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“In strength” not “by force”: Re-reading the circumcision of the uncircumcised ἐν ἰσχύι in 1 Macc 2:46

Soon, Isaac T.

“In strength” not “by force”: Re-reading the circumcision of the uncircumcised ἐν ἰσχύι in 1 Macc 2:46 Thumbnail


Authors

Isaac T. Soon



Abstract

This article challenges the dominant reading of 1 Macc 2:46, both that (a) the syntagm ἐν ἰσχύι means coercion and that (b) the literary context of 1 Maccabees understands the circumcising of the uncircumcised in 2:46 as coercive. An analysis of the lexical semantics of ἐν ἰσχύι in ancient Greek literature shows that it never referred to coercion, but primarily referred to the means by which an action was accomplished (“by strength/might/power”). Admittedly, ἐν ἰσχύι can occur in coercive contexts (e.g. Wis 16:16). However, coercion is not a part of the syntagm itself, but arises out of the surrounding literary circumstances. Rather than as one who forces circumcision upon others, the literary context of 1 Macc 2:46 presents Mattathias as a liberator who reinstates circumcision for those who had been prevented from circumcising their children due to persecution. Josephus, our earliest reception of 1 Macc 2:46, is a witness to this reading.

Citation

Soon, I. T. (2020). “In strength” not “by force”: Re-reading the circumcision of the uncircumcised ἐν ἰσχύι in 1 Macc 2:46. Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, 29(3), 149-167. https://doi.org/10.1177/0951820720902086

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date May 10, 2020
Publication Date 2020-03
Deposit Date Nov 11, 2020
Publicly Available Date Nov 11, 2020
Journal Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha
Print ISSN 0951-8207
Electronic ISSN 1745-5286
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 29
Issue 3
Pages 149-167
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0951820720902086

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Copyright Statement
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).




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