Lawless men shrank back for fear of him: As in 1Macc 1.11, Lawless men probably refers to renegade Jews. This phrase may be rendered “Those who violated [or, disobeyed, or, ignored] the Law.” Shrank back for fear of him means they cowered or cringed before him. They drew up their bodies as if to present a smaller target, a natural reaction of fear on the part of humans and animals alike. New English Bible‘s translation for this line is good: “The lawless cowered in fear of him.” But we may also say “Judas caused everyone who broke the Law to cower in fear.”

All the evildoers were confounded: Evildoers is literally “workers of lawlessness,” and surely has the same meaning as Lawless men of the previous line, so all the evildoers may be rendered “All of them.” The Greek verb rendered were confounded implies that these people were so frustrated and afraid that they did not know what to do. Good News Bible says “not knowing which way to turn,” which is a good translation. Tedesche translates “were thrown into confusion.” Contemporary English Version combines the first two lines by saying “Judas confused and terrified everyone who broke God’s Law.”

And deliverance prospered by his hand: Good News Bible‘s translation here sounds too modern and abstract. Judas was not really advancing “the cause of freedom” as Good News Bible states; certainly he wanted to deny Jews the freedom to adopt Gentile ways. This line is better rendered “He succeeded in saving his people from persecution” or “… from those who were persecuting them.”

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.