David A. deSilva: comparison of IV Maccabees with imagery of Origen's EXHORTATION TO MARTYRDOM

(from deSilva's "Introduction" pp. xxxv - xxxvi; 4 Maccabees - a 2006 commentary in the Brill Septuagint Commentary series)
As martyrdom became a more pervasive challenge in the early church, one finds increasing attention being given to 4 Maccabees and to the resources it provides for promoting perseverance unto death and for speaking in honorific terms about the martyrs' suffering and death.  Origen's Exhortation to Martyrdom, written to two deacons in Caesarea during the persecution of Christian clergy by Maximin in 235 C.E., draws at length from the story of the Maccabean martyrs in order to encourage Christians as they continue the contest for faith. . .Origen frequently uses the image of the athletic contest, drawing not only on New Testament texts that feature this imagery (II Timothy 4:7-8; Hebrews 12:1-4) but also 4 Maccabees.  Origen consistently uses the term ATHLETE (Greek a-th-l-e-t-e-s) and even the term "noble" (g-e-nn-a-i-o-s) ATHLETE to describe the martyr as does the author of 4 Maccabees (6:10; 17:15,16) but no New Testament author.  Origen in Exhortation 23:23, 27-28 describes the seven brothers as "devotees for piety" (4 Maccabees 12:11) and "contestants for virtue" (cp. 4 Macc. 12:4).  Both documents call attention to part of the ordeal for each; both observe that it is more prudent to fear God than to fear mortals; though this could also be derived from Matthew 10:28.  Finally, Origen specifically recommends remaining faithful to God to the point of death as the best way in which to make a fair return to God, who has so greatly benfitted the individual (Exhortation 28), logic that had been made explicit in 4 Maccabees 13:13; 16:18-19.