So they went to Rome and entered the senate chamber and said: For the senate chamber, see the comments on 1Macc 8.15. Verse 2, with its digression about Sparta, creates a problem for translators trying to connect verse 3 to verse 1 in a natural way. Possible models that make a natural connection are “The men who were sent to Rome addressed the senators in their meeting hall, saying…” and “When the messengers who had been sent to Rome arrived there, they addressed the senators in their meeting hall, saying….”

Jonathan the high priest and the Jewish nation have sent us to renew the former friendship and alliance with them: These quoted words of the messengers are so short that it is easily possible to report them as indirect discourse, as Good News Bible has done. In many languages it will be more natural style to keep the direct discourse. Contemporary English Version does this very well, saying “Jonathan the high priest and the Jewish people have sent us here to renew our friendship with Rome and to make sure that we remain allies.”

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.