According to Josephus,[2] the instructions of Lysias were "to conquer Judea, enslave its inhabitants, utterly destroy Jerusalem and abolish the whole nation." Lysias, accordingly, armed against Judas Maccabeus a large force under Ptolemy, son of Dorymenes, Nicanor and Gorgias. Of this force Judas defeated the two divisions under Nicanor and Gorgias near Emmaus (166 BCE), and in the following year Lysias himself at Beth-zur (Bethsura),[3] after which he proceeded to the purification of the temple.