1When Eleazar in this manner had made eloquent response to the exhortations of the tyrant, the guards who were standing by dragged him violently to the instruments of torture. 2First they stripped the old man, who remained adorned with the gracefulness of his piety. 3And after they had tied his arms on each side they scourged him, 4while a herald opposite him cried out, "Obey the king's commands!" 5But the courageous and noble man, as a true Eleazar, was unmoved, as though being tortured in a dream; 6yet while the old man's eyes were raised to heaven, his flesh was being torn by scourges, his blood flowing, and his sides were being cut to pieces. 7And though he fell to the ground because his body could not endure the agonies, he kept his reason upright and unswerving. 8One of the cruel guards rushed at him and began to kick him in the side to make him get up again after he fell. 9But he bore the pains and scorned the punishment and endured the tortures. 10And like a noble athlete the old man, while being beaten, was victorious over his torturers; 11in fact, with his face bathed in sweat, and gasping heavily for breath, he amazed even his torturers by his courageous spirit.
12At that point, partly out of pity for his old age, 13partly out of sympathy from their acquaintance with him, partly out of admiration for his endurance, some of the king's retinue came to him and said, 14"Eleazar, why are you so irrationally destroying yourself through these evil things? 15We will set before you some cooked meat; save yourself by pretending to eat pork."
16But Eleazar, as though more bitterly tormented by this counsel, cried out: 17"May we, the children of Abraham, never think so basely that out of cowardice we feign a role unbecoming to us! 18For it would be irrational if we, who have lived in accordance with truth to old age and have maintained in accordance with law the reputation of such a life, should now change our course 19and ourselves become a pattern of impiety to the young, in becoming an example of the eating of defiling food. 20It would be shameful if we should survive for a little while and during that time be a laughing stock to all for our cowardice, 21and if we should be despised by the tyrant as unmanly, and not protect our divine law even to death. 22Therefore, O children of Abraham, die nobly for your religion! 23And you, guards of the tyrant, why do you delay?"
24When they saw that he was so courageous in the face of the afflictions, and that he had not been changed by their compassion, the guards brought him to the fire. 25There they burned him with maliciously contrived instruments, threw him down, and poured stinking liquids into his nostrils. 26When he was now burned to his very bones and about to expire, he lifted up his eyes to God and said, 27"You know, O God, that though I might have saved myself, I am dying in burning torments for the sake of the law. 28Be merciful to your people, and let our punishment suffice for them. 29Make my blood their purification, and take my life in exchange for theirs." 30And after he said this, the holy man died nobly in his tortures, and by reason he resisted even to the very tortures of death for the sake of the law.
31Admittedly, then, devout reason is sovereign over the emotions. 32For if the emotions had prevailed over reason, we would have testified to their domination. 33But now that reason has conquered the emotions, we properly attribute to it the power to govern. 34And it is right for us to acknowledge the dominance of reason when it masters even external agonies. It would be ridiculous to deny it. 35And I have proved not only that reason has mastered agonies, but also that it masters pleasures and in no respect yields to them.
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