Philo, in retelling the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, concludes that ‘he who exercises perfect self-control must shun all sins, both the greater and the lesser, and be found implicated in none whatever’, Leg. Alleg. iii. 241). In 4 Macc. the martyr tells King Antiochus, ‘think it not then a small thing for us to eat the unclean thing; for the transgression of the Law, be it in small things or in great is equally heinous, for in either case equally the Law is despised’ (5:19). 4 Macc. is concerned