Reading Scripture: Types and Figures
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 91
God, speaking through Moses, also declared the power of the mystery of the cross in the blessing with which He blessed Joseph: "The land of Joseph is blessed by the Lord, from the heavens above and from the dew, and from the deep that lies beneath, and from the fruitfulness of the earth, and from the seasons of the sun's courses, and from the conjunctions of the months, and from the tops of the ancient mountains, and from the tops of the hills, and from the ever-flowing rivers, and from the fruits of the earth's fullness" (Deuteronomy 33:13-17). The things pleasing to the One who appeared in the bush came upon Joseph's head and upon his crown. He was glorified among his brothers; the firstborn bull's beauty is his, and the unicorn's horns are his horns, with which he will push the nations even to the ends of the earth.
For the unicorn's horns can be said to have the shape of nothing else except the type that shows the cross. One piece of wood stands upright, from which the uppermost part rises like a horn; when the other piece is fitted to it, the ends on either side appear as horns joined to the single horn. The middle part, which is fastened, also appears as a horn, and it is this to which those who are crucified are fastened. The phrase "with which he will push the nations even to the ends of the earth" indicates what has now come to pass among all the nations. For people from every nation, having been pushed—that is, convinced—have turned through this mystery to the worship of God, away from vain idols and demons.
To unbelievers, however, the same shape signifies destruction and condemnation. Just as when the people came out of Egypt, through the type of Moses' outstretched hands and the invocation of the name Jesus upon Joshua son of Nun, Amalek was defeated but Israel prevailed.
The lifting up of the serpent also appears to have been done for the salvation of those who believe (John 3:15), because through the cross, death was from that time proclaimed for the serpent, but salvation for those bitten by it who flee to the Son of God sent into the world. For the prophetic Spirit did not teach us through Moses to believe in the serpent—since it also shows the serpent cursed by God from the beginning, and in Isaiah destroyed as an enemy by the great sword, which is Christ (Isaiah 27:1).
Greek
Καὶ γὰρ δι᾿ ἄλλου μηνύων τὴν ἰσχὺν τοῦ μυστηρίου τοῦ σταυροῦ ὁ θεὸς διὰ Μωσέως εἶπεν ἐν εὐλογίᾳ, ἣν εὐλόγει τὸν Ἰωσήφ. Ἀπὸ εὐλογίας κυρίου ἡ γῆ αὐτοῦ, ἀπὸ ὡρῶν οὐρανοῦ καὶ δρόσων, καὶ ἀπὸ ἀβύσσου πηγῶν κάτωθεν, καὶ καθ᾿ ὥραν γεννημάτων ἡλίου τροπῶν, καὶ ἀπὸ συνόδων μηνῶν, καὶ ἀπὸ κορυφῆς ὀρέων ἀρχῆς, καὶ ἀπὸ κορυφῆς βουνῶν, καὶ ποταμῶν ἀεννάων, καὶ καρπῶν γῆς πληρώσεως. Καὶ τὰ δεκτὰ τῷ ὀφθέντι ἐν τῇ βάτῳ ἔλθοισαν ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν Ἰωσὴφ καὶ ἐπὶ κορυφῆς. Δοξασθεὶς ἐν ἀδελφοῖς πρωτότοκος, ταύρου τὸ κάλλος αὐτοῦ, κέρατα μονοκέρωτος τὰ κέρατα αὐτοῦ, ἐν αὐτοῖς ἔθνη κερατιεῖ ἅμα ἕως ἀπὸ ἄκρου τῆς γῆς [Dtn., XXXIII, 13-17]. Μονοκέρωτος γὰρ κέρατα οὐδενὸς ἄλλου πράγματος ἢ σχήματος ἔχοι ἄν τις εἰπεῖν καὶ ἀποδεῖξαι, εἰ μὴ τοῦ τύπου ὃς τὸν σταυρὸν δείκνυσιν. Ὄρθιον γὰρ τὸ ἕν ἐστι ξύλον, ἀφ᾿ οὗ ἐστι τὸ ἀνώτατον μέρος εἰς κέρας ὑπερηρμένον, ὅταν τὸ ἄλλο ξύλον προσαρμοσθῇ, καὶ ἑκατέρωθεν ὡς κέρατα τῷ ἑνὶ κέρατι παρεζευγμένα τὰ ἄκρα φαίνηται· καὶ τὸ ἐν τῷ μέσῳ πηγνύμενον ὡς κέρας καὶ αὐτὸ ἐξέχον ἐστίν, ἐφ᾿ ᾧ ἐποχοῦνται οἱ σταυρούμενοι, καὶ βλέπεται ὡς κέρας καὶ αὐτὸ σὺν τοῖς ἄλλοις κέρασι συνεσχηματισμένον καὶ πεπηγμένον. Καὶ τὸ Ἐν αὐτοῖς ἔθνη κερατιεῖ ἅμα ἕως ἀπ᾿ ἄκρου τῆς γῆς [Dtn., XXXIII, 17] δηλωτικόν ἐστι τοῦ νῦν γεγενημένου πράγματος ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι. Κερατισθέντες γάρ, τουτέστι κατανυγέντες, οἱ ἐκ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν διὰ τούτου τοῦ μυστηρίου εἰς τὴν θεοσέβειαν ἐτράπησαν ἀπὸ τῶν ματαίων εἰδώλων καὶ δαιμόνων, τοῖς δὲ ἀπίστοις τὸ αὐτὸ σχῆμα εἰς κατάλυσιν καὶ καταδίκην δηλοῦται· ὃν τρόπον ἐν τῷ ἀπ᾿ Αἰγύπτου ἐξελθόντι λαῷ διά τε τοῦ τύπου τῆς ἐκτάσεως τῶν χειρῶν τοῦ Μωσέως καὶ τῆς τοῦ Ναυῆ υἱοῦ ἐπικλήσεως τοῦ ὀνόματος Ἰησοῦ ὁ Ἀμαλὴκ μὲν ἡττᾶτο, Ἰσραὴλ δὲ ἐνίκα. Καὶ διὰ τοῦ τύπου δὲ καὶ σημείου τοῦ κατὰ τῶν δακόντων τὸν Ἰσραὴλ ὄφεων ἡ ἀνάθεσις φαίνεται γεγενημένη ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τῶν πιστευόντων cf. JEAN, III, 15] ὅτι διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦσθαι μέλλοντος θάνατος γενήσεσθαι ἔκτοτε προεκηρύσσετο τῷ ὄφει, σωτηρία δὲ τοῖς καταδακνομένοις ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ καὶ προσφεύγουσι τῷ τὸν ἐσταυρωμένον υἱὸν αὐτοῦ πέμψαντι εἰς τὸν κόσμον · οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ ὄφιν ἡμᾶς πιστεύειν τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα διὰ Μωσέως ἐδίδασκεν, ὁπότε καὶ κατηρᾶσθαι αὐτὸν τὴν ἀρχὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ δηλοῖ, καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἡσαίᾳ ἀναιρεθήσεσθαι ὡς πολέμιον διὰ τῆς μεγάλης μαχαίρας, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ Χριστός, σημαίνει [Is., XXVII, 1].