It is better for us to die in battle may be rendered “It is better to die fighting our enemies.”

Than to see the misfortunes of our nation and of the sanctuary: Good News Bible‘s “stand idly by” is not correct; no one is proposing sitting idly by. It is a question of living or dying, so a better model for the whole verse is:

• It is better for us to die fighting our enemies than to [live and] see these Gentiles destroy our people and our Temple.

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.