 His first appearance in history is in the II Macc, where the high-priest Jason, driven by his rival Menelaus, sought the protection of Aretas.Upon his arrival at the land of the Nabataeans, Aretas imprisoned Jason.It is not clear why or when that happened; his arrest by Aretas was either after he escaped Jerusalem, where Aretas, fearing the retaliation of Antiochus IV Epiphanes for "openly demonstrating pro-Ptolemaic stand" (in Hammond's view however, Aretas hoped to use Jason as a political bargaining counter with the Seleucids), arrested Jason.