the Septuagint and it’s invocation in Mt 1:23 as

a fulfilment of the prophecy constituted an important testimony of the
Virgin Birth of Christ in early Christianity. This became part of the Jewish-
Christian disputes form the second century where the Jews denied the
reference to the virgin birth of Christ on various ground such the inaccurate
translation of (aalmah) and how it referred to Hezekiah, the son of
King Ahaz. These objections became a theme of dispute in the writings of
Justin Martyr, primarily in the Dialogue with Trypho and it’s one of the
earliest sources that refer to this Jewish challenge and its Christian
response. This short paper aims to study the arguments of Justin who
sustains the translation of the Septuagint and demonstrates that the
prophecy refers to Christ and Christ alone.

1. The Dialogue with Trypho

Dialogue with Trypho is a work of Justin Martyr, a pagan of Stoic

influence who sought to find life's meaning in the philosophies of his day.
His life was transformed, after an encounter with an old man, falling in
love with the prophets and men who had loved Christ. The date of the
dialogue is uncertain, but a lot of scholars place it between the writing of
the First Apology (155-157) and Justin’s death (166). It’s the locus
classicus of the Christian and Jewish relations, an evidence of the scriptural
practices of Christians and Jews in the mid-second century.

The setting of the Dialogue is perceived to be during a stroll by the Xystus

when Justin is saluted by Trypho the Jew and his companions. The greeting
deepens into an exposition by Justin of the nature of true philosophy and
how he found the truth in Christianity. Trypho replies to him saying that it
was better for him to stay as a Platonist and not a Christian, who invented
their own Messiah.1 Hence, Justin forgets the world of philosophy,
commencing the exegesis of the Old Testament, making this work truly

1
IUSTINUS MARTYR, Dialogus cum Tryphone Iudaeo 8, tr. FALLS, Writings, 161.

2
scriptural. Justin’s objective is precisely to communicate that Christ is not a
novelty, but the long anticipated consummation and revelation of the true
character of Judaism. Most scholars affirm that we can’t think of the
Dialogue as a record of an actual dialogue, but as a collection of possible
arguments, making it essentially a Christian monologue.2

Eusebius says Trypho was one of the famous Jews of the time, identified
with Rabbi Tarphon, which is an erroneous tradition to many3 as Trypho is
perceived far from an ordinary Palestinian Jew. He has read the Gospels
and repudiates the divine character of the expected Messiah, but has an
apparent openness to the conviction of Christianity. As consequence,
scholars say that Justin has created in Trypho, a Jew who embodies the
best of both schools of Judaism, one who knows Scripture and the Rabbinic
interpretations, at least the Haggadic interpretations and yet who has all the
open-mindness and cosmic sense of the Hellenistic Jews. The work of
Justin thus came to the fore when Jews and Christians in the second century
had to make their cases to a favourably disposed but neutral Gentile
audience.4 Justin’s Dialogue with Trypho is addressed to Marcus
Pompeius, named twice in passing. This could simply be a literary gesture;
nevertheless, we can propose that this Marcus Pompey is not a Jew, but a
Roman, a Gentile. 5

1.1 The purpose of the Dialogue

The Dialogue is aimed at the correct understanding of the Old Testament

for Christian readers, demonstrating the unity of Revelation and the
superiority of Revelation to heathen philosophy. In his First Apology,
Justin writes: «For things which were incredible and seemed impossible
with men, these God predicted by the Spirit of prophecy as about to come
to pass, in order that, when they came to pass, there might be no unbelief,
but faith, because of their prediction».6 We observe here the frequent use of
ππόθημι / πποθήηηρ word groups - (to speak beforehand) to insist that the

2
SHOTWELL, W.A. The Biblical Exegesis of Justin Martyr, 11
3
NILSON, J. To Whom is Justin’s Dialogue with Trypho Addressed?, 3
4
Ibidem
5
Ivi, 5
6
IUSTINUS MARTYR, Apologia prima 33, tr. FALLS, Writings, 70.

