Jason of Cyrene

Who is Jason of Cyrene?

Jason of Cyrene was a Hellenistic Jew who lived about 100 BC and wrote a history of the times of the Maccabees down to the victory over Nicanor. This work is said to have been in five books and formed the basis of the present 2 Maccabees. See 2 Maccabees 2:19-32., especially:

“And all such things as have been comprised in five books by Jason of Cyrene, we have attempted to abridge in one book.”

The original work is lost, and known only in the epitome made by the author of 2 Maccabees. The author of 2 Maccabees has confessedly exercised much freedom. Not only was Jason's work abridged, but also added to, and probably altered.