Woman with seven sons
Encyclopedia
The woman with seven sons was a Jewish martyr
described in 2 Maccabees
7 and other sources. Although unnamed in 2 Maccabees, she is known variously as Hannah, Miriam and Solomonia.
(2 Maccabees 8), Antiochus IV Epiphanes
arrested a mother and her seven sons, and tried to force them to eat pork
. When they refused, he tortured and killed the sons one by one. The narrator mentions that the mother "was the most remarkable of all, and deserves to be remembered with special honour. She watched her seven sons die in the space of a single day, yet she bore it bravely because she put her trust in the Lord." Each of the sons makes a speech as he dies, and the last one says that his brothers are "dead under God's covenant of everlasting life". The narrator ends by saying that the mother died, without saying whether she was executed, or died in some other way.
tells a similar story, but with refusal to worship an idol replacing refusal to eat pork. Tractate Gittin
57b cites Rabbi Judah saying that "this refers to the woman and her seven sons" and the unnamed king is referred to as the "Emperor" and "Caesar". The woman commits suicide
in this rendition of the story: she "also went up on to a roof and threw herself down and was killed".
(which suggests that the woman might have thrown herself into the flames, 17:1) and Josippon
(which says she fell dead on her sons' corpses).
she is called Miriam
bat Tanhum, in the Eastern Orthodox tradition she is known as Solomonia, while in the Armenian Apostolic Church
she is called Shamuna. She is called "Hannah" (or "Chana") in Josippon
, perhaps as a result of connecting her with Hannah
in the Book of Samuel, who says that the "barren woman bears seven," (1 Samuel 2:5
). Gerson Cohen notes that this occurs only in the longer Spanish version of Josippon (1510), while the shorter Mantuan version (c. 1480) continues to refer to her anonymously.
It is probable that Hilary of Poitiers
refers to this woman as a prophet
. Hilary says "For all things, as the Prophet says, were made out of nothing
," and, according to Patrick Henry Reardon, he is quoting 2 Maccabees
7:28.
Roman Catholic apologist
Jimmy Akin uses this story to defend the Deuterocanonical books
. He examines Hebrews
11:35 ("Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a better life") and notes that this hope of eternal life after torture is not found anywhere in the Protestant Old Testament
, but is found in 2 Maccabees 7.
According to Antiochene Christian tradition, the relics of the mother and sons were interred on the site of a synagogue (later converted into a church) in the Kerateion
quarter of Antioch
. On the other hand, tombs believed to be those of these martyrs were discovered in San Pietro in Vincoli
in 1876. An additional tomb believed to be that of the woman with her seven sons is located in the Jewish cemetery of Safed
.
, the woman and her sons, along with the Eleazar
described in 2 Maccabees 6, are known as the "Holy Machabees" or "Holy Maccabean Martyrs" in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.
The Orthodox Church celebrates the Holy Maccabean Martyrs on August 1
. The Roman Catholic Church
includes them in its official list of saints, assigning them August 1 as their feast day. From the time of the Tridentine Calendar
until 1960, they were mentioned through a commemoration
within the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula
. When, among other second feasts of a single saint, Pope John XXIII
suppressed this feast of Saint Peter, the Maccabees continued only to be commemorated, but this time within the Mass of the feria.
Some continue to use this calendar of John XXIII
, or indeed an older one, but the General Roman Calendar
officially in force since 1969 has omitted this commemoration. The Holy Maccabees are still recognized as saints and martyrs, and as such may be venerated by all Catholics everywhere on their feast and at other times.
According to Eastern Orthodox tradition, the sons are called Abim, Antonius, Gurias, Eleazar, Eusebonus, Alimus and Marcellus, though the names differ slightly among different authorities.
The three Ethiopian books of Meqabyan
(canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, but distinct works from the other four books of Maccabees) refer to an unrelated group of "Maccabean Martyrs," five brothers including 'Abya, Seela, and Fentos, sons of a Benjamite named Maccabeus, who were captured and martyred for leading a guerilla war against Antiochus Epiphanes.
