04_Biblica_1_C_Thiessen_Layout 1 30/01/13 13:16 Pagina 547 04_B ABOLISHERS OF THE LAW IN EARLY JUDAISM AND MATTHEW 5,17-20 547 kata/lusiv and katalu/w, along with the similar use previously mentioned in 4,24, counterpose the attempt to abolish the law and thus account for its frequent use in this sense. Both Eleazar and the mother with her seven sons demonstrated a commitment to law ob- servance in the face of persecution. The author asserts that the tombs of the priest and the family should contain the following in- scription: “Here are buried an old priest and old woman and seven sons because of the violence of the tyrant who wished to abolish the way of life of the Hebrews” (th_n Ebrai/wn politei/an katalu~sai qe/lontoj, 17,9). Josephus also links Jewish law abolishment to the Antiochan per- secution 11. In his description of the conflicts between the Maccabees and those who supported Antiochus IV’s reforms, he portrays the lat- ter group admitting to Antiochus’s son that they have abolished their ancestral customs (pa&trion au)tw~n katalu&santaj) and have adopted Antiochus’s commands (A.J. 12.364). Further, in relating how Herod unlawfully appointed Aristobulus III high priest, Jose- phus states in A.J. 15.41 that “Antiochus Epiphanes had abolished (e1luse to_n no&mon) this law first when he removed Jesus and ap- pointed his brother Onias”. Finally, Josephus claims that Antiochus, “carried away by his ungovernable passions, . . . put pressure upon the Jews to abolish their ancestral customs, leaving their infants un- circumcised and sacrificing swine upon the altar” (h)na&gkazen 0Ioudai/ouj katalu&santaj ta_ pa&tria bre/fh te au)tw~n fulattein a)peri/tmhta kai\ su~j e0piqu&ein tw|~ bwmw|~, B.J. 1.34). & 2 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, and Josephus (both in Antiquities and War) all link their accounts of the Antiochan persecution to an abolishment of the law. We have, therefore, twelve occurrences of kataluw, lu/w, and kata/lusij in four accounts of the Antiochan / persecution. It is unlikely that this cluster of occurrences is a coin- cidence; instead, it appears that there existed a common tradition linking the Antiochan persecution to a prior law abolishment by Jews and that one of the preferred words for describing their be- haviour was (kata)lu/w. Josephus is dependent upon 1 Maccabees, which has already linked Jewish 11 law abolishment to the Antiochan persecution, although 1 Maccabees does not use the word (kata)lu/w. Cf. I.M. GAFNI, “Josephus and 1 Maccabees”, Jose- phus, the Bible, and History (eds. L.H. FELDMAN ‒ G. HATA) (Detroit, MI 1989) 116-131. Since 1 Maccabees contains no occurrences of (kata)lu/w/kata/lusij, its use here presumably comes from Josephus himself. © Gregorian Biblical Press 2012 - Tutti i diritti riservati