2 Maccabees 12:40 (WEB)
But under the garments of each one of the dead they found consecrated tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to have anything to do with. It became clear to all that it was for this cause that they had fallen.
Fathers and councils · 1
“When they offered stealthily some interdicted sacrifices, and after they had fallen in the battle, we find,” says he, “that this remedial measure was at once resorted to by the priests,—sacrifices were offered up to liberate their souls, which had been bound by the guilt of their forbidden conduct.”” — editor's note: This is a loose reference to the narrative in 2 Macc. xii. 39–45.
Read the whole comment