The two kings met in battle may be expressed as “But when the soldiers of the two kings fought each other.”

And the army of Demetrius fled, and Alexander pursued him and defeated them: A textual problem muddies the account of the battle. Revised Standard Version follows one group of Greek manuscripts in which Alexander’s forces routed Demetrius’ army from the start (so also New American Bible, An American Translation, Rahlf’s Greek text). Good News Bible follows another group in which Demetrius gained the upper hand at first, but finally lost his life (so also Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New English Bible, Revised English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Abel, Tedesche, Kappler’s Greek text). There is good reason for thinking Good News Bible‘s choice is correct (but the manuscripts do not actually say that Demetrius “won the battle”). It is easy to see why scribes would “correct” a text that had Alexander fleeing but then had Demetrius being killed, but if the original read as Revised Standard Version has it, a change in the text is difficult to understand. Also, the account of the battle given by Josephus is more in accord with Good News Bible‘s reading. See our model for this verse at the end of the discussion on the next verse.

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.