2 Maccabees 8:7-9

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁷ He found the nights most advantageous for such attacks. And talk of his valor spread everywhere.

⁸ When Philip saw that the man was gaining ground little by little, and that he was pushing ahead with more frequent successes, he wrote to Ptol′emy, the governor of Coelesyria and Phoenic′ia, for aid to the king’s government. ⁹ And Ptol′emy^[a] promptly appointed Nica′nor the son of Patroc′lus, one of the king’s chief friends, and sent him, in command of no fewer than twenty thousand Gentiles of all nations, to wipe out the whole race of Judea. He associated with him Gor′gias, a general and a man of experience in military service.