The Martyrdom of the Eldest Son

4 Maccabees 9:10–25

Late 1st Century

¹⁰When they had said these things, the tyrant was not only indignant, as at those who are disobedient, but also infuriated, as at those who are ungrateful. ¹¹Then at his command the guards brought forward the eldest, and having torn off his tunic, they bound his hands and arms with thongs on each side. ¹²When they had worn themselves out beating him with scourges, without accomplishing anything, they placed him upon the wheel. ¹³When the noble youth was stretched out around this, his limbs were dislocated, ¹⁴and with every member disjointed he denounced the tyrant, saying, ¹⁵“Most abominable tyrant, enemy of heavenly justice, savage of mind, you are mangling me in this manner, not because I am a murderer, or as one who acts impiously, but because I protect the divine law.” ¹⁶And when the guards said, “Agree to eat so that you may be released from the tortures,” ¹⁷he replied, “You abominable lackeys, your wheel is not so powerful as to strangle my reason. Cut my limbs, burn my flesh, and twist my joints; ¹⁸through all these tortures I will convince you that children of the Hebrews alone are invincible where virtue is concerned.” ¹⁹While he was saying these things, they spread fire under him, and while fanning the flames they tightened the wheel further. ²⁰The wheel was completely smeared with blood, and the heap of coals was being quenched by the drippings of gore, and pieces of flesh were falling off the axles of the machine. ²¹Although the ligaments joining his bones were already severed, the courageous youth, worthy of Abraham, did not groan, ²²but as though transformed by fire into immortality, he nobly endured the rackings. ²³“Imitate me, brothers,” he said. “Do not leave your post in my struggle or renounce our courageous family ties. ²⁴Fight the sacred and noble battle for religion. Thereby the just Providence of our ancestors may become merciful to our nation and take vengeance on the accursed tyrant.” ²⁵When he had said this, the saintly youth broke the thread of life.

Translation from the New Revised Standard Version.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

The book of 4 Maccabees, written in flowery rhetorical Greek, was likely composed toward the end of the first century CE. It concentrates on one particular event of the Maccabean revolt: the martyrdom of the scribe Eleazar and of a mother and her seven sons. The author, who may have lived in the old Seleucid capital of Antioch in Syria, where, later, the tombs of the Maccabean martyrs were venerated, has drawn on the account in 2 Maccabees 7. The author integrates philosophical discourse on the power of reason over emotion into the narrative. This excerpt recounts the first of the deaths, that of the eldest brother.

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The Martyrdom of the Eldest Son

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