1. Hebrew Bible, Genesis, 22 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
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2. Hebrew Bible, Judges, 11 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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3. Septuagint, 4 Maccabees, 2.18, 3.7, 6.17, 6.22, 6.28-6.29, 7.11-7.12, 7.19, 9.6, 9.9, 9.21, 10.11, 11.24, 12.12, 13.9, 13.12, 13.14-13.15, 13.17, 14.20, 15.29, 16.3, 16.20-16.21, 16.25, 17.4-17.5, 17.7, 17.9-17.16, 17.18, 18.1, 18.11-18.20, 18.23 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 2.18. For, as I have said, the temperate mind is able to get the better of the emotions, to correct some, and to render others powerless. 3.7. David had been attacking the Philistines all day long, and together with the soldiers of his nation had slain many of them. 6.17. May we, the children of Abraham, never think so basely that out of cowardice we feign a role unbecoming to us! 6.22. Therefore, O children of Abraham, die nobly for your religion! 6.28. Be merciful to your people, and let our punishment suffice for them. 6.29. Make my blood their purification, and take my life in exchange for theirs. 7.12. o the descendant of Aaron, Eleazar, though being consumed by the fire, remained unmoved in his reason. 7.19. ince they believe that they, like our patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, do not die to God, but live in God. 9.6. And if the aged men of the Hebrews because of their religion lived piously while enduring torture, it would be even more fitting that we young men should die despising your coercive tortures, which our aged instructor also overcame. 9.9. but you, because of your bloodthirstiness toward us, will deservedly undergo from the divine justice eternal torment by fire. 9.21. Although the ligaments joining his bones were already severed, the courageous youth, worthy of Abraham, did not groan 10.11. but you, because of your impiety and bloodthirstiness, will undergo unceasing torments. 11.24. We six boys have paralyzed your tyranny! 12.12. Because of this, justice has laid up for you intense and eternal fire and tortures, and these throughout all time will never let you go. 13.9. Brothers, let us die like brothers for the sake of the law; let us imitate the three youths in Assyria who despised the same ordeal of the furnace. 13.12. and another reminded them, "Remember whence you came, and the father by whose hand Isaac would have submitted to being slain for the sake of religion. 13.14. Let us not fear him who thinks he is killing us 13.15. for great is the struggle of the soul and the danger of eternal torment lying before those who transgress the commandment of God. 13.17. For if we so die, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob will welcome us, and all the fathers will praise us. 14.20. But sympathy for her children did not sway the mother of the young men; she was of the same mind as Abraham. 15.29. O mother of the nation, vindicator of the law and champion of religion, who carried away the prize of the contest in your heart! 16.3. The lions surrounding Daniel were not so savage, nor was the raging fiery furnace of Mishael so intensely hot, as was her innate parental love, inflamed as she saw her seven sons tortured in such varied ways. 16.20. For his sake also our father Abraham was zealous to sacrifice his son Isaac, the ancestor of our nation; and when Isaac saw his father's hand wielding a sword and descending upon him, he did not cower. 16.21. And Daniel the righteous was thrown to the lions, and Haiah, Azariah, and Mishael were hurled into the fiery furnace and endured it for the sake of God. 16.25. They knew also that those who die for the sake of God live in God, as do Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the patriarchs. 17.4. Take courage, therefore, O holy-minded mother, maintaining firm an enduring hope in God. 17.5. The moon in heaven, with the stars, does not stand so august as you, who, after lighting the way of your star-like seven sons to piety, stand in honor before God and are firmly set in heaven with them. 17.7. If it were possible for us to paint the history of your piety as an artist might, would not those who first beheld it have shuddered as they saw the mother of the seven children enduring their varied tortures to death for the sake of religion? 17.9. Here lie buried an aged priest and an aged woman and seven sons, because of the violence of the tyrant who wished to destroy the way of life of the Hebrews. 17.10. They vindicated their nation, looking to God and enduring torture even to death. 17.11. Truly the contest in which they were engaged was divine 17.12. for on that day virtue gave the awards and tested them for their endurance. The prize was immortality in endless life. 17.13. Eleazar was the first contestant, the mother of the seven sons entered the competition, and the brothers contended. 17.14. The tyrant was the antagonist, and the world and the human race were the spectators. 17.15. Reverence for God was victor and gave the crown to its own athletes. 17.16. Who did not admire the athletes of the divine legislation? Who were not amazed? 17.18. because of which they now stand before the divine throne and live through blessed eternity. 