Jason of Cyrene (Greek: Ἰάσων ὁ Κυρηναῖος) was a Hellenistic Jew who lived around the middle of the second century BCE (fl.
His history was preserved indirectly in an abridgment by an unknown Egyptian Jew, the book of 2 Maccabees, which was eventually included in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Jewish scriptures.
Cyrene, Libya in the Hellenistic era was a province at the western edge of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, which also included Egypt and Cyprus.
According to the introductory chapters of 2 Maccabees, also written in Greek: The story of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, and the purification of the great temple, and the dedication of the altar, and further the wars against Antiochus Epiphanes and his son Eupator, and the appearances that came from heaven to those who fought bravely for Judaism, so that though few in number they seized the whole land and pursued the barbarian hordes, and regained possession of the temple famous throughout the world, and liberated the city, and re-established the laws that were about to be abolished, while the Lord with great kindness became gracious to them— all this, which has been set forth by Jason of Cyrene in five volumes, we shall attempt to condense into a single book.The epitomist goes on to imply that Jason's original work "discuss matters from every side, and to take trouble with details, but the one who recasts the narrative should be allowed to strive for brevity of expression and to forego exhaustive treatment.
If the motive of the author of 2 Maccabees was telling an uplifting account praising Judas Maccabeus, then stopping there would avoid Judas's upcoming death; if the motive of the author was to show that the Temple of Jerusalem had been protected, Nicanor's threats against it thwarted, and the Jewish religion restored, then this too would indicate that Adasa was an acceptable stopping point.