Martyrs for the faith
18 A certain Eleazar, one of the leading scribes, elderly in age and with a most dignified outward appearance, was being compelled to open his mouth and eat pork.
19
But preferring death with honor to life with religious defilement, he proceeded voluntarily to the torture instrument,
20
spitting out the meat. In this he showed how everyone ought to stand fast and reject what isn't lawful to taste despite the intense desire to live.
21
But those in charge of the unlawful sacrifice, because they had known the man for a long time, took him aside in private and urged him to bring meat that was lawful, prepared beforehand by himself, and then pretend to eat the meat from the sacrifice that the king commanded.
22
By doing this he might escape death and attain friendly treatment because of his old friendship with them.
23
But adopting a dignified perspective worthy of his seniority, his distinguished old age and the gray hair he had acquired, and worthy of his excellent conduct from childhood, and, moreover, worthy of the holy and God-created laws, he declared to them to send him to the grave immediately:
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"It's not worthy of our old age to act out such a role. Otherwise, many of the young would assume wrongly that Eleazar the 90-year-old had changed to a foreign way of life.
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If I acted out this charade for the sake of living a moment longer, I would mislead them, and I would be defiled and dishonored in my old age.
26
Even if I escaped the punishment of human beings for the moment, I would certainly not escape the hands of the almighty—whether alive or dead.
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So I give up my life courageously now to show myself worthy of my old age,
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and to leave a fine example for the young people of how to die a good death with eagerness and dignity for the revered and sacred laws." After he spoke he immediately approached the torture instrument.
29
Those who had shown goodwill toward him earlier now felt hostility toward him, because the words he had spoken seemed insane to them.
30
When his life was about to end from the beating, he groaned, "It is clear to the Lord with his sacred knowledge that, although I could have been saved from death, I endure in my body harsh pain from this beating, yet in my soul I cheerfully suffer these things because I respect him."
31
In this manner he died, and his own death left behind a most noble and memorable example of virtue not only for the youth but also for the majority of his nation.