3
biblical prophets, inspired by a prophetic spirit, predicted the Christ events
long before their occurrence in time and how this only becomes
comprehensible after its occurrence. God announced it beforehand
(πποεκήπςξεν) in order that when it took place it would be understood
(γνωζθῇ) as occurring by the power and will of God.

Justin says he has given the grace to understand – (σάπιν ηοῦ νοῆζαι), grace
to know (σάπιν ηοῦ γνῶναι) or even as a gift (σάπιρ). Hence, he insists that
scripture is no more read carnally or humbly; unspiritually or simply – but
instead it is read according to its design (νόορ) and its power (δύναμιρ).7 It
is also important to highlight Justin’s distinct usage of the word μςζηηπιον
(mystery) which appears 29 times throughout the Dialogue whereas ηςπορ,
(type) only occurs 11 times. The frequency of the use of μςζηηπιον shows
that one is not capable of rightly understanding Old Testament prophetic
scripture without having been shown these mysteries by the Holy Spirit.

1.2 The textual variant problem

In the Dialogue with Trypho, an exchange over the virgin birth turns into a
dispute over the textual variant in the Greek version of Is: 7:14. Trypho’s
text (the text of Aquila and Theodotion) has behold the young woman
(νεᾱνίᾱρ) shall conceive while the Septuagint reads behold the virgin
(παπθένορ) shall conceive. The background to the problem at stake for
Justin is the Greek version of the Jewish Scriptures; originally a Palestinian
phenomenon, but it became increasingly used by the primitive
Christianity.8 As the Church became Greek-speaking rapidly, the
Septuagint withstood the internecine struggles of the second century and
became the norm for the early Church. Justin attributes Trypho's text to the
Jewish adulteration of the prophetic witness of the seventy elders who were
with Ptolemy. In this way he extends the authorial fiction of the Seventy
beyond the Pentateuch and puts it to a new rhetorical use.9

7
Skarsaune, O. The proof from Prophecy – A Study in Justin Martyr’s Proof-Text tradition, 199
8
SALVESEN, A. – LAW, T.M. The Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint, 22
9
HENGEL, M. – DIENES, R. The Septuagint as Christian Scripture: Its Prehistory and the Problem of Its
Canon, 41

4
Justin's argument with Trypho presupposes a common scriptural patrimony
in the received text of the Septuagint. Campenhausen asserts that the real
polemical target of Justin was not his Jewish contemporaries, but Christian
Gnosticism10 who rejected the Jewish Scriptures and the scriptural norm.
He evidently had in mind a corpus roughly coextensive with the rabbinic
Bible.11 However, it was the authority of the LXX that was at the stake and
it was necessary to legitimize the Greek version. By Justin's time the
church was cut off from Hebrew learning; and the Septuagint had to
possess authority independently of its Hebrew source.

2 Justin’s response to the textual variant problem

The theme of the prophecy of the virginal birth of Christ isn’t taken up in a
systematic manner as the theme emerges continuously in the Dialogue. The
textual problem variant of Is 7:14 appear for the first time in Dial 43, and
then in Chapters 66, 67, 71, 77 and 84. The paper aims to address the
various themes addressed by Justin in response to the question of virginal
birth and the textual variant problem.

2.1 The Authority of LXX

In the Dialogue with Trypho, Justin would quote a passage from the
Septuagint (LXX), the standard Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures
and Trypho would repudiate it as unauthentic and manipulated. This
polemic had led to new translations by erudite Jews, chiefly that of Aquila
(around 140) and Theodotion and Symmachus, great connoisseurs of the
Jewish language. These were close literal translations of the received
Hebrew text, triumphantly wielded in Christian-Jewish polemic. Hence,
one of the first arguments of Justin against Trypho is the assertion of LXX
as a legitimate source and against the Jews who reject its interpretation:
«But I am far from putting reliance in your teachers, who refuse to admit
that the interpretation made by the seventy elders who were with Ptolemy
[king] of the Egyptians is a correct one; and they attempt to frame

