When Jeremiah learned of it, he rebuked them and declared: If the men had gone back to mark the way as an afterthought, while they were on the return trip, Jeremiah would have known about it at the time. This seems to indicate that the attempt to mark the way came later enough that Jeremiah would have to be told about it. Good News Bible provides a good model here. Another possibility is “Jeremiah found out about it [or, what they had tried to do], and reprimanded them. He said.”

The place shall be unknown until God gathers his people and shows his mercy: Jeremiah is referring to a future time when the exile ends, and the people return to the land. Until that time, no one should know where the holy objects are hidden. Good News Bible states this well with “No one must know about this place until God gathers his people together again and shows them mercy.” Another possible model is “No one should know about the cave until God has pity on us again and brings our people back home” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

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.