Matthew’s use of (kata)luō in Matt 5:17-20 needs to be understood in light of other occurrences of these words in Jewish literature. This paper focuses on two historical events around which these words cluster: the Antiochan persecution and the destruction of the Temple. Since Jewish literature characterizes the Hellenizers of the Maccabean period as law abolishers, labeling others as law abolishers implicated them in endangering the nation. After the Jewish War, as Josephus demonstrates, law abolishers would have been blamed for the Temple’s destruction. Consequently, Matthew addresses the charge that Jesus abolished the law and therefore endangered the Jewish nation.