And I continued: "It is again written by Moses, my brethren, that He who is called God and appeared to the patriarchs is called both Angel and Lord, in order that from this you may understand Him to be minister to the Father of all things, as you have already admitted, and may remain firm, persuaded by additional arguments. The word of God, therefore,[recorded] by Moses, when referring to Jacob the grandson of Abraham, speaks thus:
'And it came to pass, 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 colour. 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 thine 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 colour. For I have seen what Laban doeth unto thee. I am the God who appeared to thee in Bethel, where thou anointedst a pillar and vowedst a vow unto Me. Now therefore arise, and get thee out of this land, and depart to the land of thy birth, and I shall be with thee. (Καὶ ἐγένετο ἡνίκα ἐκίσσων τὰ πρόβατα ἐν γαστρὶ λαμβάνοντα, καὶ εἶδον τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτὰ ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ· καὶ ἰδοὺ οἱ τράγοι καὶ οἱ κριοί, ἀναβαίνοντες ἐπὶ τὰ πρόβατα καὶ τὰς αἶγας, διάλευκοι καὶ ποικίλοι καὶ σποδοειδεῖς ῥαντοί. καὶ εἶπέ μοι ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ καθ' ὕπνους· Ἰακώβ, Ἰακώβ. 5 ἐγὼ δὲ εἶπον· Τί ἐστι, κύριε; καὶ εἶπεν· Ἀνάβλεψον τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς σου καὶ ἴδε τοὺς τράγους καὶ τοὺς κριοὺς ἀναβαίνοντας ἐπὶ τὰ πρόβατα καὶ τὰς αἶγας, διαλεύκους καὶ ποικίλους καὶ σποδοειδεῖς ῥαντούς· ἑώρακα γὰρ ὅσα σοι Λάβαν ποιεῖ. ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεὸς ὁ ὀφθείς σοι ἐν τόπῳ θεοῦ, οὗ ἤλειψάς μοι ἐκεῖ στήλην καὶ ηὔξω ἐκεῖ εὐχήν. νῦν οὖν ἔξελθε καὶ ἀνάστηθι ἐκ τῆς γῆς ταύτης καὶ ἄπελθε εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς γενέσεώς σου, καὶ ἔσομαι μετὰ σοῦ)
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 passed 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 is 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 breaketh. But he said, I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me. And He said to him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And He said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name; for thou hast prevailed with God, and with men shalt be powerful. And Jacob asked Him, and said, Tell me Thy name. But he said, Why dost thou ask after 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.' (Ἀναστὰς δὲ τὴν νύκτα ἐκείνην ἔλαβε τὰς δύο γυναῖκας καὶ τὰς δύο παιδίσκας καὶ τὰ ἕνδεκα παιδία αὐτοῦ καὶ διέβη τὴν διάβασιν τοῦ Ἰαβώχ, καὶ ἔλαβεν αὐτοὺς καὶ διέβη τὸν χειμάρρουν καὶ διεβίβασε πάντα τὰ αὐτοῦ. ὑπελείφθη δὲ Ἰακὼβ μόνος· καὶ ἐπάλαιεν ἄγγελος μετ' αὐτοῦ ἕως πρωΐ. εἶδε δὲ ὅτι δύναται πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ ἥψατο τοῦ πλάτους τοῦ μηροῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐνάρκησε τὸ πλάτος τοῦ μηροῦ Ἰακὼβ ἐν τῷ παλαίειν αὐτὸν μετ' αὐτοῦ. καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Ἀπόςτειλόν με· ἀνέβη γὰρ ὁ ὄρθρος. 7 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Οὐ μή σε ἀποστείλω, ἂν μή με εὐλογήσῃς. εἶπε δὲ αὐτῷ· Τί τὸ ὄνομά σου ἐστίν; ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Ἰακώβ. εἶπε δὲ αὐτῷ· Οὐ κληθήσεται τὸ ὄνομά σου Ἰακώβ, ἀλλὰ Ἰσραὴλ ἔσται τὸ ὄνομά σου· ὅτι ἐνίσχυσας μετὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ μετὰ ἀνθρώπων δυνατὸς ἔσῃ. ἠρώτησε δὲ Ἰακὼβ καὶ εἶπεν· Ἀνάγγειλόν μοι τὸ ὄνομά σου. καὶ εἶπεν· Ἵνα τί τοῦτο ἐρωτᾷς τὸ ὄνομά μου; καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ. καὶ ἐκάλεσεν Ἰακὼβ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ τόπου ἐκείνου Εἶδος θεοῦ· εἶδον γὰρ θεὸν πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον, καὶ ἐχάρη ἡ ψυχή μου)
