Dialogue with Trypho

And Trypho said, “What you do is worthy of the worship of God; but you seem to me to pretend ignorance when you say that you do not have a supply of clever words.”

I replied again, "Let it be, since you believe so; yet I am convinced that I speak the truth. But give me your attention, so I may now present the remaining proofs."

"Continue," he said.

And I continued: “It is again written by Moses, my brothers, that He who is called God and appeared to the patriarchs is called both Angel and Lord, so that from this you may understand Him to serve the Father of all things, as you have already admitted, and may remain firm, persuaded by additional arguments. The word of God, therefore, written by Moses, when referring to Jacob the grandson of Abraham, speaks thus: ‘And it happened, when the sheep conceived, that I saw them with my eyes in the dream: And, behold, the he-goats and the rams which leaped upon the sheep and she-goats were spotted with white, and speckled and sprinkled with a dun color.

And the Angel of God said to me in the dream, Jacob, Jacob. And I said, What is it, Lord? And He said, Lift up your eyes, and see that the he-goats and rams leaping on the sheep and she-goats are spotted with white, speckled, and sprinkled with a dun color. For I have seen what Laban is doing to you. I am the God who appeared to you in Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to Me.

Now therefore arise, and get out of this land, and go to the land of your birth, and I will be with you.’ And again, in other words, speaking of the same Jacob, it thus says: ‘And having risen up that night, he took the two wives, and the two women-servants, and his eleven children, and crossed over the ford Jabbok; and he took them and went over the brook, and sent over all his belongings.

But Jacob was left behind alone, and an Angel wrestled with him until morning.

And He saw that He was not prevailing against him, and He touched the broad part of his thigh; and the broad part of Jacob’s thigh grew stiff while he wrestled with Him. And He said, Let Me go, for the day is breaking.

But he said, I will not let You go, unless You bless me. And He said to him, What is your name? And he said, Jacob. And He said, Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel shall be your name; for you have prevailed with God, and with men you shall be powerful.

And Jacob asked Him, and said, Tell me Your name.

But he said, Why do you ask My name? And He blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of that place Peniel, for I saw God face to face, and my soul rejoiced.’ And again, in other terms, referring to the same Jacob, it says the following: ‘And Jacob came to Luz, in the land of Canaan, which is Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.

And there he built an altar, and called the name of that place Bethel; for there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother Esau. And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and Jacob called the name of it The Oak of Sorrow. And God appeared again to Jacob in Luz, when he came out from Mesopotamia in Syria, and He blessed him. And God said to him, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.’ He is called God, and He is and shall be God.” And when all had agreed on these grounds, I continued: “Moreover, I consider it necessary to repeat to you the words which narrate how He who is both Angel and God and Lord, and who appeared as a man to Abraham, and who wrestled in human form with Jacob, was seen by him when he fled from his brother Esau.

They are as follows: ‘And Jacob went out from the well of the oath, and went toward Haran. And he arrived at a spot, and slept there, for the sun had set; and he gathered some of the stones of the place, and put them under his head. And he slept in that place; and he dreamed, and, behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, whose top reached to heaven; and the angels of God ascended and descended upon it.

And the Lord stood above it, and He said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and of Isaac; do not be afraid: the land where you lie, I will give it to you, and to your descendants; and your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth, and shall be extended to the west, and south, and north, and east: and in you, and in your descendants, shall all families of the earth be blessed.

And, behold, I am with you, keeping you in every way you go, and will bring you again into this land; for I will not leave you, until I have done all that I have spoken to you about. And Jacob woke up from his sleep, and said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How awesome is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

And Jacob rose up in the morning, and took the stone which he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it; and Jacob called the name of the place The House of God, and the name of the city formerly was Luz.’ ”