04_Biblica_1_C_Thiessen_Layout 1 30/01/13 13:16 Pagina 549 04_B ABOLISHERS OF THE LAW IN EARLY JUDAISM AND MATTHEW 5,17-20 549 Consider, too, the difficulty of preserving your religious rules from contamination, even were you engaging a less formidable foe; and how, if compelled to transgress the very principles on which you chiefly build your hopes of God’s assistance, you will alienate Him from you. If you observe your sabbath customs and refuse to take any action on that day, you will undoubtedly be easily defeated, as were your forefathers by Pompey, when the besieged remained in- active; if, on the contrary, you transgress the law of your ancestors, I fail to see what further object you will have for hostilities, since your one aim is to preserve inviolate all the institutions of your fa- thers (ga_r u(mi=n mi/a to_ mh_ tw~n patri/wn ti katalu~sai). How could you invoke the aid of the Deity, after deliberately omitting to pay Him the service which you owe Him? (B.J. 2.391-93) Agrippa states that while the people are considering rebellion because they do not want to abolish their ancestral customs, by going to war they will cease Sabbath observance in order to fight, thereby alienating themselves from God. Throughout his account of the subsequent revolt, Josephus demonstrates the ways in which the Zealots were guilty of this law abolishment and therefore caused the destruction of both the city and the Temple. This con- nection between Zealot law abolishment and divine wrath is made evident by the numerous occurrences of katalu/w, lu/w, and kata/lusij referring specifically to the actions of the Zealots among the divided populace of Jerusalem during the war. First, the Zealots choose a high priest by lot, a procedure which, according to Josephus, is an abrogation (kata&lusij) of the estab- lished practice (B.J. 4.154). As a result, many of the priests bemoan this event, considering it to be the abolition of the priestly honours (katalusij, B.J. 4.157). Further, John of Gischala tells the Zealots & that they would face the wrath of the people because they have abolished their laws and law courts (u(pe\r katalu&sewj no&mwn kai\ dikasthri/wn, B.J. 4.223). Similarly, Jesus the high priest ad- dresses the Idumaeans in an attempt to gain their support against the Zealots: “Join us in extirpating these tyrants, who have abol- ished (katalu/santaj) our tribunals, trampled our laws” (B.J. 4.258). One Zealot even remorsefully confesses that both the Idu- maeans and Zealots are guilty because they have “abolished the in- stitutions of their forefathers” (katalu&ousi ta_ pa&tria, B.J. 4.348). Finally, according to Josephus, the Zealots leave the dead unburied: “The Zealots, however, carried barbarity so far as to grant © Gregorian Biblical Press 2012 - Tutti i diritti riservati