And said: Since what Mattathias says is a lament, the verb said may be rendered “lamented,” “sang sorrowfully,” or “sang these mournful words.”

There is no universal agreement concerning where the poetry of this lament ends or begins. New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, and Abel begin it at verse 8. We suggest that translators who wish to place it in poetic form begin at this point and end at verse 13, as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible. This makes the first and last lines refer to preferring death or nonexistence. However, our real feeling is that the entire passage is best rendered as prose—it is not entirely convincing as poetry.

Alas! Why was I born to see this: The Greek word rendered Alas is an expression of discouragement or despair. Alas is not used in modern English, and has no good equivalent, other than perhaps “Oh” (New English Bible). That is why Good News Bible omits it. Other languages may have good natural equivalents indicating grief or despair. The question Why was I born to see this is, of course, not a request for information, but another expression of despair. Mattathias is saying that, rather than live to see what was then happening in the land, it would better if he had never been born. This is better rendered “these terrible things” (Good News Bible).

The ruin of my people, the ruin of the holy city: Ruin does not mean destroyed. The point is that the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem are no longer a light to the world, a witness to God and his Law. This line may be expressed as exclamations by saying “My people are ruined! The holy [or, the One in Heaven’s] city is ruined!” Another possible model is “Enemies have crushed my people and the holy [or, the One in Heaven’s] city.”

And to dwell there when it was given over to the enemy, the sanctuary given over to aliens?: This concludes the rhetorical question begun with Why was I born. There is a textual problem with the Greek verb rendered to dwell. Some evidence suggests that the true reading is “they dwelled” (literally “they sat”; so Kappler’s Greek text, New English Bible, Goldstein). We recommend following this reading as consistent with our interpretation of verse 1 (see the comments there). The pronoun it refers to Jerusalem. New English Bible provides a helpful model for the third line of this verse, saying “They sat idly by when it was surrendered.” Goldstein is similar with “The people sat idle there as the city fell into the hands of enemies.” The sanctuary refers to the Temple (see 1Macc 1.21). An alternative model for the last two lines is:

• The people there [or, in the city] did nothing* when the enemy soldiers captured the city [or, it], and took possession of the Temple.
* The people there did nothing; some manuscripts read Why did I live there

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.