The Death of Saints: The View of Martyr domin Ⅱ Maccabees

Abstract

During the period of the Second Temple, the view of martyrdom was gradually conceived in Jewish thought. It emerged from the background of Hellenization. The religious persecution of Antiochus IV created an objective environment for the emergence of martyrdom. The concept of eternal life and resurrection gradually emerged, which ideologically promoted the emergence of the view of martyrdom. Ⅱ Maccabees was created in this background. The meaning of the martyrdom narrative in this book was far beyond the era. The martyrs became symbols of “piety”. And it integrated into the “life experience” of the Jewish nation as a nation’s “historical memory”.