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Dialogue with Trypho
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Chapter 125: He Explains the Significance of the Word Israel, and How it Relates to Christ.
"I wish, gentlemen," I said, "to learn from you the meaning of the name Israel." And as they were silent, I continued, "I will tell you what I know, for I do not think it right to keep silent when I know something, or suspect that you do know and deceive yourselves out of envy or willful ignorance. I should not be continually anxious; rather, I speak everything simply and honestly, as my Lord said: 'A sower went out to sow the seed; some fell by the wayside, some among thorns, some on stony ground, and some on good ground.' I must speak, then, hoping to find good ground somewhere, since my Lord, as one strong and powerful, will come to reclaim what is His from everyone, and will not condemn His steward if He sees that, knowing the Lord is powerful and has come to reclaim what is His, he has distributed it wisely, and has not hidden it for any reason whatsoever.
THEREFORE: the name Israel signifies this: A man who overcomes power; for 'Isra' means a man overcoming, and 'El' means power. And that Christ would act in this way when He became man was foretold by the mystery of Jacob’s wrestling with Him who appeared to him, in that He served the will of the Father, and still is God, being the first-born of all creation. When He became man, as I mentioned earlier, the devil—i.e., that power called the serpent and Satan—came to Him, tempting Him and trying to make Him fall by asking Him to worship him.
But He destroyed and defeated the devil, proving him wicked, as he asked to be worshipped as God, contrary to the Scripture; he is an apostate from the will of God. For He replied, 'It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.' Then, defeated and proven wrong, the devil left at that time.
But since our Christ was to be numbed, i.e., through pain and suffering, He foreshadowed this by touching Jacob’s thigh and causing it to shrink.
But Israel was His name from the beginning, which He gave to the blessed Jacob when He blessed him with His name, declaring that all who through Him have sought refuge in the Father make up the blessed Israel.
But you, not understanding any of this and unwilling to understand, since you are the children of Jacob through fleshly descent, believe that you will surely be saved.
But you are deceiving yourselves in this matter, as I have shown in many words."