Moses then, the blessed and faithful servant of God, indicating that He who appeared to Abraham by the oak of Mamre was God, together with the two angels who were sent with Him for the judgment of Sodom—sent by another, namely Him who ever remains in the regions above the heavens and was never seen by anyone nor conversed with anyone through Himself, whom we conceive of as the Maker of all and the Father...
For he says thus: "And God appeared to him by the oak of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent at noon. And lifting up his eyes he looked, and behold, three men stood over against him. And seeing them, he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and bowed himself to the ground, and said"—and so on, down to: "And Abraham rose early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord, and looked toward the face of Sodom and Gomorrah and toward the face of the surrounding land, and looked, and behold, a flame went up from the earth like the smoke of a furnace." And when I had ceased speaking, I asked them whether they had understood what had been said.
And they said that they had indeed understood, but that the words spoken provided no proof that there is any other God or Lord, or that any other was spoken of by the Holy Spirit, besides the Maker of all.
And I again said: "The things I say I will try to convince you of, when you have understood the Scriptures—namely that there is, and is spoken of, a God and Lord other than, and under, the Maker of all, who is also called an angel, because He announces to men whatever the Maker of all, above whom there is no other God, wishes to announce to them." And going over again the things previously stated, I asked Trypho: "Does it seem to you that God appeared to Abraham under the oak of Mamre, as the word says?" And he said: "Most certainly."
"And was He," I said, "one of those three whom the holy prophetic Spirit says were seen as men by Abraham?" And he said: "No; rather, God appeared to him before the vision of the three; then those three, whom the word names men, were angels—two of them sent for the destruction of Sodom, and one announcing the good news to Sarah that she would have a child, for which purpose he had been sent; and having accomplished it, he departed."
"How then," I said, "does the one of the three who was in the tent, the very one who said, 'In due season I will return to you, and Sarah shall have a son,' appear to have come back after a son was born to Sarah, and the prophetic word there too indicates that He is God? But in order that what I say may become plain to you, listen to the things expressly spoken by Moses."
And these are they: "But Sarah, seeing the son of Hagar the Egyptian maidservant, who was born to Abraham, playing with Isaac her son, said to Abraham: 'Cast out this maidservant and her son; for the son of this maidservant shall not inherit together with my son Isaac.' But the matter seemed very hard in the sight of Abraham concerning his son. And God said to Abraham: 'Let it not be hard in your sight concerning the child and concerning the maidservant; in all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice, for in Isaac shall your seed be called.'"
"Have you then understood," I asked, "that the one who then said under the oak that He would return, since He foreknew it would be necessary to advise Abraham to do what Sarah wished of him, came back, as it is written, and is God, as the words so spoken indicate: 'And God said to Abraham, Let it not be hard in your sight concerning the child and concerning the maidservant'?"
And Trypho said: "Most certainly; yet by this you have not proven that there is another God besides this one who appeared to Abraham, and who also appeared to the other patriarchs and prophets; but you have proven that we did not rightly understand that the three who were in the tent with Abraham were all angels."
And again I said: "Even if I were unable from the Scriptures to prove to you that one of those three is both God and is called an angel, from His announcing—as I said before—to whomever He wills the things from Him who is God the Maker of all; the one who appeared to Abraham on earth in the form of a man, like the two angels who came with Him—it would be reasonable for you to conceive of this one, who was God even before the creation of the world, just as your whole nation conceives of Him." "And quite so," he said; "for thus we have held even down to this present time."
And again I said: "Returning to the Scriptures, I will try to convince you that this one who is said and written to have appeared to Abraham and to Jacob and to Moses as God, is another than the God who made all things—I mean in number, but not in will (or judgment); for I say that He never did anything, or conversed about anything, except what the Maker of the world, above whom there is no other God, willed Him both to do and to speak."
And Trypho said: "Then prove now that He also exists, so that we may agree to this too; for we do not suppose you to be saying that He says or did or spoke anything contrary to the will of the Maker of all." And I said: "The Scripture already cited by me will make this plain to you. And it is this: 'The sun went forth upon the earth, and Lot entered into Zoar. And the Lord rained upon Sodom brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and overthrew these cities and all the surrounding region.'"
