Dial. 62.4:
But this Offspring, which was
truly brought forth from the Father, was with the Father before all the
creatures, and the Father communed with Him; even as the Scripture by Solomon
has made clear . . .
The expression ‘offspring before all
creatures [γεννημα προ παντων των ποιηματων]’,
dissociated with the translation, appears as a whole in Justin’s Greek text. It
is made up of a fusion of the verse Ps. 109.3 [εκ γαστρος προ εωσφορου
εγεννησα σε],
cited in other different contexts, (Dial. 32.6; 63.3; 83.2, 4; 1 Apol.
45.4), Prov. 8.22 and Col. 1.15, which are likewise frequently cited in the Dialogue.
Theologically, they bear witness to three major components of Justin’s argumentation:
the preexistence of the Word, the generation of the Son, and the Virgin
birth of Jesus.
Dial. 94.1:
For tell me, was it not God who
commanded by Moses that no image [εικονα] or likeness [ομοιωμα] of anything which was in heaven
above or on the earth should be made . . .
The reference verse (Exod. 20.4) goes as
follows: ‘graven image [ειδωλον] . . . likeness [ομοιωμα]’. The verse Justin cites is apparently
intentionally contaminated by Gen. 1.26 [κατ’ εικονα ημετεραν και καθ’ ομοιωσιν], commented in Dial.
61.1-2. (Philippe Bobichon, “Composite Features and Citations in Justin Martyr’s
Textual Composition,” in Composite Citations in Antiquity, ed. Sean A.
Adams and Seth M. Ehorn, 2 vols. [Library of New Testament Studies 525; London:
T&T Clark, 2016], 1:171)
