9
But he bore the pains and scorned the punishment and endured the tortures.
10
Like a noble athlete the old man, while being beaten, was victorious over his torturers;
11
in fact, with his face bathed in sweat, and gasping heavily for breath, he amazed even his torturers by his courageous spirit.
12
At that point, partly out of pity for his old age,
13
partly out of sympathy from their acquaintance with him, partly out of admiration for his endurance, some of the king's retinue came to him and said,
14
"Eleazar, why are you so irrationally destroying yourself through these evil things?
15
We will set before you some cooked meat; save yourself by pretending to eat pork."
16
But Eleazar, as though more bitterly tormented by this counsel, cried out:
17
"Never may we, the children of Abraham, think so basely that out of cowardice we feign a role unbecoming to us!
18
For it would be irrational if having lived in accordance with truth up to old age and having maintained in accordance with law the reputation of such a life, we should now change our course
19
and ourselves become a pattern of impiety to the young by setting them an example in the eating of defiling food.