Josippon

After Ptolemy killed Shimon, he sent forth to kill Yoḥanan, Shimon's son; he was the Yoḥanan called Hyrcanus, for when Yoḥanan had killed Orkanus (Hyrcanus), a great king at the time of his father, Shimon called his son Yoḥanan "Hyrcanus," after the name of the king he had killed, for his strength and bravery.

When Hyrcanus heard that his father was killed, he fled to Gaza. Ptolemy pursued him and came before the city gate of Gaza, and the inhabitants of Gaza closed the gate and did not let Ptolemy enter the city to do harm to Hyrcanus. So Ptolemy turned and came to Dagon and stayed there.

After this, Hyrcanus received the authority of his father and, offering up burnt offerings and sacrifices, brought out an army against Ptolemy, his sister's husband, and was victorious in battle. Ptolemy closed the gate of the city called Dagona, and the youth approached and besieged the city with all kinds of weaponry: with an iron battering ram, with rampart, and with weapons of destruction; so the city came under siege. Now Ptolemy, being besieged, brought Hyrcanus's mother and his brother up into the tower and beat them and tortured them before his eyes, with whips and all manner of punishment and torture. When the young Hyrcanus saw the beating of his mother and his brother, he took pity and wept and cried, and he withdrew his multitude; the sounds of war were silenced, the flame of battle subsided, and he withdrew from the city. The mother was stretching out her hands and imploring her son, not for pity nor for mercy but rather to reignite the flame of battle, to sound trumpet calls, to bring back the battering ram, to raise up the rampart, to multiply rocks and encourage slingers, to draw bows and shoot arrows, to kill people, to mine the wall and overthrow the city and capture his enemy to exact revenge upon him, for his mother said: "If with my death I would exact vengeance upon the enemy, I would not consider this death like any other death. Be strong, my son, be strong, son of my womb and son of my vows, and let your battle be strong against this city and destroy it. Then we shall have vengeance for the death of your father from his son-in-law, an adversary and an enemy; for pity of your mother, do not forget the murder of your holy father; do not pity your mother by forgetting your father and sinning against your God."

When Hyrcanus heard the words his mother cried out to him, the lad's rage was ignited, and he ordered his men to raise a shout, sound the trumpets, and raise the tumult; the multitude rose to draw bows and shoot arrows and multiple stones and build a siege wall and raise up a rampart and place ladders; and he brought the ram and smote the tower, and the wall was about to fall. The people cried out from the city, and their cry rose up. Now Ptolemy was very pressed, and in his desperation, he brought up once again Hyrcanus's mother and his brother upon the tower against which he used the battering ram; he tortured them severely and whipped them cruelly and threatened to drop them if Hyrcanus did not withdraw from the city. The youth saw his mother beaten and tortured, and he wept and took pity. Then his mother again said to him: "Weep not, my son! Weep not! Fight your war; let your heart not soften! And if you feel compassion for your mother, why does your heart not move remembering your father and revenge for him? Avenge yourself upon his enemy and his vengeance!" The lad Hyrcanus, remembering his father, was filled with rage and zeal, and he pressed the city with a mighty hand. But when he saw his mother suffering, he stayed his hand from destroying and slaughtering in his compassion for his mother. The lad did not know what he should do, for when he remembered his father, he was angry—but when he saw his mother, he felt pity. He grew furious when he remembered the pious one, and he had compassion when he saw his saintly mother. The war within the lad's heart was greater than the war that he fought against the city. For he said in his heart: "They will count against me all this evil the enemy does to my mother."

In those days, the seventh year arrived, that is, the sacred year that the Jews celebrate, as they celebrate the seventh day; therefore, Hyrcanus ceased from the war and returned to Jerusalem. Ptolemy's cruelties increased greatly against those very ones whom he had used to save his life, and he gave the command to kill Hyrcanus's mother and his brother. Then Ptolemy fled and took refuge in Philadelphia.