18.1. O Israelite children, offspring of the seed of Abraham, obey this law and exercise piety in every way 18.11. He read to you about Abel slain by Cain, and Isaac who was offered as a burnt offering, and of Joseph in prison. 18.12. He told you of the zeal of Phineas, and he taught you about Haiah, Azariah, and Mishael in the fire. 18.13. He praised Daniel in the den of the lions and blessed him. 18.14. He reminded you of the scripture of Isaiah, which says, `Even though you go through the fire, the flame shall not consume you.' 18.15. He sang to you songs of the psalmist David, who said, `Many are the afflictions of the righteous.' 18.16. He recounted to you Solomon's proverb, `There is a tree of life for those who do his will.' 18.17. He confirmed the saying of Ezekiel, `Shall these dry bones live?' 18.18. For he did not forget to teach you the song that Moses taught, which says 18.19. `I kill and I make alive: this is your life and the length of your days.' 18.20. O bitter was that day -- and yet not bitter -- when that bitter tyrant of the Greeks quenched fire with fire in his cruel caldrons, and in his burning rage brought those seven sons of the daughter of Abraham to the catapult and back again to more tortures 18.23. But the sons of Abraham with their victorious mother are gathered together into the chorus of the fathers, and have received pure and immortal souls from God |
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4. Ignatius, To Polycarp, 3.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 3.1. Let not those that seem to be plausible and yet teach strange doctrine dismay thee. Stand thou firm, as an anvil when it is smitten. It is the part of a great athlete to receive blows and be victorious. But especially must we for God's sake endure all things, that He also may endure us. 3.1. For I know and believe that He was in the flesh even after the resurrection; |
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5. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 12.320 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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6. New Testament, 1 Peter, 2.18-2.19 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.18. Servants, be in subjection to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the wicked. 2.19. For it is commendable if someone endures pain, suffering unjustly, because of conscience toward God. |
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7. New Testament, Acts, 5.41 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 5.41. They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for Jesus' name. |
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8. New Testament, Colossians, 2.15 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.15. having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. |
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9. New Testament, John, 8.39, 19.25-19.27 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 8.39. They answered him, "Our father is Abraham."Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. 19.25. But there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 19.26. Therefore when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold your son! 19.27. Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. |
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10. New Testament, Luke, 2.35, 3.8, 21.19, 24.44 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.35. Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. 3.8. Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and don't begin to say among yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father;' for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones! 21.19. By your endurance you will win your lives. 24.44. He said to them, "This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled. |
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11. Augustine, The City of God, 18.36 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
| 18.36. After these three prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, during the same period of the liberation of the people from the Babylonian servitude Esdras also wrote, who is historical rather than prophetical, as is also the book called Esther, which is found to relate, for the praise of God, events not far from those times; unless, perhaps, Esdras is to be understood as prophesying of Christ in that passage where, on a question having arisen among certain young men as to what is the strongest thing, when one had said kings, another wine, the third women, who for the most part rule kings, yet that same third youth demonstrated that the truth is victorious over all. For by consulting the Gospel we learn that Christ is the Truth. From this time, when the temple was rebuilt, down to the time of Aristobulus, the Jews had not kings but princes; and the reckoning of their dates is found, not in the Holy Scriptures which are called canonical, but in others, among which are also the books of the Maccabees. These are held as canonical, not by the Jews, but by the Church, on account of the extreme and wonderful sufferings of certain martyrs, who, before Christ had come in the flesh, contended for the law of God even unto death, and endured most grievous and horrible evils. |
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