Various mystery play
s in the Middle Ages
portrayed the Maccabean martyrs, and depictions of their martyrdom possibly gave rise to the term "macabre
", perhaps derived from the Latin Machabaeorum.
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
described in 2 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
2 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book of the Bible, which focuses on the Jews' revolt against Antiochus IV Epiphanes and concludes with the defeat of the Syrian general Nicanor in 161 BC by Judas Maccabeus, the hero of the work....
7 and other sources. Although unnamed in 2 Maccabees, she is known variously as Hannah, Miriam and Solomonia.
2 Maccabees
Shortly before the revolt of Judas MaccabeusJudas Maccabeus
Judah Maccabee was a Kohen and a son of the Jewish priest Mattathias...
(2 Maccabees 8), Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. He was a son of King Antiochus III the Great. His original name was Mithridates; he assumed the name Antiochus after he ascended the throne....
arrested a mother and her seven sons, and tried to force them to eat pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
. When they refused, he tortured and killed the sons one by one. The narrator mentions that the mother "was the most remarkable of all, and deserves to be remembered with special honour. She watched her seven sons die in the space of a single day, yet she bore it bravely because she put her trust in the Lord." Each of the sons makes a speech as he dies, and the last one says that his brothers are "dead under God's covenant of everlasting life". The narrator ends by saying that the mother died, without saying whether she was executed, or died in some other way.
Tractate Gittin
The TalmudTalmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
tells a similar story, but with refusal to worship an idol replacing refusal to eat pork. Tractate Gittin
Nashim
Nashim is the third order of the Mishnah , containing the laws related to women and family life...
57b cites Rabbi Judah saying that "this refers to the woman and her seven sons" and the unnamed king is referred to as the "Emperor" and "Caesar". The woman commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in this rendition of the story: she "also went up on to a roof and threw herself down and was killed".
Other versions
Other versions of the story are found in 4 Maccabees4 Maccabees
The book of 4 Maccabees is a homily or philosophic discourse praising the supremacy of pious reason over passion. It is not in the Bible for most churches, but is an appendix to the Greek Bible, and in the canon of the Georgian Bible...
(which suggests that the woman might have thrown herself into the flames, 17:1) and Josippon
Josippon
Josippon is the name usually given to a popular chronicle of Jewish history from Adam to the age of Titus, attributed to an author Josippon or Joseph ben Gorion....
(which says she fell dead on her sons' corpses).
Name
Various sources have proposed names for this woman. In Lamentations RabbahLamentations Rabbah
The Midrash on Lamentations or Eichah Rabbah , like Bereshit Rabbah and the Pesiḳta ascribed to Rab Kahana, belongs to the oldest works of the Midrashic literature. It begins with 36 consecutive proems forming a separate collection, certainly made by the author of the Midrash...
she is called Miriam
Miriam (given name)
Miriam is an ancient female Hebrew given name that has taken on many other forms in other languages and cultures, including the English name Mary. -Origin and variants:...
bat Tanhum, in the Eastern Orthodox tradition she is known as Solomonia, while in the Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
she is called Shamuna. She is called "Hannah" (or "Chana") in Josippon
Josippon
Josippon is the name usually given to a popular chronicle of Jewish history from Adam to the age of Titus, attributed to an author Josippon or Joseph ben Gorion....
, perhaps as a result of connecting her with Hannah
Hannah (Bible)
Hannah is the wife of Elkanah mentioned in the Books of Samuel. According to the Hebrew Bible she was the mother of Samuel...
in the Book of Samuel, who says that the "barren woman bears seven," (1 Samuel 2:5
Song of Hannah
The Song of Hannah is a poem interrupting the prose text of the Books of Samuel. According to the surrounding narrative, the poem was a prayer delivered by Hannah, to give thanks to God for the birth of her son, Samuel.-Contents and themes:...
