Revised Standard Version, Good News Bible, and Contemporary English Version all agree that a new paragraph should begin here, since Lysias is now in focus.

He left Lysias, a distinguished man of royal lineage: Good News Bible follows Goldstein by taking man of royal lineage to be a title, saying “Relative of the King.” Such people appear to have been a special group among the “Friends of the King” (see the comments on 1Macc 2.18; see also 1Macc 10.89 and 2Macc 11.1). The wording is different here, however, and sounds less like a title than a description. It may be sufficient to translate a distinguished man of royal lineage as “a nobleman of the royal family” or “a distinguished man of high rank.”

In charge of the king’s affairs means that during the king’s absence, Lysias was given the authority to rule over a large area of Antiochus’ empire. So we may say “as governor [or, to rule] over.”

From the river Euphrates to the border of Egypt: The river Euphrates runs from the mountains of Arabia down to the Persian Gulf through what is now the modern state of Iraq. Good News Bible adds “in the whole territory” to help establish that Lysias is given authority over a large territory.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• He appointed Lysias, a distinguished [or, respected] man of high rank, as governor [or, to rule] over the whole territory between the Euphrates River and the Egyptian border.

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.