Font Size
2 Maccabees 14:37-39
New Catholic Bible
2 Maccabees 14:37-39
New Catholic Bible
37 The Voluntary Sacrifice of Razis.[a] A man named Razis, one of the elders of Jerusalem, was denounced to Nicanor. He deeply loved his compatriots and was highly esteemed by them, and he was known as the father of the Jews because of his loyalty. 38 In the early days of the revolt, he had been convicted of practicing Judaism and had risked unhesitatingly both life and limb in that cause. 39 Nicanor, in his determination to demonstrate his contempt for the Jews, sent more than five hundred soldiers to arrest him,
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Maccabees 14:37 Razis’s suicide, which in any other circumstance would be a crime, is here equivalent to the heroic act of a martyr and becomes a supreme appeal for divine justice. At the same time, it bears witness to Razis’s faith in the resurrection.
