Probably the most obvious case is Hebrews 11:35: “Woman received their
dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in
order to obtain a better resurrection.” Who are those who were tortured so that
they might obtain a better resurrection? It is hard not to see a reference here
to the stories of the Maccabean martyrs, especially as narrated in 2 Maccabees
6-7, which includes the story of old Eleazar (6:18-31) and the seven brothers
and their mother (chapter 7), all of whom refused to eat pork despite the king’s
command. Some of the brothers explicitly mentioned the resurrection for which
they were hoping (7:9, 11, 13; and the mother, 7:23, 29). In the first century,
these martyrs for the Jewish faith inspired the author of 4 Maccabees, whose
entire constituted a philosophical theological reflection on their courage. And
the stories of these Maccabean martyrs became very influential later in the Christian
tradition. (Edmon L. Gallagher, Translation of the Seventy: History,
Reception, and Contemporary Use of the Septuagint [Abilene, Tex.: Abilene
Christian University Press, 2021], 71-72)