). Gerson Cohen notes that this occurs only in the longer Spanish version of Josippon (1510), while the shorter Mantuan version (c. 1480) continues to refer to her anonymously.
Legacy
The woman with seven sons is remembered with high regard for her religious steadfastness, teaching her sons to keep to their faith, even if it meant execution. The Maccabees story reflects a theme of the book, that "the strength of the Jews lies in the fulfillment of the practical mitzvot".It is probable that Hilary of Poitiers
Hilary of Poitiers
Hilary of Poitiers was Bishop of Poitiers and is a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" and the "Athanasius of the West." His name comes from the Latin word for happy or cheerful. His optional memorial in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints is 13...
refers to this woman as a prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
. Hilary says "For all things, as the Prophet says, were made out of nothing
Ex nihilo
Ex nihilo is a Latin phrase meaning "out of nothing". It often appears in conjunction with the concept of creation, as in creatio ex nihilo, meaning "creation out of nothing"—chiefly in philosophical or theological contexts, but also occurs in other fields.In theology, the common phrase creatio ex...
," and, according to Patrick Henry Reardon, he is quoting 2 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
2 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book of the Bible, which focuses on the Jews' revolt against Antiochus IV Epiphanes and concludes with the defeat of the Syrian general Nicanor in 161 BC by Judas Maccabeus, the hero of the work....
7:28.
Roman Catholic apologist
Apologetics
Apologetics is the discipline of defending a position through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers...
Jimmy Akin uses this story to defend the Deuterocanonical books
Deuterocanonical books
Deuterocanonical books is a term used since the sixteenth century in the Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity to describe certain books and passages of the Christian Old Testament that are not part of the Hebrew Bible. The term is used in contrast to the protocanonical books, which are...
. He examines Hebrews
Epistle to the Hebrews
The Epistle to the Hebrews is one of the books in the New Testament. Its author is not known.The primary purpose of the Letter to the Hebrews is to exhort Christians to persevere in the face of persecution. The central thought of the entire Epistle is the doctrine of the Person of Christ and his...
11:35 ("Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a better life") and notes that this hope of eternal life after torture is not found anywhere in the Protestant Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, but is found in 2 Maccabees 7.
According to Antiochene Christian tradition, the relics of the mother and sons were interred on the site of a synagogue (later converted into a church) in the Kerateion
Kerateion
Kerateion was the Jewish 'quarter' in the Seleucid capital of Antioch on the Orontes. The suburb was located in the southern portion of the ancient city, situated between the Forum Colonnades of Herod and Mt. Tauris, a rocky crag at the foot of Mount Silpios. The city of Antioch was erected...
quarter of Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
. On the other hand, tombs believed to be those of these martyrs were discovered in San Pietro in Vincoli
San Pietro in Vincoli
San Pietro in Vincoli is a Roman Catholic titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy, best known for being the home of Michelangelo's statue of Moses, part of the tomb of Pope Julius II.-History:...
in 1876. An additional tomb believed to be that of the woman with her seven sons is located in the Jewish cemetery of Safed
Safed
Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
.
Holy Maccabean Martyrs
Although they are not the same as the Hasmonean rulers called MaccabeesMaccabees
The Maccabees were a Jewish rebel army who took control of Judea, which had been a client state of the Seleucid Empire. They founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled from 164 BCE to 63 BCE, reasserting the Jewish religion, expanding the boundaries of the Land of Israel and reducing the influence...
, the woman and her sons, along with the Eleazar
Eleazar (2 Maccabees)
Eleazar is a Jewish martyr portrayed in 2 Maccabees 6. Verse 18 describes him as "one of the leading teachers of the law," and "of distinguished bearing." We learn from verse 24 that he was ninety at the time of his death. Under a persecution instigated by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Eleazar was forced...
described in 2 Maccabees 6, are known as the "Holy Machabees" or "Holy Maccabean Martyrs" in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.
