Yet Massada is most famous for the stand of the Zealots in 70-73 CE.
These leaders of the Great Revolt against the Romans occupied
Massada after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and
withstood the Roman siege for over two years. They were able to do
this thanks to Herod's stores, which had remained useable despite the
passing of 70 years.
Massada (Getting Israel Together)
But Eleazar did not dream of flight, nor would he have permitted
anyone else to flee. Quite the contrary! When he saw the walls
destroyed by fire, and could think of no other means to save or defend,
he conjured up before his eyes the treatment the women and children
would suffer if they fell into the hands of the Romans, and came to the
conclusion that all must seek death. And since, as matters stood, he
considered this best, he called together the staunchest of his comrades
and tried to kindle them to action Faith these words:
"It is long since we, my brave comrades, decided that we would be
subject neither to the Romans nor to anyone else, and only to God, for
he is the true and proper sovereign over men. But we are faced with a
moment that bids us translate our noble resolve into deed. We have
never been able to endure even undangerous servitude, so let us not
dishonor ourselves by voluntarily submitting to servitude with the
terrible torments that indubitably await us if we fall alive into the hands
of the Romans. For just as we were the very first to rebel against their
yoke, so we are the Iast against whom they are still striving. I regard it
as a special grace of God that he has put us in a position to die
honorably, as free people - a death not vouchsafed to those others who
were taken unawares. We know in advance that tomorrow we shall fail
into the enemy's hands; but we still have the free choice of dying a
noble death together with our loved ones. Our enemies cannot prevent
us from doing this even though they would very much like to get us
alive. On the other hand, We are no longer able to vanquish them in
battle. In the very beginning, perhaps, when our striving for freedom
met with such great resistance on the part of our Turn people, and still
more on that of our foes, Eve should have divined and recognized
God's decision to dedicate to destruction the Jewish people that once
was so dear to him. For had he remained gracious toward us, or
moderated his wrath, he would not have looked on quietly while so
many perished, and would not have yielded his holy city up to fire and
to our enemies' ravening thirst for destruction. And do we - in spite of
this - venture to hope that we could survive, we of all the Jewish
People, and save our freedom, as though we had not sinned against
God, nor participated in transgressions, while actually in this we were
those who taught the others? You see how God is giving the lie to our
idle expectations, by permitting a calamity to come upon us that utterly
shatters our hopes.
"For in what way has this invincible fortress aided us in our salvation?
And did not God himself take from us all hope of being saved. although
we had rich stores of supplies. an abundance of arms, and all other
necessary things in profusion? For it was not sheer chance that
directed to the mall we had set up the fire that was first turned against
our enemy, but rather the Wrath of Gob for the many crimes we in our
madness committed against our own people. But we want to suffer our
punishment for this not from our deadly enemies, from the Romans,
but from God, through the act of our own hands; for his judgment is
more merciful. Let our wives die undisgraced, and our children free
from the shackles of slavery'! And after they have preceded us in death,
let us perform a service of love for one another, and then the glory of
having sustained freedom will take the place of an honorable burial. But
first let us destroy our treasures and the entire fortress with fire. For I
am certain the Romans will be enraged if they are unable to catch us
alive, and lose the loot into the bargain. We shall leave nothing for them
but our provisions, so that when we are dead these may bear testimony
that "it was not hunger that vanquished us, but that, just as in the
beginning so now. too we were resolved to prefer death to slavery....
"No. as long as these hands are free and able to hold the sword, they
shall do us the best possible service! We shall die unsubjugated by our
enemies; we shall depart this life as free men, we and our women and
children. That is what the laws bid us do; that is what our women and
children plead for. But it is God himself who has made it necessary for
us to take this step, and the wish of the Romans is exactly the
opposite to it: they are afraid that one of us might die before the fall of
the fortress. Therefore, let us make haste so that instead of the
happiness they hope for, the happiness of capturing us we leave
behind for them the horrible spectacle of our bodies and amazement at
And none proved too weak for this dreadful task; all killed their loved
ones, one after another. Oh, what terrible adversity, that caused these
unhappy people to regard their slaughtering of their women and
children with their own hands as the lesser evil! Incapable of enduring
their grief at their own deed, and in the feeling that it would be
wronging the dead to survive them for even a short while, they hurriedly
made a heap of all their valuables, set it a fire, and there upon chose a
lot of the ten who performed the sad service. But scarcely had these
last slaughtered all their comrades without hesitation or tremor, when
they drew lots for the same procedure with respect to themselves. He ,
on whom the lot feel, was to kill the other nine, and finally himself, for
they had firm confidence regarding one another that each would joyfully
submit to the execution of the decision, whether in an active or passive
role.
Thus, the nine suffered death by the sword. But the one who remained,
the last to be alive, examined the mass of bodies to see whether any
had been left out in this vast slaughter and required his help to die.
When he found that they were all with certainty dead, he set fire to the
palace, stabbed himself with unwavering hand, and sank down beside
his family. The dead numbered nine hundred and sixty, including
women and children.
Front Bellum Judaicum VII, Flavius Josephus
Massada is, perhaps, Israel's most problematic symbol: Why did the
zealots kill themselves? Why still tile Romans expend so much energy
(over 2 years and 15,000 troops) to subdue so few, when the conquest
of Judea had already been achieved? If they were trying to distance
themselves from the Roman forces, why did the Zealots choose
Massada, a major fortress on Rome’s critical eastern frontier? These
questions present a great challenge to us today, as we visit Massada
and afterwards.