1 The Simon mentioned above as the informer about the funds against his own country slandered Onias as the one who incited Heliodorus and instigated the whole miserable affair.
2 He dared to brand as a schemer against the government the man who was the benefactor of the city, the protector of his compatriots, and a zealous defender of the laws.
3 When Simon’s hostility reached such a pitch that murders were being committed by one of his henchmen,
4 Onias saw that the opposition was serious and that Apollonius, son of Menestheus, the governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, was abetting Simon’s wickedness.
5 So he had recourse to the king, not as an accuser of his compatriots, but as one looking to the general and particular good of all the people.