“For they trust to arms and acts of daring,” he said: Translators following our suggestion to treat the whole of Judas’ speech as direct discourse will not need the quote frame he said at this point.

But we trust in the Almighty God, who is able with a single nod to strike down those who are coming against us and even the whole world: For the Almighty God, see the comments on 2Macc 3.22. With a single nod may be rendered “by simply shaking his head” (Contemporary English Version), but other languages may have some other gesture of approval that would be appropriate here. Strike down may be translated “destroy” (Good News Bible) or “wipe out” (Contemporary English Version).

Good News Bible provides a good model for this verse, if the quote frame “Judas said” is omitted.

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.