1
The tyrant Antiochus was sitting in a high place surrounded by his advisors and armed guards.
2
He ordered his soldiers to bring the Hebrews forward one by one and to force them to eat pork and meat from animals sacrificed to idols.
3
If anyone refused to eat the forbidden meat, they were supposed to be tortured to death by being stretched on a wheel.
4
When they rounded up many people, the guards dragged Eleazar forward as the first from the herd to stand in front of the king. He was a man from a priestly family, a legal expert, and quite old. He was known to many in the tyrant's court because he had been around for so long.