1 Maccabees 3:37

37 Taking the other half of his army, the king set out from Antioch, his capital city, in the year 147. He crossed the Euphrates River and marched through Mesopotamia.

1 Maccabees 3:37 In-Context

35 Lysias was ordered to send an army against the Jews, especially the Jews in Jerusalem, to break their power and destroy them, so that no trace of them would remain.

36 He was ordered to take their land and give it to foreigners, who would settle the whole area.

37 Taking the other half of his army, the king set out from Antioch, his capital city, in the year 147. He crossed the Euphrates River and marched through Mesopotamia.

38 Lysias chose Nicanor, Gorgias, and Ptolemy son of Dorymenes as army commanders; all three were able men who bore the title "Friend of the King."

39 He put them in charge of 40,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry and ordered them to invade the land of Judea and destroy it as the king had commanded.

Footnotes

• [a] the year 147: [This corresponds to 165 B.C.]