Books Jesus Read

138

Books Jesus Read

Now, when the quadrennial games were being held at Tyre and the king was present, the vile Jason sent envoys, chosen as being Antiochian citizens from Jerusalem, to carry three hundred silver drachmas for the sacrifice to Hercules. Those who carried the silver, however, wanted to avoid such an inappropriate use of treasury funds. Instead of bringing it to sacrifice to Hercules, therefore, they delivered it to the ship builders for the construction of triremes. 6 Meanwhile, Governor Apollonius attended the coronation of King Philometor at Egypt. There he learned that Philometor had become hostile to Antiochus, and so he made plans to increase their security. Returning to Jerusalem, he was given a hero’s welcome by Jason, and ushered into the city with a blaze of torches and with shouts. After this, he led the army to Phoenicia. Three years later, Jason sent Simon’s brother, Menelaus, to Antioch with money for King Antiochus, to complete his promised pledge. Menelaus, however, carried additional silver with him to bribe the king. Flattering Antiochus, Menelaus won the high priesthood for himself by outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver. He possessed no qualification for the high priesthood, but had the temper of a tyrant and the rage of a wild beast. So then, this Jason, who betrayed his own brother in order to win the high priesthood, was now betrayed by another and driven into the land of Ammon as a fugitive. For his part, Menelaus never paid the balance of talents promised to the king. Soon, therefore, he was summoned by King Antiochus, along with the captain of the Akra,

6 Triremes – warships powered by oars.