Dialogue with Trypho

But you, explaining these things in a simple and earthly way, attribute much weakness to God if you merely listen to them and do not explore the power of the words spoken. Even Moses would be considered a transgressor this way: he commanded that no image of anything in heaven, on earth, or in the sea be made; yet he made a bronze serpent, set it on a pole, and instructed those bitten to look at it, and when they did, they were saved.

Will the serpent, which God cursed and destroyed with the great sword as Isaiah says, be understood to have saved the people at that time? Should we accept these merely as your teachers say, and not as symbols? Shouldn't we instead see the pole as resembling the crucified Jesus, since Moses, with his outstretched hands and Joshua, achieved victory for your people? This way, we will understand what the lawgiver did without abandoning God when he persuaded the people to have hope in a creature through which sin and disobedience began.

The blessed prophet did and said this with much wisdom and mystery; nothing spoken or done by any of the prophets can justly be criticized if one knows their deeper meaning.

But if your teachers only explain why female camels are mentioned here and not there; or why so many measures of flour and oil are used in offerings, and do so superficially, without daring to address the important points worthy of investigation, or if they command you not to listen to us or engage with us, won't they deserve to hear what our Lord Jesus Christ said to them: "Whited tombs, appearing beautiful outwardly, but inside full of dead men's bones; which pay tithe of mint and swallow a camel: you blind guides!" If you do not disregard the teachings of those who exalt themselves and wish to be called Rabbi, Rabbi, and if you approach the words of prophecy with the same earnestness and understanding, willing to endure the same suffering from your own people that the prophets did, you will gain nothing from the prophetic writings.