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, Thy name shall be no more called Jacob, but Israel shall he thy name.' Ἦλθε δὲ Ἰακὼβ εἰς Λουζᾶ, ἥ ἐστιν εἰς γῆν Χαναάν, ἥ ἐστι Βαιθήλ, αὐτὸς καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαός, ὃς ἦν μετ' αὐτοῦ. καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν ἐκεῖ θυσιαστήριον, καὶ ἐκάλεσε τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ τόπου ἐκείνου Βαιθήλ· ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἐφάνη αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῷ ἀποδιδράσκειν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἠσαῦ. ἀπέθανε δὲ Δεβόρρα, ἡ τροφὸς Ῥεβέκκας, κατωτέρω Βαιθὴλ ὑπὸ τὴν βάλανον, καὶ ἐκάλεσεν Ἰακὼβ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτῆς Βάλανον πένθους. ὤφθη δὲ ὁ θεὸς Ἰακὼβ ἔτι ἐν Λουζᾶ, ὅτε παρεγένετο ἐν Μεσοποταμίᾳ τῆς Συρίας, καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτόν. καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ θεός· Τὸ ὄνομά σου Ἰακὼβ οὐ κληθήσεται ἔτι, ἀλλὰ Ἰσραὴλ ἔσται τὸ ὄνομά σου.
He is called God, and He is and shall be God." (θεὸς καλεῖται καὶ θεός ἐστι καὶ ἔσται).
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 (καὶ ἐν ἰδέᾳ ἀνδρὸς τῷ Ἀβραὰμ φανεὶς καὶ ἐν ἰδέᾳ ἀνθρώπου αὐτῷ τῷ Ἰακὼβ παλαίσας , ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι εἰπεῖν ὑμῖν λογιζόμενος, λέγω). They are as follows:
'And Jacob went out from the well of the oath, and went toward Charran. And he lighted on a spot, and slept there, for the sun was set; and he gathered 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 thy father, and of Isaac; be not afraid: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and shall be extended to the west, and south, and north, and east: and in thee, and in thy seed, shall all families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, keeping thee in every way wherein thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done all that I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful 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 for 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 Ulammaus.'" (Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν Ἰακὼβ ἀπὸ τοῦ φρέατος τοῦ ὅρκου καὶ ἐπορεύθη εἰς Χαράν. καὶ ἀπήντησε τόπῳ καὶ ἐκοιμήθη ἐκεῖ· ἔδυ γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος. καὶ ἔλαβεν ἀπὸ τῶν λίθων τοῦ τόπου καὶ ἔθηκε πρὸς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκοιμήθη ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ καὶ ἐνυπνιάσθη· καὶ ἰδοὺ κλῖμαξ ἐστηριγμένη ἐν τῇ γῇ, ἧς ἡ κεφαλὴ ἀφικνεῖτο εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ ἀνέβαινον καὶ κατέβαινον ἐπ' αὐτῆς, ὁ δὲ κύριος ἐστήρικτο ἐπ' αὐτήν. 12 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος, ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραάμ, τοῦ πατρός σου, καὶ Ἰσαάκ. μὴ φοβοῦ· ἡ γῆ, ἐφ' ἧς σὺ καθεύδεις ἐπ' αὐτῆς, σοὶ δώσω αὐτὴν καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου· καὶ ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς γῆς, καὶ πλατυνθήσεται εἰς θάλασσαν καὶ νότον καὶ βορρᾶν καὶ ἀνατολάς, καὶ ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν σοὶ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐν τῷ σπέρματί σου. καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μετὰ σοῦ, διαφυλάσσων σε ἐν ὁδῷ πάσῃ ᾗ ἂν πορευθῇς, καὶ ἀποστρέψω σε εἰς τὴν γῆν ταύτην, ὅτι οὐ μή σε ἐγκαταλίπω ἕως τοῦ ποιῆσαί με πάντα ὅσα ἐλάλησά σοι. 13 καὶ ἐξηγέρθη Ἰακὼβ ἐκ τοῦ ὕπνου αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἶπεν ὅτι Ἔστι κύριος ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τούτῳ, ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ ᾔδειν. καὶ ἐφοβήθη, καὶ εἶπεν· Ὡς φοβερὸς ὁ τόπος οὗτος. οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο ἀλλ' ἢ οἶκος τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ αὕτη ἡ πύλη τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. καὶ ἀνέστη Ἰακὼβ τῷ πρωΐ, καὶ ἔλαβε τὸν λίθον ὃν ὑπέθηκεν ἐκεῖ πρὸς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔστησεν αὐτὸν στήλην καὶ ἐπέχεε τὸ ἔλαιον ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον αὐτοῦ. καὶ ἐκάλεσεν Ἰακὼβ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ τόπου Οἶκος θεοῦ· καὶ Οὐλαμμάους ἦν τὸ ὄνομα τῇ πόλει τὸ πρότερον)
