Martyrdom in Ancient Judaism

In the 1920s Wilhelm Bousset and Hugo Gressman described Judaism as Religion des Martyriums (a religion of martyrdom).^[1104] Certainly, at the same point when we begin to see the notion of ‘Jewishness' solidified in the ancient literature, so we find the first records of Jewish martyrdom.

The ideological and scriptural underpinnings for martyrdom in ancient Judaism can be found in the book of Daniel. In both the story of the three young men in the fiery furnace (Dan. 3) and that of Daniel in the lion's den (Dan. 6) the protagonist prefers execution to apostasy. In both narratives the righteous characters are in fact delivered from harm because of their trust in the providence of God, but their actions, and these stories, became instru­mental in the emergence of ideas about martyrdom. Iconographic depictions of these episodes adorn the walls of Christian catacombs in Rome, and the motif of a domesticated lion became a topos in accounts of Christian martyrdom. The paradigmatic martyrs of the period, however, are the Maccabeans, who died during the reign of Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes IV. For scholars seeking to identify the beginnings of the concept of martyrdom, these martyrs are the first examples that fit modern definitions.

The emergence of the martyrdom topos in the context of the ancient discussion of what it meant to be Jewish meant that martyrdom became a marker ofJewish identity. Writing in the first century of the Common Era, the Jewish historian Josephus compares the willingness of Jews to die to that of the Spartans. He argues that the Jews surpass the patriotism of the Spartans inasmuch as they obey the laws even when they are a conquered people, not only when they are independent (Ap. 2.226 passim). He further located this instinct in Jewish identity, saying that ‘it is natural for all Jews, from birth onwards to revere the holy scriptures... and, if necessary, voluntarily to die for them' (Ap. 1.8). Dying for the law was inextricably bound to what it meant to be Jewish.^[1105]

With the rise of rabbinic literature in the first centuries of the Common Era and beyond, and the circulation of the accounts of the martyrdom of heroic teachers like Rabbi Aqiva, Rabbi Hanina ben Teradion, and Rabbi Shimon ben Gamli'el and Rabbi Yishmael, the Jewish martyrdom tradition expanded and shifted.^[1106] While in comparison with Christianity only a few martyrs are mentioned in rabbinic literature, these stories survive in multiple recensions and greatly affected the medieval ‘Story of the Ten Slain by the Kingdom', which purports to describe events that took place during the reign of the emperor Hadrian.^[1107] At least one story, that of Miriam bat Tanhum, is widely regarded as a fiction.^[1108] Apart from the handful of named martyrs, rabbinic literature mentions several groups of martyrs and abstract discussions on the theological significance of death for God.

Tosefta Shabbat 15(16).17 specifies that as a rule any commandment can be broken in order to save a life, with the exception of idolatry, incest and murder. This seemingly liberal interpretation is tempered with this addition: ‘In a situation of persecution a man must give his life even for the slightest commandment' (Sifra Ahare-mot, pereq 13.14).

The small number of martyrs, however, should not be confused with a lack of rabbinic interest in the theology of martyrdom. In the place of martyrdom stories we find extended discussions of the relationship of mar­tyrdom to personal sin, identity and religious obligation. Even the biblical account of the binding of Isaac is reread in rabbinic traditions in the light of later conversations about martyrdom and self-sacrifice (Genesis Rabbah 65.22). The earliest version of the martyrdom of R. Hanina praises him and his family for their willingness to accept martyrdom as punishment for sin without even knowing which sins they had committed. The same theme is found in the account of the death of R. Shimon in the Mekhilta, in which the martyr journeys to his death wondering which commandment he had broken. The discussion amplifies an idea present in the accounts of the Maccabean martyrs, that while the martyrs are sentenced on the basis of a human law, they are in truth being punished for having transgressed heavenly commandments. A clear exception to this idea is the death of R. Aqiva, who is sentenced by the Roman authorities to die for teaching the Torah but is never accused of having sinned against God. In this case, in the place of theodicy we find an alternative explanation: that martyrdom and withstanding brutal torture are themselves the fulfilment of the greatest commandment - the commandment to love God. At least one version of his death describes him as laughing as he dies reciting the Shema.^[1109]

During the second-century bce Maccabean uprising a prominent Jewish patriot by the name of Razis found himself trapped by Nicanor, the governor of Judea. Nicanor was a foreigner appointed by the Seleucid rulers to bring stability and order to the region and, according to 2 Maccabees, he decided to make an example of Razis.

The death of Razis is a sensitive subject in the history of Jewish martyr­dom. It appears alongside the famous martyrdom accounts of Eleazar and the mother and her seven sons. But there is a categorical distinction in the way the death of Razis is described: in Jewish and Christian tradition it is almost always labelled a suicide, or a kind of ‘heroic death', while the deaths of the others are called ‘martyrdoms'. The categorisation rests on Razis's agency: he falls upon his sword, he hurls himself from the tower, he climbs to the high rock and throws himself off it. Yet within the narrative of 2 Maccabees, Razis' death serves the same function as that of the other martyrs. Whether or not the modern interpreter distinguishes between the deaths of Eleazar and the Maccabean mother and her sons and Razis, it is clear that the same cannot be said for the author of 2 Maccabees. In the cycle of liberation, the deaths of the other martyrs each serves the same purpose. Just as the deaths of the martyrs in 6:18-7:42 mark a change of affairs for the Jewish people, so too the death of Razis is the beginning of the final triumph of Judas Maccabaeus in 15:1-28.

In narratives of Jewish martyrdom contained in the rabbinic sources it is comparatively rare for martyrs to actively kill themselves (with the exception of groups who commit suicide to avoid prostitution). The distinction is drawn out in the account of the second-century martyrdom of R. Hanina, who actively provokes the Romans and refuses to hide his actions, or himself, from them, even after being warned by R. Yoseb. Kisma. Following his death, a Roman bystander is so affected by the sight that he commits suicide. The passage has drawn comparisons with both the crucifixion of Jesus (at which a Roman soldier declares Jesus to be the son of God) and the martyrdom of Polycarp. Read alongside either of these passages the death of R. Hanina becomes demonstrably better than that of his Christian contemporaries, inasmuch as he burns with a Torah scroll (rather than alone, as Polycarp did), and his death prompts not only recognition of his holiness (as Jesus's does) but also the more active step of committing suicide.^[1110] The only other rabbinic text that mentions someone actively throwing themselves into a fire is in b. Pesahim 53b, in which the frogs, during the plague preceding the Exodus, throw themselves into furnaces in order to establish a precedent for the burning of the three youths in Daniel.