MartyrOld Testament

Martyr Eleazar Teacher of the Maccabees

2nd century BC

Also known as Eleazar the Scribe

An aged scribe and teacher of the Law who, refusing even to feign the eating of forbidden food lest he lead the young astray, accepted death under torture, leaving a noble example to all.

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Commemorated as

The Holy Martyr Eleazar, Teacher of the Holy Maccabees

Life

Eleazar was a venerable elder of ninety years, a scribe and learned teacher of the Jewish Law, who suffered martyrdom in Jerusalem during the persecution of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (reigned 175–164 BC). When the king commanded the Jews to transgress the Law by eating pork and foods sacrificed to idols, Eleazar refused absolutely. Officers of the king offered him a secret way out — to bring permissible meat of his own and merely appear to comply — but he rejected this compromise, declaring that it was fitting neither for his great age nor for his dignity to feign what would scandalise the young and lead them into error. He accepted flogging and torture and died as a result, leaving behind an example of noble endurance.

The account of Eleazar’s martyrdom is preserved in the Second Book of Maccabees (6:18–31), a deuterocanonical text received by the Orthodox Church as part of Holy Scripture. The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates Eleazar on 1 August alongside the Holy Maccabees and their mother Solomonia, venerating the whole group as martyrs who bore witness to the Law before the coming of Christ. Eleazar is particularly honoured as the teacher whose integrity and courage fortified those who came after him.

Troparion & Kontakion2 hymnsReadHide

TroparionTone 7

Let us praise the seven Maccabees,
with their mother Salome and their teacher Eleazar;
they were splendid in lawful contest
as guardians of the teachings of the Law.
Now as Christ’s holy martyrs they ceaselessly intercede for the world.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

KontakionTone 2

Seven pillars of the Wisdom of God
and seven lampstands of the divine Light,
all-wise Maccabees, greatest of the martyrs before the time of the martyrs,
with them ask the God of all to save those who honor you.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline3 momentsReadHide

175–164 BCPersecution under Antiochus IV EpiphanesThe Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes issued decrees forbidding Jewish religious observance and compelling Jews to eat foods prohibited by the Mosaic Law, on pain of torture and death.
During the persecutionArrest and offer of compromiseEleazar was brought before the king’s officers and commanded to eat swine’s flesh. Those who had known him for many years privately offered to provide him with permissible meat so he could pretend to comply and save his life.
During the persecutionRefusal and martyrdomEleazar refused the escape, reasoning that pretending to comply would scandalise the young who looked to him and suggest that a man of ninety years had embraced a pagan way of life. He submitted to torture and died of the flogging, going to his death willingly as an example of virtue.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributionsReadHide

Biblical Account

The primary source for Eleazar’s martyrdom is 2 Maccabees 6:18–31. There he is described as one of the foremost scribes, advanced in age. The narrative gives particular emphasis to his reasoning: he was concerned not merely with his own integrity but with the effect his apparent apostasy would have on the young men under his care. He is quoted as saying that it would be unseemly to set an evil example to the young by feigning compliance at such an age, and that even a brief life lived well is preferable to one that compromises the truth.

The First Book of Maccabees does not name Eleazar among the individual martyrs, but the expanded and more literary account in 2 Maccabees singles him out as the first of the noble martyrs whose deaths are recounted in chapters 6 and 7.

Veneration

The Eastern Orthodox Church venerates Eleazar as a holy martyr on 1 August, the same day as the Procession of the Honourable Wood of the Life-Giving Cross and the commemoration of the seven Maccabean youths and their mother Solomonia. The grouping of Eleazar with his students reflects the tradition that his witness directly shaped the resolve of the younger martyrs.

Because Eleazar lived and died before the Incarnation, his commemoration belongs to the category of Old Testament saints venerated alongside the prophets and righteous ones who are honoured in the Orthodox calendar. The pre-schism Church in the West also commemorated the Maccabean martyrs, and the feast is observed in the Roman calendar as well (1 August, though under different liturgical circumstances after later reforms).

Member ofReadHide

Synaxis of the Holy Forefathers and Foremothers

Synaxis

Companions2 figuresShowHide

Fellow martyr: the mother of the seven Maccabee brothers, co-commemorated with Eleazar and the youths on August 1.

Martyr SolomoniaMother of the Maccabees

Disciples: the seven young brothers whose teacher Eleazar was, martyred for the Law and commemorated with him on August 1.

Seven Holy Maccabee Martyrs

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints