20
Some men in the towers bribed greedy people around Simon, who, in turn, after receiving seventy thousand drachmen, allowed some of the enemy to slip away.
18
When no fewer than nine thousand fled into two towers well equipped for a siege,
19
the Maccabee departed to other places that needed his urgent attention, leaving Simon, Joseph, and Zacchaeus with a sufficient force for the siege of these towers.
20
Some men in the towers bribed greedy people around Simon, who, in turn, after receiving seventy thousand drachmen, allowed some of the enemy to slip away.
21
When the Maccabee found out what happened, he gathered the leaders of the people and accused them of selling their brothers for silver by setting free the enemy.
22
He executed the traitors and then quickly took the two towers.
Footnotes 1
[a].
A drachme is equivalent in value to a typical day’s wage.