Ben C Smith

Not to mention certain Jewish precedents, such as those in 2 Maccabees 7. Here is the speech of the youngest son, immediately before suffering martyrdom (verses 30-38):

While she was still speaking, the young man said: What are you waiting for? I will not obey the command of the king, but I obey the command of the law that was given to our ancestors through Moses. But you who have contrived all sorts of evil against the Hebrews will certainly not escape the hands of God. For we are suffering because of our own sins. And if our living Lord is angry for a little while, to rebuke and discipline us, he will again be reconciled with his own servants. But you, unholy wretch, you most defiled of all mortals, do not be elated in vain and puffed up by uncertain hopes when you raise your hand against the children of heaven. You have not yet escaped the judgment of the almighty, all-seeing God. For our brothers, after enduring a brief suffering, have drunk of everflowing life under the covenant of God; but you shall receive just punishment by the judgment of God for your arrogance. I, like my brothers, give up body and life for the laws of our ancestors, appealing to God to show mercy soon to our nation and by trials and plagues to make you confess that he alone is God, and through me and my brothers to bring to an end the wrath of the almighty that has justly fallen on our whole nation.

The logic of martyrdom here is that (A) the Jewish nation is suffering justly for her own sins and (B) the seven brothers are suffering death as a sort of appeal to God to show mercy to the nation, bringing an end to the divine wrath that has brought on the suffering. The seven brothers are, in other words, dying for the sins of the Jewish nation.

Ben.