10
SALVESEN, A. – LAW, T.M. The Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint, 23
11
Ibidem

5
another»12. Thus, Justin defends the initiative of the Egyptian King and was
convinced of its inspiration. According to Müller, this became the starting
signal to a Christian apologetically directed and increasingly fantastic
rewriting of the Jewish story of the genesis of the Greek version of the
Pentateuch.13

In regard to the argument surrounding LXX, Justin says that Trypho's text
is a Jewish adulteration of the prophetic witness of the seventy elders who
were with Ptolemy. He praises the achievement of the seventy elders to
include all the books of the Jews Bible, while the other translators have
taken away some passages: «And I wish you to observe, that they have
altogether taken away many Scriptures from the translations effected by
those seventy elders who were with Ptolemy».14 In particular reference to
the passage of Is 7:14 and it’s Jewish interpretation to Hezekiah, Justin says
that: «shall I not in this matter, too, compel you not to believe your
teachers, who venture to assert that the explanation which your seventy
elders that were with Ptolemy the king of the Egyptians gave, is untrue in
certain respects? For some statements in the Scriptures, which appear
explicitly to convict them of a foolish and vain opinion, these they venture
to assert have not been so written. But other statements, which they fancy
they can distort and harmonize with human actions, these, they say, refer
not to this Jesus Christ of ours, but to him of whom they are pleased to
explain them»15. This shows that Justin is conscious of Jewish alterations of
the text and strongly disapproves of it in the debate about the Christological
interpretations of certain biblical passages.

An important argument in this regard is the fact that the LXX was certainly
tolerated in Judaism and therefore their translation of Is 7:14 with παπθένορ
probably did not raise many problems. The controversy arose later, when
Christians began to use Christologically the text of Is 7:14, especially
taking advantage of the term παπθένορ. It could also be argued that Justin
sees a theological uniformity in the LXX, since the translations carried our
later was finished within a more limited space of time and accepted
decisions made in earlier books. This also pertain to individual books for
12
IUSTINUS MARTYR, Dialogus cum Tryphone Iudaeo 71, tr. FALLS, Writings, 262.
13
SALVESEN, A. – LAW, T.M. The Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint, 109
14
Ibidem
15
Ivi, 257.

6
instance as Isaiah.16 Scholars of the Septuagint believe that the translators
believed in the authoritative character of the texts, which resulted in an
effort to harmonize the texts, avoiding contradictions, and explaining one
text by another. In the discussion pertaining to Is 7:14 and its adoption in
Mt 1:23, we observe what is termed a theological achievement by some
scholars.17 The use of the virgin in Mathew 1:23 is thus one of the first
examples of such a theological achievement, where the concept of virgin
birth is presented into the Christological thinking.

2.2 Fulfilment of Is 7:14 only in Christ

In Chapter LXVI, Justin wanting to prove from Isaiah that God was born
from a Virgin, cites the entire discourse of the sign of Immanuel given to
Ahaz: the virgin shall conceive, he will be eating curds and honey when he
knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right; he shall receive the
power of Damascus, and the spoil of Samaria, in presence of the king of
Assyria and How the land shall be forsaken, which thou shalt with
difficulty endure in consequence of the presence of its two kings.
Following the quote, Justin affirms that: «Now it is evident to all, that in
the race of Abraham according to the flesh no one has been born of a
virgin, or is said to have been born[of a virgin], save this our Christ».18 A
factual reflection on the carnal lineage of Abraham, leads to his assertion
that, the virgin birth of Christ is a novelty for the Jews and only Christ
could have fulfilled it. Justin always uses the same method to prove that the
prophecies refer to Christ, that is, he starts from the fulfilment of the
prophecy that so far only in his person would be fully fulfilled.19

