Even more pitiable is the story of Hannah and her seven sons. A widow
and her sons were brought before Antiochus and commanded to bow to his
idols. The King first addressed the oldest of the sons, saying: “Bow to
my gods”. “God forbid”, answered the oldest son, “that I should bow to
your idols”. “Why not?” asked the King. “Because our commandments teach
us, “I am the Lord your God”, and I shall worship no other”. After being
cruelly tortured in the sight of his mother and brothers, he was put to
death.
“You have seen what was done to your brother for disobeying me. Now, bow
to my gods”, said the King to the second son. “You can torture me as you
will”, said the youth. “I shall not bow to your idols”. “Why not?” asked
the King. “Because we are commanded, “Thou shalt have no other God but
me”, he answered. The King ordered that he, too, be slain.
“Obey me and your life shall be spared”, said the King to the third son,
after threatening to tear out his tongue and cut off his hands if he
were not obeyed. “Do you seek to terrify me”, cried the brave lad. “Our
religion teaches us, “Thou shalt worship no other Gods”, and like my
brothers I shall not forsake my religion, and like them I shall die”.
Then he was killed.
“Do not think that God has given us into your hands to add honor to your
name; it is to make known to the world that a more cruel and wicked man
has never lived”, answered the fifth son when commanded to bow to the
King’s gods. “Remove the insolent fellow”, cried the King, full of
wrath. And so the brave boy died.
The sixth son was then brought before the King. But he, too, suffered
the fate of his brothers.
Finally, there remained only the mother and her youngest son, a mere
child. When Antiochus saw him, his heart was moved, and he spoke kindly
to the child. “Come, my son,” he said to him, “and bow to my gods”. But
the boy following the noble example set by his brothers, refused to
obey. Then the King tried to induce him to bow by tempting offers of
riches and honor. “If you will but obey me”, the King said to him, “I
shall bring you up in riches and splendor; and, when you are old enough,
I shall make of you a mighty prince, second only to me”. Antiochus could
promise what he would, but the child was not to be tempted.
The mighty Antiochus was conquered, and now his greatest desire was to
induce the boy to obey him. To accomplish this, he resorted to a trick.
“My son”, he said to him, “you see your brothers lying dead before you;
if you will refuse to do as I ask you, you shall share their fate. But I
do not wish to harm you; you are too young to die. I am going to cast my
ring on the ground, pick it up and your life will be spared”. To kneel
down and pick up the ring was not wrong, it was only a mark of respect
to the King which the Jewish Law permitted. But the boy, young as he
was, quickly saw that if he would do so, the surrounding crowds would
think that he was bowing to the idol. For this reason, he refused to
comply with the King’s request.
The King was now growing fast impatient, and, as a last resort, turned
to the mother and told her to induce her son to do as he requested of
him. But the mother was as faithful to her religion and brave as her
sons. She took her son to an adjoining room, and there urged him to
remain loyal and firm, that he might soon rejoin his brothers in heaven.
Then, denouncing the cruel King in the strongest terms, she again
encouraged him to remain faithful to the laws of their fathers. But the
boy knew himself what was right to do, and soon told the King that he
would never obey him.
The King now grew angry indeed, and ordered that the lad be slain. But
the mother, throwing her arms around the boy, begged the King to kill
her instead of her son. “No”, answered the King mockingly, “I cannot do
so because your own laws forbid it; for is it not said, “Whether it be
an ox or a sheep, thou shalt not kill it and its young in one day”. As
the boy was being led away, Hannah cried out, “I have surpassed Abraham.
He built one altar on which to sacrifice one son, whereas I have built
seven altars on which I have sacrificed seven sons”. One by one Hannah
had seen her sons cruelly murdered; and, no longer able to endure her
misery, she jumped down from a roof and was killed.
Eleazar and Hannah and her seven sons were only a few of the constantly
increasing number of martyrs, who preferred to sacrifice their lives
than to disobey the laws of their fathers. Never before had the Jews
been treated with such great cruelty, but never before did they endure
their misery with greater courage. It was in vain that Antiochus ordered
the Jews to worship heathen idols; it was in vain that he commanded them
to adopt the religion of the Greeks. In many towns the royal officers
found no one to meet them, for the inhabitants had escaped to the
mountains, where they could privately observe their laws. The resistance
which the Jews offered only made the King more angry, and caused him to
increase his cruelties. Houses were plundered; synagogues were
destroyed; and thousands of Jews were put to death, victims of the wrath
of the King.