[1] Toward the end of the summer of 165 BC, King Antiochus IV Epiphanes gathered forces from the western part of his empire to leave for an expedition to the eastern satrapies in Babylonia and Persia.

There, he intended to stay awhile, replace or do battle with rebellious governors, deter the growing Parthian Empire from invading, and restore a flow of taxes to the capital.

[6] According to the First Book of Maccabees, the stirring victory convinced Lysias to return to Antioch to replenish his forces after sustaining heavy casualties.

Similarly, the Maccabees may have intentionally declined to attempt to conquer Jerusalem earlier in the knowledge that doing so would have provoked a fierce response from Antiochus IV.

The resulting succession struggle enabled the Maccabees time to establish new "facts on the ground" by taking Jerusalem, cleansing the Temple, and making clear they were in control of Judea, although they did not challenge the Acra immediately with its garrison of Greeks and Hellenist-friendly Jews.

[6] When Maccabeus and his men got word that Lysias was besieging the strongholds, they and all the people, with lamentations and tears, prayed the Lord to send a good angel to save Israel.

And together they all praised the merciful God, and were strengthened in heart, ready to assail not only humans but the wildest animals or walls of iron.

Since 1 Maccabees does not mention an event such as a mysterious helper that surely the pro-Hasmonean author of the book would have eagerly proclaimed had it had any basis, the claim is not considered historical.