Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1 (Justin Martyr, Tatian)

CHAP. XV. — WE MUST ADHERE TO THOSE WHO CULTIVATE PEACE, NOT TO THOSE WHO PRETEND TO DO SO.

Let us cling, therefore, to those who cultivate peace with godliness, and not to those who hypocritically profess to desire it. For [the Scripture] says in a certain place, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” Isa. 29:13; Matt. 15:8; Mark 7:6. And again: “They bless with their mouth, but curse with their heart.” Ps. 62:4. And again it says, “They loved Him with their mouth, and lied to Him with their tongue; but their heart was not right with Him, neither were they faithful in His covenant.” Ps. 78:36–37. “Let the deceitful lips become silent,” Ps. 31:18. [and “let the Lord destroy all the lying lips,” These words within brackets are not found in the original manuscript, but have been inserted from the Septuagint by most editors.] and the boastful tongue of those who have said, ‘Let us magnify our tongue; our lips are our own; who is lord over us? For the oppression of the poor, and for the sighing of the needy, will I now arise, says the Lord: I will place him in safety; I will deal confidently with him.’” Ps. 12:3–5.

CHAP. XVI. — CHRIST AS AN EXAMPLE OF HUMILITY.

For Christ belongs to those who are humble-minded, and not to those who exalt themselves over His flock. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Sceptre of the majesty of God, did not come in the pomp of pride or arrogance, although He might have done so, but in a lowly condition, as the Holy Spirit had declared regarding Him. For He says, “Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? We have declared [our message] in His presence: He is, as it were, a child, and like a root in thirsty ground; He has no form nor glory, yea, we saw Him, and He had no form nor comeliness; but His form was without eminence, yea, deficient in comparison with the [ordinary] form of men. He is a man exposed to stripes and suffering, and acquainted with the endurance of grief: for His countenance was turned away; He was despised, and not esteemed. He bears our iniquities, and is in sorrow for our sakes; yet we supposed that [on His own account] He was exposed to labor, and stripes, and affliction. But He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; [every] man has wandered in his own way; and the Lord has delivered Him up for our sins, while He, in the midst of His sufferings, opens not His mouth. He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before her shearer is dumb, so He opens not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away; who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth. For the transgressions of my people was He brought down to death. And I will give the wicked for His sepulchre, and the rich for His death, The Latin translation by Cotelerius, adopted by Hefele and Dressel, translates this clause as: “I will set free the wicked on account of His sepulchre, and the rich on account of His death.” because He did no iniquity, neither was guile found in His mouth. And the Lord is pleased to purify Him by stripes. The reading of the manuscript is “purify, or free, Him from stripes.” We have adopted the emendation of Junius. If you make Wotton reads, “If He make.” an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord is pleased to relieve Him of the affliction of His soul, to show Him light, and to form Him with understanding, Or, “fill Him with understanding,” if the Greek word for "fill" is read instead of "form," as Grabe suggests. to justify the Just One who ministers well to many; and He Himself shall carry their sins. On this account He shall inherit many, and shall divide the spoil of the strong; because His soul was delivered to death, and He was reckoned among the transgressors, and He bore the sins of many, and for their sins was He delivered.” Isa. 53. The reader will observe how often the text of the Septuagint—the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament—quoted here, differs from the Hebrew as represented by our authorized English version. And again He says, “I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All that see Me have derided Me; they have spoken with their lips; they have wagged their head, [saying] ‘He hoped in God, let Him deliver Him, let Him save Him, since He delights in Him.’” Ps. 22:6–8. You see, beloved, what is the example which has been given us; for if the Lord thus humbled Himself, what shall we do who have come under the yoke of His grace?

CHAP. XVII. — THE SAINTS AS EXAMPLES OF HUMILITY.

Let us be imitators also of those who, in goat-skins and sheep-skins Heb. 11:37. went about proclaiming the coming of Christ; I mean Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel among the prophets, with those others to whom a like testimony is borne [in Scripture]. Abraham was specially honored, and the friend of God; yet he, earnestly regarding the glory of God, humbly declared, “I am but dust and ashes.” Gen. 18:27. Moreover, it is thus written of Job, “Job was a righteous man, and blameless, truthful, God-fearing, and one that kept himself from all evil.” Job 1:1. But bringing an accusation against himself, he said, “No man is free from defilement, even if his life be but of one day.” Job 14:4–5 (Septuagint).