In those days lawless men came forth from Israel: In those days refers to the time of the reign of Antiochus. This phrase may be rendered “When Antiochus was king,” “It was then that,” (New Jerusalem Bible), “At that time” (Good News Bible), or even “About this time” (Contemporary English Version). Lawless men does not refer to criminals, but to people who had no regard for the Jewish Law, the Law of Moses. Good News Bible says “a group of traitorous Jews who had no regard for the Law,” but there is no need for the word “traitorous.” Came forth from Israel means they were Jews who lived in Israel, not that they went from Israel to another place (compare “came from the land of Kittim” in verse 1 and “From them came forth” in verse 10). This whole clause may be rendered “At that time [or, When Antiochus Epiphanes was king] there was a group of Jews in the land of Israel who decided not to obey [or, follow] the Law of Moses.”
And misled many: Misled is better than “had a bad influence on” (Good News Bible), which is a weak rendering. An alternative model for this clause is “and persuaded many others to abandon it [or, the Law].”
Saying, “Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles round about us, for since we separated from them many evils have come upon us”: The words in quotations do not represent anything the Jewish renegades actually said on any particular occasion. It simply states their attitude and what they thought was a good idea. When the Jews who refuse to obey the Law of Moses think of entering into a covenant with the Gentiles, they are putting Gentile ways ahead of God’s ways, saying that doing things the Gentile way is better than doing them in the way laid down in God’s Law. In Exo 23.32; 34.12-15; and Deut 7.2 the Israelites are told not to make covenants with the surrounding peoples. Good News Bible renders saying as “They said,” which is valid. Another possible model is “by telling them.” A covenant is an agreement. This is the word used throughout the Old Testament to refer to the relationship between God and his people. Here it refers to an agreement between Jews and Gentiles. Gentiles may be rendered “non-Jews” or “people who aren’t Jews.” For Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles round about us, Good News Bible has “Let’s come to terms with the Gentiles,” which is a fairly effective translation in English; it implies that they are abandoning a previous position to adopt another one. However, Good News Bible ignores the phrase round about us, probably assuming that it adds nothing essential. But it does; it tells us that the speakers are aware of being surrounded by non-Jewish culture. So a better rendering is “Let’s go and make an agreement with these people around us who aren’t Jews.”
For since we separated from them many evils have come upon us gives the reason for making a covenant with the Gentiles. The Jewish renegades argue that separation from the Gentiles has caused a lot of trouble for the Jews (compare Ezra 10.11; Neh 9.2).
An alternative model for this verse is:
• At that time [or, When Antiochus Epiphanes was king] a group of Jews in Israel decided not to follow the Law [of Moses], and persuaded many others to do the same by telling them, “Let’s go and make an agreement with the Gentiles [or, non-Jews]. They are all around us, and refusing to associate with them has brought us nothing but trouble.”
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.