Then Jonathan asked the king to free Judea and the three districts of Samaria from tribute: Here Jonathan asked Demetrius~II for the concessions that Demetrius~I had granted earlier (see 1Macc 10.30). The Greek text reads “the three districts and Samaria,” but scholars agree that this is an error for the three districts of Samaria. We urge that translators follow the corrected reading and that they add a footnote (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version). Contemporary English Version‘s model for this clause is easier than the one in Good News Bible: “Jonathan asked Demetrius to stop collecting taxes from Judea and the three districts of Samaria.”

And promised him three hundred talents: A “talent” was a unit of weight, used at that time for a large amount of money. Its weight can only be approximated. For three hundred talents, Good News Bible has “22,000 pounds” (10,000 kilograms), which is based on an estimate of about 75 pounds (34 kilograms) per talent. It is not clear whether this amount was intended as a one-time payment (“lump sum” in Good News Bible), but it is reasonable to suppose so. Jonathan was probably offering an immediate payment of a large amount of silver in return for freedom from annual tribute (see the comments on 1Macc 8.4).

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.