It can also be noted that, whenever Isaiah 7:14 or Mathew 1:23 is quoted by
Justin, he combines the similar elements ἐκ παπθένος and διά παπθένος
through which he highlights at the same time two very important things for
him. With the first expression ἐκ παπθένος, that is from a virgin, he wants
to underline the prodigiousness of the birth of Christ, something of
amazement and wonder; and with the second διά παπθένος (through a
16
SALVESEN, A. – LAW, T.M. The Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint, 109
17
Ivi, 108
18
IUSTINUS MARTYR, Dialogus cum Tryphone Iudaeo 43, tr. FALLS, Writings, 212.
19
MISIARCSYK, L. Il midrash nel Dialogo con Trifone di Giustino Maritre, 193

7
virgin, by the means of a virgin) the divine initiative of which the virgin is
a tool.20 Justin repeatedly says that this is the will of the Father: «He
submitted to become man by the Virgin, according to the will of His
Father;... according to the will of the Father of all things, it was possible for
Him to be born man of the Virgin, especially after we have such Scriptures,
from which it can be plainly perceived that He became so according to the
will of the Father?»21. The prophecy of the virginal birth and its fulfilment
is grasped only in the light of divine decree and can only be comprehended
by someone who has received the power to understand them; not by mere
arguments.

2.3 The prophecy refers to Christ, not Hezekiah

Trypho in the argument on the interpretation of Is,7:14, identifies the

promised child as the son of King Ahaz, his successor Hezekiah (2 Kings
18.1). Hezekiah is prominent in the book of Isaiah, presented as a divine
guard of the Davidic dynasty, and he may indeed be the child who is the
sign. Some modern biblical scholars identify the Immanuel as Hezekiah or
even as a son of the prophet Isaiah, who’s also a prophet. 22 A similar Jesus-
versus Hezekiah polemic is seen in the Dialogue 32-26 (Ps 110) and also a
Jesus versus Solomon polemic (Dial.34: Ps 72; Dial.36: Ps 24) and this
same polemic is attached to the testimonies associated with Is 7:10ff.

Trypho says that the whole prophecy refers to Hezekiah, and it is proved
that it was fulfilled in him, according to the terms of this prophecy23 and in
response Justin responds «that the prophecy referred, not, as you were
taught, to Hezekiah, but to this Christ of mine: and now I shall go to the
proof»24. For this demonstration, he judges the specific details of the
prophecy and questions how it came about in the case of Hezekiah. He asks
how it is said of Hezekiah, that before he knew how to call father or

20
MISIARCSYK, L. Il midrash nel Dialogo con Trifone di Giustino Maritre, 193
21
IUSTINUS MARTYR, Dialogus cum Tryphone Iudaeo 63, tr. FALLS, Writings, 247
22
COOGAN, M.D. The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures,
337
23
Ivi, 254.
24
Ivi, 262

8
mother, he received the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria in
the presence of the king of Assyria. Justin says that the argument that
Hezekiah waged war with the inhabitants of Damascus and Samaria in
presence of the king of Assyria, cannot be conceded since the prophecy
states this should happen before the child knows how to call father or
mother. This addition to the prophecy constitutes an important element in
the interpretation for Justin, from which he argues that that such a thing
never happened to any one among the Jews. The age of the child becomes
chronological marker in the understanding of this prophecy.

Rightly Justin continues to demonstrate that this prophecy came about in

the life of Jesus Christ by collocating it with the arrival of the Magi: «For at
the time of His birth, Magi who came from Arabia worshipped Him,
coming first to Herod, who then was sovereign in your land, and whom the
Scripture calls king of Assyria on account of his ungodly and sinful
character»25. According to Justin, the prophecy that before he knew how to
call father or mother, he received the power of Damascus and the spoils of
Samaria in the presence of the king of Assyria is precisely fulfilled at
arrival of the Magi, shortly after his birth. The Magi acknowledged his
power and recognised him as the promised King of the Jews, in the
presence of King Herod, the so-called King of Assyria. It can be
understood that Herod Antipas is typologically identified with the King of
Assyria mentioned in Is. 8:4 to express his ungodliness and wickedness.
This is also defensible, since Justin finishes this chapter saying that «the
Holy Spirit oftentimes announces such events by parables and
similitudes»26.

