Bible Figure
Eleazar Avaran
Eleazar Avaran was one of the five sons of the Jewish priest Mattathias and a brother of Judas Maccabeus. He took part in the Maccabean revolt against Seleucid rule and is remembered especially for his dramatic death in battle after attacking a war elephant that he believed carried the enemy king.
Biography
Eleazar, surnamed Avaran, belonged to the Hasmonean family that led Jewish resistance during the persecution associated with Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He was a son of Mattathias and brother of John Gaddi, Simon Thassi, Judas Maccabeus, and Jonathan Apphus. After Mattathias initiated armed resistance and charged his sons to continue the struggle, Eleazar fought alongside his brothers. His best-known action came at the battle of Beth-zechariah during the campaign of Antiochus V Eupator. Seeing a war elephant distinguished by royal armor and supposing that the king might be riding it, Eleazar forced his way beneath the animal and killed it. The elephant collapsed upon him, killing him as well. The episode made Eleazar an enduring example of personal courage and self-sacrifice within the Maccabean story, although he never exercised the prolonged political leadership later held by Judas, Jonathan, and Simon.
Biblical Significance
Eleazar is important to the history surrounding the Bible because his death illustrates the intensity of the Maccabean struggle to preserve Jewish worship and identity under Seleucid pressure. His story belongs to 1 Maccabees rather than the Protestant Old Testament canon, but the revolt in which he fought helped shape the independent Jewish state and religious environment that preceded the New Testament period.