When I had spoken these words, I continued: "Permit me, further, to show you from the book of Exodus how this same One, who is both Angel, and God, and Lord, and man, and who appeared in human form to Abraham and Isaac, appeared in a flame of fire from the bush, and conversed with Moses." (πῶς ὁ αὐτὸς οὗτος καὶ ἄγγελος καὶ θεὸς καὶ κύριος καὶ ἀνὴρ καὶ ἄνθρωπος Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ φανείς, ἐν πυρὶ φλογὸς ἐκ βάτου πέφανται καὶ ὡμίλησε τῷ Μωυσεῖ. κἀκείνων ἡδέως καὶ ἀκαμάτως καὶ προθύμως ἀκούειν λεγόντων, ἐπέφερον). And after they said they would listen cheerfully, patiently, and eagerly, I went on: "These words are in the book which bears the title of Exodus: 'And after many days the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel groaned by reason of the works;' and so on until,'Go and gather the elders of Israel, and thou shalt say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared to me, saying, I am surely beholding you, and the things which have befallen you in Egypt.'" In addition to these words, I went on: "Have you perceived, sirs, that this very God whom Moses speaks of as an Angel that talked to him in the flame of fire, declares to Moses that He is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob?"
Then Trypho said, "We do not perceive this from the passage quoted by you, but[only this], that it was an angel who appeared in the flame of fire, but God who conversed with Moses; so that there were really two persons in company with each other, an angel and God, that appeared in that vision."
I again replied, "Even if this were so, my friends, that an angel and God were together in the vision seen by Moses, yet, as has already been proved to you by the passages previously quoted, it will not be the Creator of all things that is the God that said to Moses that He was the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, but it will be He who has been proved to you to have appeared to Abraham, ministering to the will of the Maker of all things, and likewise carrying into execution His counsel in the judgment of Sodom; so that, even though it be as you say, that there were two--an angel and God--he who has but the smallest intelligence will not venture to assert that the Maker and Father of all things, having left all supercelestial matters, was visible on a little portion of the earth."
And Trypho said, "Since it has been previously proved that He who is called God and Lord, and appeared to Abraham, received from the Lord, who is in the heavens, that which He inflicted on the land of Sodom, even although an angel had accompanied the God who appeared to Moses, we shall perceive that the God who communed with Moses from the bush was not the Maker of all things, but He who has been shown to have manifested Himself to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob; who also is called and is perceived to be the Angel of God the Maker of all things, because He publishes to men the commands of the Father and Maker of all things."
And I replied, "Now assuredly, Trypho, I shall show that, in the vision of Moses, this same One alone who is called an Angel, and who is God, appeared to and communed with Moses. For the Scripture says thus:'The Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the bush; and he sees that the bush bums with fire, but the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will turn aside and see this great sight, for the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he is turning aside to behold, the Lord called to him out of the bush.' In the same manner, therefore, in which the Scripture calls Him who appeared to Jacob in the dream an Angel, then[says] that the same Angel who appeared in the dream spoke to him, saying,'I am the God that appeared to thee when thou didst flee from the face of Esau thy brother;'and[again] says that, in the judgment which befell Sodom in the days of Abraham, the Lord had inflicted the punishment of the Lord who[dwells] in the heavens;--even so here, the Scripture, in announcing that the Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses, and in afterwards declaring him to be Lord and God, speaks of the same One, whom it declares by the many testimonies already quoted to be minister to God, who is above the world, above whom there is no other[God].
