them. When they refused, he showed them the instruments of torture. But they remained
unshakable, telling him that he would suffer eternal torment after death, while they would
inherit everlasting bliss. One by one, in each other's presence, and in that of their mother, they
were first exhorted to eat pork, then, when they refused, tortured and killed. At the end, the king
turned round to his soldiers and told them he hoped they would profit by such an example of
courage. The account is of course embellished by legend, but it is historically true that the
persecution was severe and was endured heroically; also that the main points at issue were
circumcision and eating pork.
This book is interesting in another respect. Although the writer is obviously an orthodox Jew,
he uses the language of the Stoic philosophy, and is concerned to prove that the Jews live most
completely in accordance with its precepts. The book opens with the sentence:
"Philosophical in the highest degree is the question I propose to discuss, namely whether the
Inspired Reason is supreme ruler over the passions; and to the philosophy of it I would seriously
entreat your earnest attention."
Alexandrian Jews were willing, in philosophy, to learn from the Greeks, but they adhered with
extraordinary tenacity to the Law, especially circumcision, observance of the Sabbath, and
abstinence from pork and other unclean meats. From the time of Nehemiah till after the fall of
Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the importance that they attached to the Law steadily increased. They no
longer tolerated prophets who had anything new to say. Those among them who felt impelled to
write in the style of the prophets pretended that they had discovered an old book, by Daniel or
Solomon or some other ancient of impeccable respectability. Their ritual peculiarities held them
together as a nation, but emphasis on the Law gradually destroyed originality and made them
intensely conservative. This rigidity makes the revolt of Saint Paul against the domination of
the Law very remarkable.
The New Testament, however, is not such a completely new beginning as it is apt to seem to
those who know nothing of Jewish literature in the times just before the birth of Christ.
Prophetic fervour was by no means dead, though it had to adopt the device of pseudonymity in
order to obtain a hearing. Of the greatest interest, in this respect, is the Book of Enoch, * a
composite work, due to various authors, the
* For the text of this book, in English, see Charles, op. cit., whose introduction also is
valuable.