The Orthodox Church celebrates the Holy Maccabean Martyrs on August 1
August 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
July 31 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - Aug. 2-2005:*New Calendarists only: Fasting day *7th Monday after Pentecost*1st Corinthians 5:9-6:11*Matthew 13:54-58-Fixed commemorations:...
. The Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
includes them in its official list of saints, assigning them August 1 as their feast day. From the time of the Tridentine Calendar
Tridentine Calendar
The Tridentine Calendar is the calendar of saints to be honoured in the course of the liturgical year in the official liturgy of the Roman Rite as reformed by Pope Pius V, implementing a decision of the Council of Trent, which entrusted the task to the Pope....
until 1960, they were mentioned through a commemoration
Commemoration (prayer)
In the Roman Rite, when a higher-ranked liturgical celebration impedes the celebration of a lesser one that, either permanently or by coincidence, falls on the same day, the prayer of the lower-ranked celebration is usually added to that of the higher...
within the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula
Liberation of Saint Peter
The Liberation of Saint Peter is a story told in the Acts of the Apostles in which Saint Peter is rescued from prison by an angel. Although described in a short textual passage, the tale has given rise to theological discussions and has been the subject of a number of artworks.-Biblical...
. When, among other second feasts of a single saint, Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
suppressed this feast of Saint Peter, the Maccabees continued only to be commemorated, but this time within the Mass of the feria.
Some continue to use this calendar of John XXIII
General Roman Calendar of 1962
This article lists the feast days of the General Roman Calendar as it was in 1962, following the reforms that Pope John XXIII introduced with his motu proprio Rubricarum instructum of 23 July 1960...
, or indeed an older one, but the General Roman Calendar
Roman Catholic calendar of saints
The General Roman Calendar indicates the days of the year to which are assigned the liturgical celebrations of saints and of the mysteries of the Lord that are to be observed wherever the Roman Rite is used...
officially in force since 1969 has omitted this commemoration. The Holy Maccabees are still recognized as saints and martyrs, and as such may be venerated by all Catholics everywhere on their feast and at other times.
According to Eastern Orthodox tradition, the sons are called Abim, Antonius, Gurias, Eleazar, Eusebonus, Alimus and Marcellus, though the names differ slightly among different authorities.
The three Ethiopian books of Meqabyan
Meqabyan
I, II, and III Meqabyan are three books in the Ethiopian Orthodox Old Testament Biblical canon....
(canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, but distinct works from the other four books of Maccabees) refer to an unrelated group of "Maccabean Martyrs," five brothers including 'Abya, Seela, and Fentos, sons of a Benjamite named Maccabeus, who were captured and martyred for leading a guerilla war against Antiochus Epiphanes.
Various mystery play
Mystery play
Mystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song...
s in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
portrayed the Maccabean martyrs, and depictions of their martyrdom possibly gave rise to the term "macabre
Macabre
In works of art, macabre is the quality of having a grim or ghastly atmosphere. Macabre works emphasize the details and symbols of death....
", perhaps derived from the Latin Machabaeorum.
See also
- List of names for the Biblical nameless
- Felicitas of RomeFelicitas of RomeFelicitas of Rome is a saint numbered among the Christian martyrs. Apart from her name, the only thing known for certain about this martyr is that she was buried in the Cemetery of Maximus, on the Via Salaria on a 23 November. However, a legend presents her as the mother of the seven martyrs whose...
- SymphorosaSymphorosaSaint Symphorosa is venerated as a Christian saint. According to tradition, she was martyred with her seven sons at Tibur towards the end of the reign of Emperor Hadrian ....
- Danse MacabreDanse MacabreDance of Death, also variously called Danse Macabre , Danza de la Muerte , Dansa de la Mort , Danza Macabra , Dança da Morte , Totentanz , Dodendans , is an artistic genre of late-medieval allegory on the universality of death: no matter one's...