Justin Martyr, First Apology 31
Certain men among the Jews became prophets of God, and through them the prophetic Spirit announced future events before they came to pass. The kings who ruled in Judea at various times acquired these prophecies, just as they had been spoken when the prophets uttered them, written in their own Hebrew language in books by the prophets themselves, and they preserved them.
When Ptolemy, king of Egypt, was establishing a library and attempting to collect the writings of all humanity, he also learned of these prophecies. He sent a request to Herod, who was then reigning as king of the Jews, asking him to send the books of the prophecies. King Herod dispatched them, written in the aforementioned Hebrew language of theirs.
Since the contents of these books were unknown to the Egyptians, Ptolemy asked him again, sending men to translate them into the Greek language. Once this was done, the books remained in Egypt until the present day, and they are now found everywhere among all Jews. Yet even when reading them, the Jews do not understand what is said; instead they regard us as enemies and adversaries, and just like you they kill and punish us whenever they have the power, as you yourselves can be convinced.
For in the recent Jewish war, Barchochebas, the leader of the Jewish revolt, ordered that Christians alone be dragged off to terrible punishments unless they denied Jesus the Christ and blasphemed.
In the books of the prophets we find it proclaimed and foretold that Jesus our Christ would come, be born of a virgin, grow to manhood, heal every disease and every infirmity, raise the dead, be envied and unrecognized and crucified, die and be raised and ascend into the heavens, be the Son of God and be called such, and send certain men to every nation of humanity to proclaim these things, with the result that men from the nations would believe in him more readily.
These things were prophesied before he appeared — at one time five thousand years beforehand, at another three thousand, at another two thousand, again one thousand, and at another time eight hundred years — for according to the succession of generations, different prophets arose at different times.
Greek
Ἄνθρωποι οὖν τινες ἐν Ἰουδαίοις γεγένηνται θεοῦ προφῆται, δι᾿ ὧν τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα προεκήρυξε τὰ γενήσεσθαι μέλλοντα πρὶν ἢ γενέσθαι· καὶ τούτων οἱ ἐν Ἰουδαίοις κατὰ καιροὺς γενόμενοι βασιλεῖς τὰς προφητείας, ὡς ἐλέχθησαν ὅτε προεφητεύοντο, τῇ ἰδίᾳ αὐτῶν ἑβραΐδι φωνῇ ἐν βιβλίοις ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν τῶν προφητῶν συντεταγμένας κτώμενοι περιεῖπον. Ὅτε δὲ Πτολεμαῖος, ὁ Αἰγυπτίων βασιλεύς, βιβλιοθήκην κατεσκεύαζε καὶ τὰ πάντων ἀνθρώπων συγγράμματα συνάγειν ἐπειράθη, πυθόμενος καὶ περὶ τῶν προφητειῶν τούτων, προσέπεμψε τῷ τῶν Ἰουδαίων τότε βασιλεύοντι Ἡρώδῃ ἀξιῶν διαπεμφθῆναι αὐτῷ τὰς βίβλους τῶν προφητειῶν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς Ἡρώδης τῇ προειρημένῃ ἑβραΐδι αὐτῶν φωνῇ γεγραμμένας διεπέμψατο. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐκ ἦν γνώριμα τὰ ἐν αὐταῖς γεγραμμένα τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις, πάλιν αὐτὸν ἠξίωσε πέμψας τοὺς μεταβαλοῦντας αὐτὰς εἰς τὴν ἑλλάδα φωνὴν ἀθρώπους ἀποστεῖλαι. Καὶ τούτου γενομένου ἔμειναν αἱ βίβλοι καὶ παρ᾿ Αἰγυπτίοις μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο, καὶ πανταχοῦ παρὰ πᾶσίν εἰσιν Ἰουδαίοις, οἳ καὶ ἀναγινώσκοντες οὐ συνιᾶσι τὰ εἰρημένα, ἀλλ᾿ ἐχθροὺς ἡμᾶς καὶ πολεμίους ἡγοῦνται, ὁμοίως ὑμῖν ἀναιροῦντες καὶ κολάζοντες ἡμᾶς ὁπόταν δύνωνται, ὡς καὶ πεισθῆναι δύνασθε. Καὶ γὰρ ἐν τῷ νῦν γεγενημένῳ ἰουδαϊκῷ πολέμῳ Βαρχωχέβας, ὁ τῆς Ἰουδαίων ἀποστάσεως ἀρχηγέτης, Χριστιανοὺς μόνους εἰς τιμωρίας δεινάς, εἰ μὴ ἀρνοῖντο Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ βλασφημοῖεν, ἐκέλευεν ἀπάγεσθαι. Ἐν δὴ ταῖς τῶν προφητῶν βίβλοις εὕρομεν προκηρυσσόμενον παραγινόμενον, γεννώμενον διὰ παρθένου, καὶ ἀνδρούμενον καὶ θεραπεύοντα πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν καὶ νεκροὺς ἀνεγείροντα, καὶ φθονούμενον καὶ ἀγνοούμενον καὶ σταυρούμενον Ἰησοῦν τὸν ἡμέτερον Χριστόν, καὶ ἀποθνήσκοντα καὶ ἀνεγειρόμενον καὶ εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνερχόμενον, καὶ υἱὸν θεοῦ ὄντα καὶ κεκλημένον, καί τινας πεμπομένους ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ εἰς πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων κηρύξοντας ταῦτα, καὶ τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἀνθρώπους μᾶλλον αὐτᾷ πιστεύειν. Προεφητεύθη δέ, πρὶν ἢ φανῆναι αὐτόν, ἔτεσι ποτὲ μὲν πεντακισχιλίοις, ποτὲ δὲ τρισχιλίοις, ποτὲ δὲ δισχιλίοις, καὶ πάλιν χιλίοις καὶ ἄλλοτε ὀκτακοσίοις· κατὰ γὰρ τὰς διαδοχὰς τῶν γενῶν ἕτεροι καὶ ἕτεροι ἐγένοντο προφῆται.