Now I remember that, on one occasion, at a disputation held with certain
Jews, who were reckoned wise men, I quoted these prophecies; to which my
Jewish opponent replied, that these predictions bore reference to the
whole people, regarded as _one individual_, and as being in a state of
dispersion and suffering, in order that many proselytes might be gained,
on account of the dispersion of the Jews among numerous heathen nations.
And in this way he explained the words, “Thy form shall be of no
reputation among men;” and then, “They to whom no message was sent
respecting him shall see;” and the expression, “A man under suffering.”
Many arguments were employed on that occasion during the discussion to
prove that these predictions regarding one particular person were not
rightly applied by them to the whole nation. And I asked to what
character the expression would be appropriate, “This man bears our sins,
and suffers pain on our behalf;” and this, “But he was wounded for our
sins, and bruised for our iniquities;” and to whom the expression
properly belonged, “By his stripes were we healed.” For it is manifest
that it is they who had been sinners, and had been healed by the
Saviour’s sufferings (whether belonging to the Jewish nation or converts
from the Gentiles), who use such language in the writings of the prophet
who foresaw these events, and who, under the influence of the Holy
Spirit, applied these words to a person. But we seemed to press them
hardest with the expression, “Because of the iniquities of my people was
he led away unto death.” For if the people, according to them, are the
subject of the prophecy, how is the man said to be led away to death
because of the iniquities of the people of God, unless he be a different
person from that people of God? And who is this person save Jesus
Christ, by whose stripes they who believe on Him are healed, when “He
had spoiled the principalities and powers (that were over us), and had
made a show of them openly on His cross?” At another time we may explain
the several parts of the prophecy, leaving none of them unexamined. But
these matters have been treated at greater length, necessarily as I
think, on account of the language of the Jew, as quoted in the work of
Celsus.