3
and Christian, remain in large part under-explored.
2
This neglect of which Horbury writes became obvious to me during a recent sabbatical and I
realized that it was largely due to two factors. The first reason is the fragmentary character of two of the
dialogues, which are known only from patristic citations (JP) or from the few fragments of the
Oxyrynchus Papyrus.
3
The second reason is that until recently only Trypho had been translated into any
modern language. The last three (AZ, ST, and TA) have been examined by a few dissertation writers and
an occasional article, but no one has published either their work or a translation of their dialogue. In the
last year, the first translations of the three dialogues from the fourth through the sixth centuries have been
published.
4
Before consideration is given to those three dialogues, two preliminary questions must be faced.
The first question is: What earlier sources, if any, did the later dialogues depend on for their material? In
other words, was there a source that served as a model for later dialogues? The second related question
is: Do these dialogues represent actual discussion between Christians and Jews? In other words, can they
be trusted generally to represent any real discussion that took place between the two communities, or are
they invented by Christians with some other propose in mind than to relate an actual event?
In regard to the first question, mention must be made of the well-known Dialogue with Trypho
the Jew by Justin Martyr (ca. 150 AD).
5
This dialogue, however, seems to stand on its own and evidently
did not serve as a source for the later dialogues. While our authors may have been aware of its existence,
2
William Horbury, Jews and Christians: In Contact and Controversy (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998), 1.
3
For bibiliography on these fragmentary dialogues, see Lahey's forthcoming chapter. The author plans to present a
paper in the Spring that attempts to reconstruct what we can know about the contents of these two dialogues, based
on the fragments we possess.
4
William Varner, Ancient Jewish-Christian Dialogues: Athanasius and Zacchaeus, Simon and Theophilus, Timothy
and Aquila: Texts and Translations (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2004).
5
Unlike its successors, much has been written on Trypho. A standard old work is that by A. Lukyn Williams, The
Dialogue with Trypho: Translation, Introduction, and Notes (London: SPCK, 1930). For an excellent recent study
that includes a thorough bibliography, see Oskar Skarsaune, The Proof from Prophecy: A Study of Justin Martyr's
Proof-Text Tradition: Text-Type, Provenance, Theological Profile (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1987).