4
Even if all the nations that live under the rule of the king obey him,
and have chosen to do his commandments, departing each one
from the religion of his fathers, yet I and my sons and my brothers
will live by the covenant of our fathers...We will not obey the king’s
word by turning aside from our religion to the right hand or to the
left. (1-Maccabees 2:19-22)
It was just as the pig was about to be sacrificed that Mattathias killed
the Hellenistic priest and cried, “Follow me, all of you who are for God’s
law and stand by the covenant” (1-Maccabees 2:27). Some even point
out that the word “Maccabee” can be an acronym: mi komocho ba’alim
Hashem, “who is like you among the powers, O God,” – the battle cry of
the Jewish people.3
So is martyrdom a Jewish invention? Many say yes, but many point
out that it could be a Greek influence. The very event that forced Jews
to defend their faith was introduced in a viable way into the Jewish
culture by the oppressive culture that they fought against.4 Those who
claim this would point out the famous Greek martyr Socrates. However,
Jewish loyalty to the covenant with YHWH goes farther back than their
association with the Greeks. Prophets in the Old Testament and the
disciples in the New died for their beliefs. So clearly this is not a “Greek”
influence on Jewish thinking. However, still, we must recognize that
what the Maccabees did and what they stood for has influenced Jews
during the subsequent centuries. The Maccabees lived in a world that
would birth Pharisaic traditions from which later Christianity would
arise. The idea of martyrdom that would come in later centuries was the
result of these three.
Rashi (one the most famous of Jewish scholars) mentions a story of a
woman who protests against the Greek army’s right to take the virginity
of a Jewish bride by stripping herself naked in front of the community.
Her statement was to symbolize the humiliation and shame Greeks
brought upon Jewish women. It is said this act inspired others to revolt
against the Greeks. There is also a story from the Talmud which tells
of Hannah, a woman who refused to bow before a Greek idol. Her
punishment was to see her seven sons killed one by one, but to the end
she stayed true to her God and died a martyr as well.
Thus, the Maccabees, it could be said, influenced Jewish history in
3 Spiro, K. History Crash Course #29: Revolt of the Maccabees Retrieved from http://www.aish.
com/h/c/t/h/48942121.html?s=mpw
4 Efron, J. M. (2009). The Jews: A History (p 59). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.