Blood and water, not ichor
Then Celsus says: “And what does he say while his body is being fixed to the stake? What sort of ichor, ‘such as flows in the blessed gods’?” (Homer, Iliad 5.340). He, then, is joking. But we will show from the gospels, which are in earnest, whether Celsus likes it or not, that the mythical, Homeric ichor did not flow from his body. Rather, when he was already dead, “one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water came out. And he who saw it has borne witness, and his witness is true, and he knows that he speaks the truth” (John 19:34–35).
Now in other dead bodies the blood congeals, and pure water does not flow out. But in the dead body of Jesus the wonder was that even from a dead body “blood and water” poured out of his side.
And if, to accuse Jesus and Christians, he brings forward words from the gospel that he does not even interpret rightly, while he keeps silent about what establishes the divinity of Jesus, yet wishes to hear of divine signs, let him read the gospel and see that “the centurion, and those with him who were keeping watch over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that took place, were greatly afraid, and said, ‘This man was the Son of God’” (Matthew 27:54).
Greek
Εἶτά φησιν ὁ Κέλσος· τί φησι καὶ ἀνασκολοπιζομένου τοῦ σώματος; ποῖος ἰχὼρ, οἷός περ τε ῥέει μακάρεσσι θεοῖσιν; ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν παίζει, ἡμεῖς δ᾿ ἀπὸ τῶν σπουδαίων εὐαγγελίων, κἂν μὴ Κέλσος βούληται, παραστήσομεν ὅτι ἰχὼρ μὲν ὁ μυθικὸς καὶ Ὁμηρικὸς οὐκ ἔῤῥευσεν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος· ἤδη δ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἀποθανόντος „εἷς τῶν στρατιωτῶν λόγχῃ τὴν πλευρὰν ἔνυξε, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν αἷμα καὶ ὕδωρ. καὶ ὁ ἑωρακὼς μεμαρτύρηκε, καὶ ἀληθινὴ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ἡ μαρτυρία. κἀκεῖνος οἶδεν ὅτι ἀληθῆ λέγει.“ τῶν μὲν οὖν ἄλλων νεκρῶν σωμάτων τὸ „αἷμα“ πήγνυται καὶ „ὕδωρ“ καθαρὸν οὐκ ἀποῤῥεῖ, τοῦ δὲ κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν νεκροῦ σώματος τὸ παράδοξον καὶ περὶ τὸ νεκρὸν σῶμα ἦν „αἷμα καὶ ὕδωρ“ ἀπὸ τῶν πλευρῶν προχυθέν. εἰ δ᾿ εἰς μὲν τὸ κατηγορεῖν Ἰησοῦ καὶ Χριστιανῶν φέρων ἀπὸ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου οὐδὲ καλῶς ἑρμηνευομένας λέξεις. σιωπῶν δὲ τὰ παριστάντα τὴν θεότητα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀκούειν βούλεται τὰς θεοσημίας. ἀναγνώτω τὸ εὐαγγέλιον καὶ ὁράτω ὅτι καὶ „ὁ ἑκατοντάρχης καὶ οἱ μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ τηροῦντες τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἰδόντες τὸν σεισμὸν καὶ τὰ γινόμενα ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα, λέγοντες· θεοῦ υἱὸς ἦν οὗτος.“