44
When the king came to the city of Tyre, the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem sent three men to bring charges against Menelaus.
45
When Menelaus saw that he was losing the case, he offered Ptolemy son of Dorymenes a large bribe to persuade the king to decide in his favor.
46
Ptolemy then asked the king to go outside the courtroom with him, as though to get some fresh air, and there he persuaded him to change his mind
47
and declare Menelaus innocent of the charges against him. So Menelaus was set free, although he had caused the trouble; but the three men, whom even the cruel Scythians would have declared innocent, were sentenced to death.
48
The three men had spoken in defense of Jerusalem, its people, and the sacred objects stolen from the Temple, but they were quickly and unjustly executed.
49
Some of the people of Tyre, however, showed their disgust with this crime and their respect for these men by giving them a splendid funeral.