11
Will you not awaken from your foolish philosophy, dispel your futile reasonings, adopt a mind appropriate to your years, philosophize according to the truth of what is beneficial,
12
and have compassion on your old age by honoring my humane advice?
13
For consider this: if there is some power watching over this religion of yours, it will excuse you from any transgression that arises out of compulsion."
14
When the tyrant urged him in this fashion to eat meat unlawfully, Eleazar asked to have a word.
15
When he had received permission to speak, he began to address the people as follows:
16
"We, O Antiochus, who have been persuaded to govern our lives by the divine law, think that there is no compulsion more powerful than our obedience to the law.
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Therefore we consider that we should not transgress it in any respect.
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Even if, as you suppose, our law were not truly divine and we had wrongly held it to be divine, not even so would it be right for us to invalidate our reputation for piety.
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Therefore do not suppose that it would be a petty sin if we were to eat defiling food;
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to transgress the law in matters either small or great is of equal seriousness,
21
for in either case the law is equally despised.