Texts in Conversation
In Genesis, Jacob describes washing garments in the blood of grapes. In his Dialogue with Trypho, Justin interprets this blood, produced by God rather than a human father, as a picture of the virgin birth of Jesus.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 49:11
Hebrew Bible
8 Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies, your father’s sons will bow down before you. 9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah, from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches and lies down like a lion; like a lioness—who will rouse him? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; the nations will obey him. 11 Binding his foal to the vine, and his colt to the choicest vine, he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes will be red from wine, and his teeth white from milk.
Date: 5th century BCE (final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 54.2
Early Christian
1 “And the phrase recorded by Moses and prophesied by the patriarch Jacob, ‘He shall wash His garments in wine, and His robe in the blood of the grape,’ signified that He would wash those that believe in Him with His own blood. For the Holy Spirit called those who receive forgiveness of sins through Him His garments; He is always present among them in power, and will be visibly present at His second coming. 2 When Scripture speaks of the blood of the grape, it skillfully shows that Christ has blood, but not from human seed; it comes from the power of God. For just as God, not man, produced the blood of the vine, so [Scripture] foretold that the blood of Christ would come not from human descent but from the power of God. And this prophecy I quoted, sirs, proves that Christ is not a man of men, born in the ordinary human way.”
Date: 155–160 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... The roots of this statement in Dial. 105. 1 go back at least to 54. 2 (there
are two passing references to the virgin birth in 23. 3; 43. 1). It is here that
Justin introduces his exposition of Jacob’s blessing of Judah in Genesis 49:
11, ‘he shall wash his garments with wine, and his vesture with the blood of
the grape’. According to Justin’s typological exegesis, this ‘signified that he
would wash those that believe in him with his own blood’. He continues,
That the Scripture mentions the blood of the grape has been evidently designed,
because Christ derives blood not from the seed of man, but from the power of God.
For as God, and not man, has produced the blood of the vine, so also [the Scrip-
ture] has predicted that the blood of Christ would be not of the seed of man, but of
the power of God. But this prophecy, sirs, which I repeated, proves that Christ is
not man of men, begotten in the ordinary course of humanity. ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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