Menelaus has informed us that you wish to return home and look after your own affairs: Menelaus was the High Priest who sympathized with the Syrian policy of transforming the ancient Jewish way of life. He became High Priest by paying the king for the office (see 2Macc 4.23-25). The pronoun you refers to the Jewish soldiers still in the field, who want to go home and get back to their private lives. The word home is not in the Greek but is obviously implied. For return home, Goldstein has “go back to your homes.”

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.