Now Jonathan heard that the commanders of Demetrius had returned, with a larger force than before, to wage war against him: The commanders of Demetrius are the same as “the officers of Demetrius” in 1Macc 11.63 (see the comments there); the Greek is identical. They had been beaten back when they attempted to invade the country of Judea earlier (11.63-74), but now they were returning, with a larger army, intent on defeating Jonathan. Commanders may be expressed as “officers” (Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version). A larger force may be rendered “a bigger group of soldiers.” An alternative model for this verse is:

• Jonathan found out that the officers of King Demetrius~II had brought an even larger group of soldiers into Judea than before to attack him.

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.