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Show 23 Jewish martyrdom in and Second Books of Maccabees. exclusively to the First We shall refer particular. First, we shall examine how these sources describe and account for the Antiochaean persecutions, examine the martyrdoms themselves, focusing on the and then stories of shall we Eleazer, and of the seven brothers and their mother. As it is described issued in First Maccabees, King Antiochus IV: decree throughout his emp ire: his sub to become one peop 1 e and abandon their own laws and religion. The nations everywhere complied with the royal command, and many in Israel accepted the foreign worship, sacrificing to idols and profaning the Sabbath.10 ••• We were in this see Antiochus' the stated policy abandon, Jews the or First Maccabees straightforward Still, least at were we an purpose however, it 1 ike many and factual account To homogeneous empire. its one; the Jews, covenant with God. to a passage sound a To that a 11 policy of creating was understanding. supposed a j ects was any other Israelites was to foster sacrilegious, "nat ion" and many, peace and it pre- for had of no speci a 1 accepted the policy, wishing mitigate the Jews' exclusiveness. Further on in learn that: On the fifteenth day of the month Kis1er "the abo mination of desolation" was set up on the altar. Pagan altars were built throughout the towns of A 11 scrolls of the 1 aw wh i ch were found Judea. were torn and burnt. up Anyone discovered in a of Book of the Covenant, or conforming possession to the law, was put to death by the king's sentence. I n accordance with the roya 1 decree, to death women who had their children cir they put Yet many in Israel found the strength to cumcised. resist, taking a determined stand against eating any unclean food. They welcomed death rather than defile themselves and profane the holy covenant, and so died. The divine wrath raged against Israel. 1 ••• . •• • •• the1 Here we 1 earn of the exces ses mination of many Jews to resist him. of Ant i ochu s But what is IV and of the deter- particularly revealing |
