Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Commentary for Avodah Zarah 35:5

בשעה שיצאו שלשתן צדקו עליהם את הדין הוא אמר (דברים לב, ד) הצור תמים פעלו [וגו'] ואשתו אמרה (דברים לב, ד) אל אמונה ואין עול בתו אמרה (ירמיהו לב, יט) גדול העצה ורב העליליה אשר עיניך פקוחות על כל דרכי וגו' אמר רבי [כמה] גדולים צדיקים הללו שנזדמנו להן שלש מקראות של צדוק הדין בשעת צדוק הדין

As the three of them went out [from the tribunal] they declared the righteousness of the judgment. He quoted, “The Rock, His work is perfect; for all his ways are justice” (Deuteronomy 32:4). His wife continued: “A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is He” (ibid). And the daughter quoted: “Great in counsel and mighty in work, whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doing” (Jeremiah 32:19). Rabbi said: How great were these righteous ones, in that the three passages, expressing the righteousness of judgment, readily occurred to them just at the appropriate time for the declaration of such righteousness.

Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah

This is what martyrdom in the ancient world was all about. Going to one’s death and still maintaining faith in the justice of God. It was a form of “testimony” to the outside world of the greatness of the God of the martyr. Again, I should emphasize that some stories in the Talmud celebrate the martyr, but some do not.
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