1
So if a woman who was an elderly mother of seven sons put up with seeing her children tortured to death, then without question godly thinking is the master of the emotions.
2
I have shown that not only men have control over their emotions but also a woman scorned the greatest torture.
3
The lions that surrounded Daniel weren't as wild, and Mishael's fiery furnace wasn't as burning hot as this mother's natural love for her children. Her love was stirred up inside her as she saw her seven sons tortured in so many ways.
4
But the mother put out the fire of her feelings that were so many and so strong with clear thinking.
5
Think about this too: If this woman, even though she was a mother, had been weak-spirited, she would have mourned for them. Maybe she would have said something like this:
6
“Look at how miserable I am with one sorrow piled on another! I gave birth to seven children, and now I'm nobody's mother!
7
“Look at how I gave birth seven times all for nothing! Seven pregnancies, without anything to show for it! Years of fruitless childcare and years of miserable nursing!
8
My sons, I bore the long pains of labor for you and even more stress in raising you for no reason!
9
"Look at my children! Some aren't married, others are married, but none of them have children! Now I will never see your children or have the pleasure of being a grandmother.
10
I had so many and such beautiful children, and now I'm a widow and left all alone in my many sorrows.