Rome. After the Diaspora Revolts of 115–17 CE and the decisive failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–135 CE, the need to distance Judaism from all forms of divinely legitimated revolt and geopolitical ambitions was all the more urgent. Hence the ideology of 1 and 2 Maccabees was not deemed safe for the survival of Judaism, whereas redefinition around the Law and the Prophets provided a way forward. The relevance of the foregoing discussion for the early church is, first, that the Christian movement