It’s interesting to note that Justin combines two texts from Isaiah (7:10-17
and 8.4). He’s the first to unite these two texts in the Christological
argument in the Dialogue, a union that will continue in some later Christian
writings. The author Misiarcsyk calls this a contaminatio and says that
philologically it is easily explained by the recurrence of similar terms in
both texts: 8,4 διόηι, ππὶν ἢ γνῶναι ηὸ παιδίον; 7,15 ππὶν ἢ γνῶναι αὐηὸν;
7,16 διόηι, ππὶν ἢ γνῶναι ηὸ παιδίον and the use of the expression βαζιλέωρ

25
IUSTINUS MARTYR, Dialogus cum Tryphone Iudaeo 77, tr. FALLS, Writings, 270.
26
Ibidem

9
᾿Αζζςπίων and βαζιλέα᾿ Αζζςπίων. The contaminatio serves the narrative
that the prophecy of Isaiah can only be in reference to Christ and not of
Hezekiah.

The decisive argument for the virgin birth hinges on Is 8:4,2 matched in the
infancy narratives by Mt 2:1-12. The anti-Hezekiah polemic is deeply
integrated into this source. This probably means that also the
demonological thrust of the argument is pre-Justinian. The one predicted by
Is 8:4 should liberate men from the power of demons already as a little
baby- a thing never done by Hezekiah. This power over demons is due to
the divine nature of the one born by the virgin. Hence Justin, He is born
before the morning star (Ps 110:3), before sun and moon (Ps 72:5/17), he is
the stone cut without hands (Dan 2: 34).27

According to Justin, the Jews apply both Is 7:14 and 8:4 to King Hezekiah
and Trypho states this himself once. There are some rabbinic passages that
confirm the existence of such a tradition; such as the one attributed to the
rabbi Abba bar Kahana, were Hezekiah is seemed to be identified with the
promised child. Since Abba bar Kahana comes much later than Justin, we
have to suspect that that there existed at least an oral form of this tradition
as early as the middle of the second century. However, the question we
could ask is when could such an application to Hezekiah start and whether
such a narrative existed before the messianic interpretation of Is 7:14? The
author Misiarcsyk says that the Hezekiah tradition could be a response to
the emerging messianic or Christological interpretation of Is 7:14.28 The
LXX was becoming widespread and it is more influenced by messianic
beliefs than the Hebrew Bible.

2.4 Trypho compares Jesus with Perseus

In Chapter LXVII, we find an argument of Trypho, where he says that

Christians should feel ashamed of making assertions similar to pagan
Greek Gods. Speaking of the Greek fable where it is written that Perseus
was begotten of Danaë, who was a virgin, Trypho says: «And you ought to

27
Skarsaune, O. The exegetical traditions behind dial 48-107, 383
28
MISIARCSYK, L. Il midrash nel Dialogo con Trifone di Giustino Martire, 193

10
feel ashamed when you make assertions similar to theirs, and rather
[should] say that this Jesus was born man of men… do not venture to tell
monstrous phenomena, lest you be convicted of talking foolishly like the
Greeks»29. This argument, somewhat strange to the context, comes in the
discussion of whether Christ fulfilled the Jewish law and how he would
prefer to say that Christ was elected on the merit of this observance. It
appears that Justin doesn’t respond specifically to this sentiment, but
simply says that Trypho can talk worse things in ridicule and in jest, but he
will not be able to move him from his fixed design. Justin asks him to act
fairly and truthfully and not undo those things in which there was
constantly agreement before them.

