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1Antiochus Sidetes, the son of King Demetrius Soter, sent a letter from the Mediterranean islands to Simon, the priest and leader of the Jews, and to all the people.[#15:1 Antiochus VII Sidetes was the son of Demetrius I Soter and the brother of Demetrius II Nicator.]
2The letter read as follows:
10In the one hundred seventy-fourth year of Greek rule, Antiochus Sidetes entered the land of his ancestors. All the troops rallied to his support so that only a few people supported Trypho.[#15:10 The 174th year of Greek rule was 138 b.c.]
11King Antiochus pursued him, and Trypho fled to the coastal town of Dor.
12Antiochus realized that Trypho was in deep trouble and that his troops had deserted him,[#15:12 Or Trypho realized that Antiochus; Greek reads He realized that he.]
13so Antiochus set up camp near Dor with 120,000 soldiers and 8,000 horsemen.
14He surrounded the town, and his ships took up positions offshore. Antiochus shut off the town by land and sea so that no one could go in or out.
15Meanwhile, Numenius and his companions arrived from Rome with letters to various kings and countries. The letters read as follows:
22This same message was sent to King Demetrius, Attalus, Ariarathes, and Arsaces
23and to all the countries, including Sampsames, Sparta, Delos, Myndos, Sicyon, Caria, Samos, Pamphylia, Lycia, Halicarnassus, Rhodes, Phaselis, Cos, Side, Aradus, Gortyna, Cnidus, Cyprus, and Cyrene.
24A copy of the letter was also sent to Simon the high priest.
25King Antiochus Sidetes continued in his siege of Dor, assaulting it continually and building war machines to use against it. He trapped Trypho inside, and he could not escape.
26Simon sent Antiochus two thousand select troops to help him, along with silver, gold, and a large amount of military equipment.
27But Antiochus refused to receive them. Instead, he renounced all agreements he had made with Simon and alienated himself from him.
28He sent Athenobius, one of his favored leaders, to meet with Simon and say, “You are occupying Joppa, Gazara, and the citadel in Jerusalem, which are cities of my kingdom.
29You have devastated their territories, inflicted great damage on the land, and taken control of many places in my kingdom.
30Therefore, give back the cities you have taken and the tribute taxes from the places you control beyond the borders of Judea.
31Otherwise, give me nineteen tons of silver for the destruction that you have caused, along with nineteen tons more to reimburse me for the tribute taxes of the cities. If you fail to do this, we will come and attack you.”[#15:31 Greek 500 talents [17 metric tons]; also in 15:31b.]
32So Athenobius, the king’s favored leader, came to Jerusalem. He was astonished when he saw Simon’s splendor—his cabinet with the gold and silver plate and his great magnificence. Then he delivered the king’s message.
33Simon responded, “We have not taken anyone else’s land or property. Rather, we have taken what is the inheritance of our ancestors, which had been unjustly occupied by our enemies.
34Now that we have the opportunity, we are merely recovering this inheritance.
35Joppa and Gazara inflicted great harm on our people and our land, but we will give you 7,500 pounds of silver for them.”[#15:35 Greek 100 talents [3,400 kilograms].]
36Athenobius did not answer a single word in reply. He returned angrily to the king with this message and told him about Simon’s great splendor. The king was enraged.
37Meanwhile, Trypho escaped by ship to Orthosia.
38The king appointed Cendebeus commander of the coastal areas and gave him an army of foot soldiers and horsemen.
39The king ordered him to set up camp outside Judea. He ordered him to build up Kedron, to fortify its gates, and to attack the Jews. But the king himself pursued Trypho.
40So Cendebeus came to Jamnia and began to harass the people by raiding Judea, taking prisoners, and then killing them.
41He built up Kedron and stationed horsemen and foot soldiers there so that they might make raids along the highways of Judea, as the king had commanded him.