And the fourth of those who had remained with Trypho said: "It must then be said that, besides the two angels whom the word through Moses named as having come down to Sodom and called 'Lord' (one of them), there is also this God Himself who appeared to Abraham, alongside that one."
"Not only for this reason," I said, "as was the case, must it by all means be confessed that, besides the one conceived of as the Maker of all, another is named 'Lord' by the Holy Spirit—and not only through Moses, but also through David. For through him too it is said: 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies the footstool of Your feet,' as I have already mentioned. And again in other words: 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows.'"
"If, then, you say that the Holy Spirit speaks of and names as 'Lord' yet another besides the Father of all and His Christ, answer me—since I undertake to prove to you from those very Scriptures that He whom the Scripture called 'Lord' is not one of the two angels who came down to Sodom, but that One who was with them and who is also called God, the one who appeared to Abraham."
And Trypho said: "Prove it; for, as you see, the day is advancing, and we are not ready for such perilous answers, since we have never heard anyone investigating or inquiring into or proving these things. Nor would we have endured you speaking, had you not referred everything back to the Scriptures; for you are eager to make your proofs from them, and you declare that there is no God above the Maker of all."
And I said: "You know, then, that the Scripture says: 'And the Lord said to Abraham, Why is it that Sarah laughed, saying, Shall I really bear a child? But I have grown old. Is anything impossible with God? At this season I will return to you in due time, and Sarah shall have a son.' And a little later: 'And the men, rising up from there, looked down toward the face of Sodom and Gomorrah; and Abraham went along with them, escorting them. And the Lord said: I will not hide from Abraham My servant the things I am about to do.'"
And a little later again it says thus: "The Lord said: The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah has multiplied, and their sins are exceedingly great. I will go down therefore and see whether they are doing altogether according to the outcry of theirs that comes to Me; and if not, that I may know. And the men, turning away from there, came to Sodom. But Abraham was standing before the Lord, and Abraham, drawing near, said: Will You destroy the righteous with the wicked?"—and what follows. For it does not seem to me necessary to write the same things again, since they have all been written before, but it is necessary to state those by which I have made my proof to Trypho and those with him.
Then I came to what follows, in which these things are said: "And the Lord departed, when He had ceased speaking to Abraham, and He went away to His own place. And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting by the gate of Sodom"—and what follows likewise, down to: "And the men, stretching out their hands, pulled Lot toward themselves into the house, and shut the door of the house"—and what comes after, down to: "And the angels laid hold of his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his daughters, the Lord sparing him."
"And it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that they said: Save, save your own life. Do not look behind you, nor stand anywhere in all the surrounding region; flee to the mountain, lest you too be swept away. But Lot said to them: I beg you, Lord, since your servant has found mercy before you, and you have magnified your righteousness, which you show toward me in keeping my soul alive—but I cannot escape to the mountain, lest the evils overtake me and I die."
"'Behold now, this city is near enough to flee to there, and it is small; there I shall be saved—for it is small—and my soul shall live.' And He said to him: 'Behold, I have respected your person also in this matter, that I will not overthrow the city concerning which you have spoken. Hasten to be saved there; for I shall not be able to do anything until you enter there.' Therefore he called the name of that city Zoar. The sun went forth upon the earth, and Lot entered into Zoar. And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and overthrew these cities and all the surrounding region."
And again, having paused, I went on: "And now have you not understood, friends, that the one of the three, who is both God and Lord and who ministers to Him who is in the heavens, is Lord of the two angels? For when they had gone toward Sodom, He Himself, remaining behind, conversed with Abraham about the things written by Moses; and after He too had departed following the conversation, Abraham returned to his own place."
"And when He had come, no longer do two angels converse with Lot, but He Himself, as the word shows, who is also Lord, having received from the Lord who is in heaven—that is, from the Maker of all—the commission to bring upon Sodom and Gomorrah these things which the word enumerates, saying thus: 'The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.'"