2 Maccabees 6 - New Catholic Bible (NCB)

Chapter 6

Pagan Cults Are Installed. ¹ Not long afterward, the king sent an Athenian senator to force the Jews to forsake the laws of their ancestors and to live no longer in accordance with the laws of God. ² He was also instructed to profane the temple in Jerusalem and dedicate it to Olympian Zeus,^[a] and to dedicate the sanctuary on Mount Gerizim to Zeus the Hospitable, as had been requested by the people who inhabited that place.

³ This evil onslaught harshly intensified the grievous distress of the people. ⁴ The Gentiles made the temple a center of debauchery and licentious revelry, as they used the sacred precincts for immoral pleasures with prostitutes and intercourse with women.^[b] They also brought into the temple sacrificial offerings that were forbidden, ⁵ so that the altar was covered with abominable offerings that were prohibited by the law.

⁶ No one was allowed to keep the Sabbath or to observe the traditional feasts or even to admit being a Jew. ⁷ Furthermore, on the monthly celebration of the king’s birthday, the Jews were forcibly compelled to partake of the sacrificial victims, and when the festival of Dionysus^[c] was celebrated, they were forced to wear wreaths of ivy and to take part in the procession honoring him.

⁸ At the suggestion of the citizens of Ptolemais, a decree was issued to the neighboring Greek cities^[d] ordering them to adopt the same policies toward the Jews, compel them to partake of the sacrifices, ⁹ and put to death those who refused to conform to Greek customs. Thus it was clear that disaster was imminent. ¹⁰ For example, two women were brought to trial, charged with having circumcised their children. They were publicly paraded around the city with their babies hanging at their breasts and then hurled headlong from the city wall. ¹¹ Others who had assembled in some nearby caves to observe the Sabbath secretly were betrayed to Philip, and all were burned to death together, since their piety kept them from defending themselves in their respect for the holiness of the day.

¹² Purpose of Divine Judgment.^[e] Now I urge those who read this book not to be disheartened by such calamities but to realize that these punishments were inflicted not for the destruction but for the discipline of our people. ¹³ Indeed, it is a sign of great benevolence when sinners are punished promptly rather than having their wrongful acts escape retribution for a period of time. ¹⁴ In the case of the other nations the Lord waits patiently to punish them until they have reached the full measure of their sins. However, he does not deal with us in this way, ¹⁵ choosing to inflict punishment on us before our sins have reached their height so that he will not have to punish us more severely at that time. ¹⁶ Therefore, he never withdraws his mercy from us. Although he disciplines us by some misfortunes, he does not forsake his own people. ¹⁷ Let these words suffice as a reminder. Now we must proceed with our narrative.

Accounts of Martyrdom

¹⁸ Martyrdom of Eleazar. Eleazar, one of the foremost teachers of the law, a man of advanced age and distinguished appearance, was being forced to open his mouth to eat pork. ¹⁹ But he, preferring death with honor rather than a life marked by defilement, spat it out and voluntarily went up to the torture rack, ²⁰ as should be done by all who have the courage to reject the food that it is not lawful to eat, suppressing the natural desire to save their lives.

²¹ The officials in charge of this sacrilegious meal took the man aside privately because of their long acquaintance with him and urged him to bring meat of his own providing that he was permitted to eat, and to pretend that he was eating the sacrificial meat that had been commanded by the king. ²² In this way he would be saved from death and be treated kindly as a result of their long-standing friendship. ²³ But, making an honorable decision, worthy of his years and of the dignity of his advanced age, and of the gray hairs he had attained and worn with distinction, and of his impeccable conduct even from childhood, but worthy above all of the holy law given by God, he told them to dispatch him immediately to the abode of the dead.

²⁴ “At this stage of my life it would be terribly wrong to be a party to such a pretense,” he said, “for many young people would be led to believe that at the age of ninety Eleazar had conformed to a foreign practice. ²⁵ If I should engage in deceit for the sake of living a brief moment longer, they would be led astray by me, while I would bring defilement and disgrace on my old age. ²⁶ For the moment I would avoid the punishment of mortals, but alive or dead I shall never escape the hands of the Almighty. ²⁷ Therefore, by bravely forfeiting my life now, I shall prove myself worthy of my old age, ²⁸ and I shall leave to the young a noble example of how to die a good death willingly and nobly for our revered and holy laws.”

With these words he went immediately to the torture rack. ²⁹ Those who a short time before had been so kindly disposed toward him now became hostile after this statement that they regarded as sheer madness. ³⁰ When he was at the point of death as the result of the blows he had received, he groaned aloud and said: “The Lord in his holy knowledge clearly realizes that although I could have escaped death, not only am I enduring terrible sufferings in my body from this scourging, but in my soul I am gladly accepting these torments because of my awe of him.”

³¹ In this way he died, and by his death he left an example of courage and a model of virtue not only for the young but for the entire nation.

Footnotes

1. 2 Maccabees 6:2 Olympian Zeus: he had his counterpart in the Syrian Baal-shomem (“the Lord of the heavens”), which the Jews translated as “the abomination that causes desolation” (1 Mac 1:54; Dan 11:31; 12:11).
2. 2 Maccabees 6:4 The temple became the locale for immoral pursuits common to the fertility cults of the ancient Near East.
3. 2 Maccabees 6:7 The festival of Dionysus: Dionysian festivals were celebrated in Greece on four occasions between December and March.
4. 2 Maccabees 6:8 Greek cities: the cities that had adopted the Greek customs were numerous in the neighboring regions of Judea, among which were Ptolemais, Tyre, Joppa, Ashkelon, Gaza, Samaria, and Scythopolis. They contained numerous colonies of Jews who had to endure violent persecutions until the period when they were liberated by the Maccabees.
5. 2 Maccabees 6:12 Israel’s defeats are explained as God’s corrective punishment for its sins, always followed by God’s mercy (see Isa 54:7f; Ps 94:12-15).