"I shall give you another testimony, my friends," said I, "from the Scriptures, that God begat before all creatures a Beginning,[who was] a certain rational power[proceeding] from Himself, who is called by the Holy Spirit, now the Glory of the Lord, now the Son, again Wisdom, again an Angel, then God, and then Lord and Logos; and on another occasion He calls Himself Captain, when He appeared in human form to Joshua the son of Nave. For He can be called by all those names, since He ministers to the Father's will, and since He was begotten of the Father by an act of will; just as we see happening among ourselves: for when we give out some word, we beget the word; yet not by abscission, so as to lessen the word[which remains] in us, when we give it out: and just as we see also happening in the case of a fire, which is not lessened when it has kindled[another], but remains the same; and that which has been kindled by it likewise appears to exist by itself, not diminishing that from which it was kindled. The Word of Wisdom, who is Himself this God begotten of the Father of all things, and Word, and Wisdom, and Power, and the Glory of the Begetter, will bear evidence to me, when He speaks by Solomon the following: 'If I shall declare to you what happens daily, I shall call to mind events from everlasting, and review them. The Lord made me the beginning of His ways for His works. From everlasting He established me in the beginning, before He had made the earth, and before He had made the deeps, before the springs of the waters had issued forth, before the mountains had been established. Before all the hills He begets me. God made the country, and the desert, and the highest inhabited places under the sky. When He made ready the heavens, I was along with Him, and when He set up His throne on the winds: when He made the high clouds strong, and the springs of the deep safe, when He made the foundations of the earth, I was with Him arranging. I was that in which He rejoiced; daily and at all times I delighted in His countenance, because He delighted in the finishing of the habitable world, and delighted in the sons of men. Now, therefore, O son, hear me. Blessed is the man who shall listen to me, and the mortal who shall keep my ways, watching daily at my doors, observing the posts of my ingoings. For my outgoings are the outgoings of life, and will has been prepared by the Lord. But they who sin against me, trespass against their own souls; and they who hate me love death.'
"And the same sentiment was expressed, my friends, by the word of God[written] by Moses, when it indicated to us, with regard to Him whom it has pointed out, that God speaks in the creation of man (τῆς ποιήσεως τοῦ ἀνθρώπου) with the very same design, in the following words:'Let Us make man after our image and likeness (Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν). And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creeping things that creep on the earth.
And God created man: after the image of God did He create him (καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, κατ' εἰκόνα θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν); male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and said, Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and have power over it. And that you may not change the words just quoted, and repeat what your teachers assert,--either that God said to Himself,'Let Us make,'just as we, when about to do something, oftentimes say to ourselves,'Let us make;'or that God spoke to the elements, to wit, the earth and other similar substances of which we believe man was formed,'Let Us make,' (ἐξ ὧν νοοῦμεν τὸν ἄνθρωπον γεγονέναι, θεὸν εἰρηκέναι Ποιήσωμεν)
I shall quote again the words narrated by Moses himself, from which we can indisputably learn that conversed with some one who was numerically distinct from Himself, and also a rational Being. These are the words:'And God said, Behold, Adam has become as one of us, to know good and evil.' In saying, therefore,'as one of us,'[Moses] has declared that[there is a certain] number of persons associated with one another, and that they are at least two.
For I would not say that the dogma of that heresy which is said to be among you is true, or that the teachers of it can prove that[God] spoke to angels, or that the human frame was the workmanship of angels (ἀγγέλων ποίημα ἦν τὸ σῶμα τὸ ἀνθρώπειον). 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 (ἀλλὰ τοῦτο τὸ τῷ ὄντι ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς προβληθὲν γέννημα πρὸ πάντων τῶν ποιημάτων συνῆν τῷ πατρί, καὶ τούτῳ ὁ πατὴρ προσομιλεῖ); even as the Scripture by Solomon has made clear, that He whom Solomon calls Wisdom, was begotten as a Beginning before all His creatures and as Offspring by God, who has also declared this same thing in the revelation made by Joshua the son of Nave (καὶ δι' ἀποκαλύψεως τῆς γεγενημένης Ἰησοῦ τῷ τοῦ Ναυῆ τοῦτο αὐτὸ εἰπόντος). Listen, therefore, to the following from the book of Joshua, that what I say may become manifest to you; it is this: 'And it came to pass, when Joshua was near Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and sees a man (ἄνθρωπον) standing over against him. And Joshua approached to Him, and said, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And He said to him, I am Captain of the Lord's host: now have I come (Ἐγὼ ἀρχιστράτηγος δυνάμεως κυρίου, νῦν παραγέγονα). And Joshua fell on his face on the ground, and said to Him, Lord, what commandest Thou Thy servant? And the Lord's Captain says to Joshua, Loose the shoes off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. And Jericho was shut up and fortified, and no one went out of it. And the Lord said to Joshua, Behold, I give into thine hand Jericho, and its king,[and] its mighty men.'" [Dialogue 58 - 62]