After subduing Egypt, Antiochus returned in the one hundred and forty-third year: After subduing Egypt may be rendered “After the conquest of Egypt” or even “After Antiochus’ army had conquered Egypt.” Antiochus returned refers to Antiochus leaving Egypt, heading back to his capital at Antioch in Syria. On the way he would pass through Israel. The one hundred and forty-third year of the Seleucid kingdom in Syria is the year 169 b.c. We recommend following Good News Bible‘s wording, “In the year 143,” along with a footnote giving the equivalent date b.c.

He went up against Israel and came to Jerusalem with a strong force: Antiochus and his army went up from Egypt to Israel since Israel is on higher ground than Egypt. Since the writer was probably located in Israel when he wrote this book, some translators will need to say “came up.” The Greek expression translated went up against is also used for the commencement of a military expedition. Good News Bible says “marched … against,” which is a good choice of words. The words came to in Revised Standard Version translate the text in Rahlfs, but these words are absent from Kappler’s text. We recommend following Good News Bible, which uses only the verb “marched” in the last half of this verse. Good News Bible identifies Israel as a land and Jerusalem as a city. Translators should follow this example unless it can be assumed that the readers will know this.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• In the year 143, after Antiochus had conquered Egypt, he returned with a huge army [or, a large number of soldiers] and marched up against the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.