65
The king further honored Jonathan by enrolling him in the First Order of the "Friends of the King" and by making him general and governor of his province.
66
Jonathan returned to Jerusalem pleased and successful.
67
In the year 165 Demetrius the Second, the son of Demetrius the First, left Crete and arrived in Syria, the land of his ancestors.
68
When King Alexander heard about this, he was worried and returned to Antioch, the capital of Syria.
69
Demetrius reappointed Apollonius governor of Greater Syria. Apollonius raised a large army, set up camp near Jamnia, and sent the following message to Jonathan the High Priest:
70
"Because of you I am being ridiculed, but why do you, there in your mountains, continue this rebellion when no one supports you?
71
If you really have any confidence in your army, come down here on the plain and fight, where we can test each other's strength. Study the situation, and you will find that I have the support of the forces from the cities.
72
You will learn who I am and who our allies are, and you will discover that you have no chance of standing against us. Your predecessors have already been beaten twice on their own ground;
73
so how do you expect to defeat my cavalry and the kind of army I have here on the plain? Down here there is not so much as a pebble to hide behind and no way to escape."
74
When Jonathan received this message from Apollonius, he became angry. He took 10,000 elite troops from Jerusalem; his brother Simon also brought troops, and their two forces
75
set up camp outside of Joppa. The men of the city refused to let them in because there was a detachment of Apollonius' troops there, but Jonathan attacked,