2.5 Young woman or Virgin: The sign of virginal birth

In Chapter LXXXIV, the final chapter were the virginal birth is addressed
in the Dialogue with Trypho, Justin wants to uphold that this prophecy suits
Christ alone. To sustain that the prophecy was uttered solely about Jesus,
he expounds the idea of a sign and its implications. Justin says: «For if He
to whom Isaiah referred was not to be begotten of a virgin, of whom did the
Holy Spirit declare, Behold, the Lord Himself shall give us a sign: behold,
the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son? For if He also were to be
begotten of sexual intercourse, like all other first-born sons, why did God
say that He would give a sign which is not common to all the first-born
sons?»30. Here Justin enters into the significance of the sign, which the
Bible understands as miraculous and redemptive-historical acts of God,
nevertheless, not in every instance. However, when we track this word
through the Old and the New Testament, we understand that they are acts
that cause men to wonder and discern its significance. It usually stretches
far beyond display of power and personal attestation. While sign does not
necessarily require a miracle always, the central meaning is of something
that transfers information, the content of which is determined from the
context, which has often a supernatural quality.

29
IUSTINUS MARTYR, Dialogus cum Tryphone Iudaeo 67, tr. FALLS, Writings, 254.
30
Ivi, 266.

11
Hence Justin asks Trypho, in what essentially consists the sign of Isaiah
7:10-16. For Justin, the sign is essentially that a virgin should conceive
without intercourse. If it was a natural birth, like every other first-born,
how can we speak of a sign? If he was born of a carnal relationship, then it
would have made no sense to speak of a sign in the prophecy. The true sign
here according to Justin is that «the first-begotten of all creation should
become incarnate by the Virgin's womb, and be a child,—this he
anticipated by the Spirit of prophecy, and predicted it, as I have repeated to
you, in various ways; in order that, when the event should take place, it
might be known as the operation of the power and will of the Maker of all
things»31. Justin goes further to make a parallel between the creation of Eve
from Adam’s rib and how all living beings are created in the beginning by
the Word of God. So Justin sees the virgin birth as an analogy to the first
creation of man in Gen 2. God in Jesus is making a new beginning as
radical as when he created the first man, leading to the concept of Christ as
the second, the new Adam.32

In this chapter, Justin accuses the Jews once again, who intends to pervert
the expositions of the elders who were Ptolemy and asserts that it should be
Behold, the young woman shall conceive. Justin repeats that how can we
infer it to be a great event, if a woman should beget from sexual
intercourse, which indeed all young women, with the exception of the
barren do. Justin recalls how even the barren brought forth by the will of
God, as seen in the testimony of Samuel’s mother, Sarah, Elizabeth and
other such. Trypho is warned not to distort and misinterpret the divine
prophecies, which will only harm themselves and not God. The numerous
authors who have studied Is 7:14 verify that the sign given to Ahaz is
above all the virgin who will conceive and give birth. In the Hebrew text,
two present participles are used, rendering it to be the virgin conceiving
and giving birth to a child. This transforms the promised sign into
something absolutely unique and extraordinary. «It is not written that she
who is now a virgin will conceive and give birth, thus ceasing to be a
virgin, as happens for all young women who become mothers; but that the
virgin, while she conceives and gives birth, remains a virgin, precisely

31
IUSTINUS MARTYR, Dialogus cum Tryphone Iudaeo 84, tr. FALLS, Writings, 291.
32
SKARSAUNE, O. The exegetical traditions behind dial 48-107, 383

12
because the two participles qualify the virgin»33. Thus, the interpretation of
the sign forms a notorious crux interpretum to the scholarly discussion
regarding Isaiah 7:14.

3 The strengths and weaknesses in Justin Martyr

Authors such as F.W Farrar and R.P.C Hanson says that there has been a
tendency in history to view Justin as an example of primitive exegetical
misunderstanding that has largely served as a liability to the church ever
since. He has also been criticised for his approach towards Judaism which
has resulted in a simple Christianizing of the Old Testament. He aimed to
interpret Israel’s religious life Christologically and couldn’t find anything
of value in itself. This Christological concern, inherited from the body of
Christian tradition of his predecessors and followed strictly by him is the
chief factor which determined the results of Justin's exegesis of the Old
Testament. 34 In particular, there is a misunderstanding in Justin regarding
the relation of prophecy and fulfilment. He conceives it as narrow matching
of ancient prediction with an objective, factual event; and this greatly
distorts the biblical category of prophecy. The Dialogue with Trypho has a
complex and convoluted structure; however the problematic structuring is
conceivable since Justin or his students would expand and supplement the
text with new arguments developed from scriptural passages for their
apologetic potential.35

