2 Maccabees 14:40-42

New Catholic Bible

⁴⁰ for he thought that by such an action he would deliver a severe blow to the Jews. ⁴¹ When the troops were on the point of capturing the tower and were forcing open the outer gate, they called for fire to burn down the doors. Razis, finding himself surrounded on all sides, turned his sword on himself, ⁴² preferring to die nobly rather than fall into the hands of evil men and suffer outrages unworthy of his noble birth.