He supplied the cities with food: With peace, there was nothing to keep farmers from selling their produce in the city marketplaces.

And furnished them with the means of defense: See 1Macc 12.33-34; 13.33; 14.33. This line may be rendered “and gave them the weapons to defend themselves.”

Till his renown spread to the ends of the earth: The ends of the earth is an overstatement for impact (see the comments on 1Macc 1.3). The author is saying that people all over his known world eventually heard about what a great ruler Simon was. We may render this line as “People everywhere heard about how great he was.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• He supplied the cities with food, and gave the people the weapons to defend themselves. His fame spread everywhere [or, People everywhere heard how great he was].

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.