La thématique de la lutte et l’ἀγὼν θεῖος dans 4 Maccabées

This article argues for the importance of a linguistic analysis of biblical texts and proposes such an analysis in relation to the language of 4 Maccabees and the metaphors its author uses to describe the battle between the pious Jews and the king Antiochus IV, who wants to forcefully convert them. The expressions taken from the war lexicon are analysed in the light of the relationship between Hellenistic Judaism and the cultivated Greek language. Although these textual instances provide a detailed framework for the construction of the Greek enemy by the Jews, they nevertheless clearly show the high level of acculturation they had acquired in relation to the colonial language.