7Now Eleazar mustered all the people together, to see how many had survived. 2And he counted nine hundred and sixty souls at Masada, but many were wounded and defiled with blood. 3And some were fearful and others remained as steadfast as stone; and they all prostrated themselves through the Dry Hours of that last evening. 4And they became very faint. 5And they abased themselves in the inner chamber, and the Rabbis led them in entreaties for God's mercy upon themselves and their inheritance. 6Their hearts were as deep and dank as the Western Wall's great cistern, whose stairs went interminably down into a slit of darkness; and in the slit one saw other stairs descending into an immense bubble of golden dirt bearing black and white stain-continents.7The pigeons which nested in the ceiling cooed, and their echoings seemed demonic and far away. 8In their prison of fear the people were shut away from the stars. 9Their sorrow scorched them with darkness, and their prayers were appalled. 10Then at last Eleazar stood up, and put his hand upon the shoulder of the Chief Rabbi. 11And most wearily he spoke to the people the words of Judith the daughter of Merari the son of Ox:
12 Then the people were silent, but the Elders said: What would you have us do?
13 And Eleazar prayed to the Lord. 14Then he rose and said: We must kill ourselves, so that the Romans cannot work their will upon us. 15And we must do it quickly, for at dawn they come.
16 The Elders had grown accustomed to walk in his ways, and so they said: You speak from a true heart.
17 But the people cried out then, because they saw the approach
of their deaths.* 18Yet the other way, of awaiting the Roman legions in their terrifying armor, that they likewise dared not take. 19So they bowed down and were pale. 20But at last they said: Behold, we are your flesh, and the bones of your flesh. 21We do as you will.
8 Then said Eleazar: I am glad. 2The Lord called my death from the womb; behold, it is born; it is here. 3He pulled your deaths from His quiver, my brothers and sisters; behold, they come speeding hither. 4We are rebels to the Romans, but we cannot rebel against the grave. 5We shall not be confounded; and this night we'll find respite from our sighs.
6 Now they kindled tall flames to burn their houses and treasures, and the women made their hearts as pale blue as the Dead Sea. 7But the children said: Mother, why do you throw my pretty things in the fire? 8Father, why do you set our house alight? 9But their parents would not answer. 10Thus they destroyed the toil of their hands, and all that had been handed down to them, in order to baffle the Romans' greed. 11But their stores of food, oil and wine they piled in the middle of the square, so that the Romans would see that their siege had failed to starve them. 12Then they went into the night to slay themselves.
13 Weeping, the men of Masada embraced their wives and children, stabbing them one by one; and thus they made of their dear ones offerings to the Lord. 14Then these self-made widowers formed themselves in squads often, as was their wont when they went down to fight with the Romans. 15And they cast lots, thereby choosing one man out of each ten to slay the others. 16Thus they died, all on the same night together. 17And at last there was but one man left upon Masada the Hill of Gold. 18And he passed through the smoking houses, and he searched the rooms of the ruined palace to make certain that all were dead. 19Then he set the palace on fire and leaped onto his sword. 20And when the Romans breached the charred walls at dawn and came upon the Jews, and when they saw that they were dead by their own hand, all expressed admiration for their defiance, even their governor, Flavius Silva.
9 But it must be told that two women and five children were still alive. .
* Some modem commentators have suggested that they specifically feared the intentions of Eleazar, who was known to have killed so many persons, Romans and Jews alike, including even Menachem ben Judah, the hero who'd slaughtered the Roman garrison at Masada seven years past, at the very beginning of the Rebellion. The tale goes that shortly before Jerusalem fell, Menachem ben Judah found Eleazar's father, Ananias the High Priest, in a state of terror at the impending Roman victory, for which he killed him — an act which Eleazar avenged.
