Justin Martyr, First Apology 32
Moses, the very first of the prophets, spoke these words himself: "A ruler will not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until he comes to whom the kingdom has been reserved; and he will be the expectation of nations, tethering his donkey to a vine, washing his robe in the blood of grapes" (Gen. 49:10). It falls to you, then, to examine carefully and learn just how long the Jews kept a ruler and king of their own — right up to the appearance of Jesus Christ, our teacher and interpreter of the unknown prophecies. The divine Holy Spirit had foretold through Moses that a ruler would not cease from the Jews until the one to whom the kingdom is reserved arrives. Judah was the forefather of the Jews, and from him they received their name; after Christ's appearance you conquered the Jews and seized all their land. The promise "He will be the expectation of nations" signaled that every nation would await his return — a hope you can see fulfilled and verify by the facts: people from every race now look for the one crucified in Judea, after whose death the land of the Jews was immediately handed over to you as a gift.
The line "tethering his donkey to a vine and washing his robe in the blood of grapes" was a symbolic forecast of what Christ would endure and accomplish. A donkey's colt stood tied to a vine at a village entrance; Jesus sent his disciples to fetch it, mounted it, and rode into Jerusalem, where the Jews' greatest temple stood — the very temple you later destroyed. After that he was crucified, so that the rest of the prophecy might be fulfilled. "Washing his robe in the blood of grapes" foretold his passion, through which he would cleanse believers by his blood. The robe spoken of by the divine Spirit through the prophet represents the people who believe in him, in whom the seed from God, the Word, dwells. The blood of grapes signifies that the one who appeared possessed blood, yet not from human seed but from divine power. The first power after the Father of all and Lord God is the Son, the Word; he became flesh and lived as a man, a matter we will take up later. Just as the blood of the vine is produced not by humans but by God, so the prophecy indicated that his blood would originate not from human seed but from God's power, as we foretold.
Isaiah, another prophet, declared the same truths in different words: "A star will rise from Jacob, and a shoot will spring from the root of Jesse; nations will hope in his arm" (Is. 11:1). A brilliant star has risen, and a flower has bloomed from Jesse's root — this is Christ. Through a virgin descended from Jacob's line, from Jacob who fathered Judah, the declared forefather of the Jews, he was born by God's power. Jesse stands as a forefather according to the oracle, and in the line of descent from Jacob and Judah he was a son by birth.
Greek
Μωϋσῆς μὲν οὖν, πρῶτος τῶν προφητῶν γενόμενος, εἶπεν αὐτολεξεὶ οὕτως· „Οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα οὐδὲ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ᾧ ἀπόκειται· καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται προσδοκία ἐθνῶν, δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ, πλύνων ἐν αἵματι σταφυλῆς τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ“. Ὑμέτερον οὖν ἐστιν ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάσαι καὶ μαθεῖν, μέχρι τίνος ἥν ἄρχων καὶ βασιλεὺς