Could Circumcising Your Son Get You Killed?
Primary: 1 Maccabees 1:48, 60–61 · Corroborating: Josephus, Antiquities 12.5 · Additional: 2 Maccabees 6:10
What the ancient record says
1 Maccabees says the people were commanded to leave sons uncircumcised; women who had children circumcised were put to death by the decree. Josephus reports Antiochus commanded them not to circumcise sons and punished disobedience severely.
2 Maccabees 6:10 preserves an account of two women accused of circumcising their children, paraded publicly with their infants and thrown from the city wall. Government power reaching directly into family life.
Read it for yourself. 1 Maccabees 1:48; 1:60–61; 2 Maccabees 6:10; Josephus, Antiquities Book 12 Ch. 5.
Evidence strength: Very strong ancient literary evidence, multiple witnesses connecting the persecution with circumcision prohibition and lethal punishment.