The positive and creditable contribution of Justin is certainly his vast

knowledge of the Jewish Scriptures and his interpretation from the
perspective of the Gospel. He doesn’t simply replace the Old but seriously
wrestles with the Old text as a true vehicle of the evangelical witness. We
also witness in Justin, a rational defence against Trypho, who reckon with
him and accommodate his arguments. He can also be credited for his
significant stylistic observation regarding the biblical text. A corollary of
Justin's view of Scripture shows how he analysed every word of the text,
and how it becomes immensely significant in his exegesis.36

33
SHOTWELL, W.A. The Biblical Exegesis of Justin Martyr, 37
34
Ivi, 17
35
DULK, M.N. Between Jews and Heretics, 45
36
Ivi, 181

13
 CONCLUSION

Justin was the first of the fathers to affront this problem of dispute with
Judaism on the interpretation of Isaiah 7:14. Following him, many have
engaged in this debate and have become a sophisticated theme, as we see in
the Dialogue of Timothy and Aquila, Eusebius, Theodoret, Chrysostom,
Basil the Great, Cyril of Jerusalem, Origen and Jerome. It could be said
that Jerome represents the conclusion to the debate, who have concluded
that the Hebrew should be read as virgin, if even in a periphrastic way. The
early Church fathers conclude that for the translators of the Seventy,
although the Hebrew term itself meant a young woman, it was also
used to describe a virgin.

In order to sustain this argument, they quote the seven instances in the Old
Testament where each time it indicates a young virgin, not yet married. For
example in Genesis 24, 43, while speaking of Rebecca, the term is
translated as παπθένορ and it is explained that in this case it is a woman
who had no sexual intercourse. For the translators of Isaiah, in is also
included virginity, which is understood as the absence of sexual intercourse
with a man. Those who claim that Isaiah should have employed the word
to indicate virgin birth is also affronted with the fact that this term
can designate also a betrothed virgin, usually intended as the wife of the
man to whom she is betrothed.37 In conclusion, we can say that the work of
Justin had paid off, since it had an enormous impact in the early church and
was adopted by succeeding figures such as Irenaeus and Tertullian. The
academic study with regard to the Dialogue, shows its rich and
multifaceted aspect that is doing significantly more than simply defending
Christianity over Judaism.

37
YOUNG, E. Studies in Isaiah, 179

14
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

COOGAN, M.D., The old testament: A historical and literary introduction to the
Hebrew Scriptures, Oxford University Press, New York 2014.

DULK, M.N., Between Jews and Heretics: Refiguring Justin Martyr's dialogue
with Trypho, Routledge, Nijmegen 2020.

HENGEL, M. – DIENES, R., The Septuagint as Christian scripture: Its prehistory

and the problem of its Canon, T&T Clark, London 2004.

IUSTINUS MARTYR, Dialogus cum Tryphone Iudaeo, tr. FALLS, T, The Catholic
University of America Press., Washington 1977.

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 GENERAL INDEX

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 2
CAPITOLO I: The Dialogue with Trypho ................................................................. 2
1.1 The purpose of the Dialogue .................................................................... 3
1.2 The textual variant problem ..................................................................... 4
CAPITOLO II: Justin’s Response to the textual variant problem ............................. 5
2.1 The authority of LXX................................................................................... 5
2.2 Fulfilment of Is 7:14 only in Christ ............................................................. 7
2.3 The prophecy refers to Christ, not Hezekiah ............................................... 8
2.4 Trypho compares Jesus with Perseus ......................................................... 10
2.5 Young Woman or Virgin: The sign of virginal birth ................................. 11

CAPITOLO III: The strengths and weaknesses in Justin Martyr ............................ 13

CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 14
BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................................... 15
GENERAL INDEX ................................................................................................... 16

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