CHAPTER XIX. 4S3 they were ready to suffer rather than transgress the laws of their fathers. 10. Q. What tortures were those which the king executed upon them ? A. A great varietyof exquisite and bloody cruelties ; their limbs were cut oft, their tongues were cut out, they were fried in frying-pans, the skin of the head was torn off with the hair, and they died under the anguish and violence of these tor- tnents, while the mother at the saine time looked on, and encou- raged then all to suffer boldly, in opposition to the intreaties, threatenings, and commands of the king. 11. Q. In what manner did she encourage her sons in their sufferings ? A. By the tenderest speeches of an affectionate mo- ther to her sons, she beseeched them to fear God, and not men, and to endure, in hope of a happy resurrection, when she should receive them all again in mercy. 12. Q. Did she herself also suffer the torment ? A. When she had seen all her sons die like martyrs before her, 'she finished that sad spectacle,"and died also for her religion; 2 Mac. vii. 13. Q. What did Mattathias do all this while in the moun- tains ? A. He still encouraged the Jews to join with him, and among others, there were manyof the Assideans, who were zea- lous for the law, resorted to him. 14. Q. Who were the Assideans, or Chasideans, as it ought to be written ? A. A sect among the Jews who were called Cha- sidim, or the pious, who were not only zealous of the law, but of many other constitutions and traditions, and forms of morti- fication beyond what the law. required ; whereas those who con- tented themselves with what was written in the law, were called Zadakim, or the righteous. 15. Q. What exploits did Mattathias and hisfriends perform ? A. They went round about the towns and villages, pulled down the heathen altars, and circumcised the children ; they slew and put to flight many of their enemies, and recovered several copies of the Jewish law. 70. Q. When Mattathias died, who succeeded him ?= A. Just before his death he made a noble speech to his five sons to encourage them in their defence of their religion and their . country, he recommended his son Simon as a man of counsel, but he made his son Judas, surnamed Maccabeus, their captain. 17. Q. How came he to be called Maccabeus ? A. The motto of his standard was the first letters of that Hebrew sen- tence; Ex. xv, 11. Mi Camoka Baelim Jehovah, that is, Who is like to thee among the gods; O Lord ? which letters were formed into the artificial word Maccabi, and all that fought under his standard were calledMaccabees. Note. This has been a common practice among the Jews to ii3
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