ἐν Ἰουδαίοις ἴδιος αὐτῶν· μέχρι τῆς φανερώσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῦ ἡμετέρου διδασκάλου καὶ τῶν ἀγνοουμένων προφητειῶν ἐξηγητοῦ, ὡς προεῤῥέθη ὑπὸ τοῦ θείου ἁγίου προφητικοῦ πνεύματος διὰ τοῦ Μωϋσέως μὴ ἐκλείψειν ἄρχοντα ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ᾧ ἀπόκειται τὸ βασίλειον. Ἰούδας γὰρ προπάτωρ Ἰουδαίων, ἀφ᾿ οὗ καὶ τὸ Ἰουδαῖοι καλεῖσθαι ἐσχήκασι· καὶ ὑμεῖς μετὰ τὴν γενομένην αὐτοῦ φανέρωσιν καὶ Ἰουδαίων ἐβαλισεύσατε καὶ τῆς ἐκείνων πάσης γῆς ἐκρατήσατε. Τὸ δὲ „Αὐτὸς ἔσται προσδοκία ἐθνῶν“ μηνυτικὸν ἦν, ὅτι ἐκ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν προσδοκήσουσιν αὐτὸν πάλιν παραγενησόμενον, ὅπερ ὄψει ὑμῖν πάρεστιν ἰδεῖν καὶ ἔργῳ πεισθῆναι· ἐκ πάντων γὰρ γενῶν ἀνθρώπων προσδοκῶσι τὸν ἐν Ἰουδαίᾳ σταυρωθέντα, μεθ᾿ ὃν εὐθὺς δοριάλωτος ὑμῖν ἡ γῆ Ἰουδαίων παρεδόθη. Τὸ δὲ „Δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ καὶ πλύνων τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ ἐν αἵματι σταφυλῆς“ σύμβολον δηλωτικὸν ἦν τῶν γενησομένων τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ τῶν ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ πραχθησομένων. Πῶλος γάρ τις ὄνου εἱστήκει ἔν τινι εἰσόδῳ κώμης πρὸς ἄμπελον δεδεμένος, ὃν ἐκέλευσεν ἀγαγεῖν αὐτῷ τότε τοὺς γνωρίμους αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀχθέντος ἐπιβὰς ἐκάθισε καὶ εἰσελήλυθεν εἰς τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα, ἔνθα τὸ μέγιστον ἱερὸν ἦν Ἰουδαίων, ὃ ὑφ᾿ ὑμῶν ὕστερον κατεστράφη· καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐσταυρώθη, ὅπως τὸ λεῖπον τῆς προφητείας συντελεσθῇ. Τὸ γὰρ „Πλύνων τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ ἔν αἵματι σταφυλῆς“ προαγγελτικὸν ἦν τοῦ πάθους, οὗ πάσχειν ἔμελλε δι᾿ αἵματος καθαίρων τοὺς πιστεύοντας αὐτῷ. Ἡ γὰρ κεκλημένη ὑπὸ τοῦ θείου πνεύματος διὰ τοῦ προφήτου στολὴ οἱ πιστεύοντες αὐτῷ εἰσιν ἄνθρωποι, ἐν οἷς οἰκεῖ τὸ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ σπέρμα, ὁ λόγος. Τὸ δὲ εἰρημένον αἷμα τῆς σταφυλῆς σημναντικὸν τοῦ ἔχειν μὲν αἷμα τὸν φανησόμενον, ἀλλ᾿ οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρωπείου σπέρματος ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ θείας δυνάμεως. Ἡ δὲ πρώτη δύναμις μετὰ τὸν πατέρα πάντων καὶ δεσπότην θεὸν καὶ υἱὸς ὁ λόγος ἐστίν· ὃς τίνα τρόπον σαρκοποιηθεὶς ἄνθρωπος γέγονεν, ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς ἐροῦμεν. Ὃν τρόπον γὰρ τὸ τῆς ἀμπέλου αἷμα οὐκ ἄνθρωπος πεποίηκεν ἀλλ᾿ ὁ θεός, οὕτως καὶ τοῦτο ἐμηνύετο οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρωπείου σπέρματος γενήσεσθαι τὸ αἷμα ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ δυνάμεως θεοῦ, ὡς προέφημεν. Καὶ Ἡσαΐας δέ, ἄλλος προφήτης, τὰ αὐτὰ δι᾿ ἄλλων ῥήσεων προφητεύων οὕτως εἶπεν· „Ἀνατελεῖ ἄστρον ἐξ Ἰακώβ, καὶ ἄνθος ἀναβήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαί· καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν βραχίονα αὐτοῦ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν“. Ἄστρον δὲ φωτεινὸν ἀνέτειλε, καὶ ἄνθος ἀνέβη ἀπὸ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαί, οὗτος ὁ Χριστός. Διὰ γὰρ παρθένου τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ σπέρματος Ἰακώβ, τοῦ γενομένου πατρὸς Ἰούδα, τοῦ δεδηλωμένου Ἰουδαίων πατρός, διὰ δυνάμεως θεοῦ ἀπεκυήθη· καὶ Ἰεσσαὶ προπάτωρ μὲν κατὰ τὸ λόγιον γεγένηται, τοῦ δὲ Ἰακὼβ καὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα κατὰ γένους διαδοχὴν υἱὸς ὑπῆρχεν.