When they heard that Simon his brother had become high priest in his place: Who is the referent for the pronoun they? Good News Bible takes it to be the Spartans, but there are problems with that. For one thing, the mention of “bronze tablets” in verse 18 recalls the bronze tablets used by the Romans in 1Macc 8.22. Further, verse 18 refers to previous agreements with Judas and Jonathan, but the entire discussion about the Spartans (1Macc 12.5-23) takes place after Judas’ death. We are left to assume that it was Jonathan alone who had relations with Sparta, although that cannot be taken as certain. Translators may make their own choice, but we believe the pronoun they most likely refers to the Romans, so we would substitute “the Romans” for Good News Bible‘s “the Spartans.” Careful translators may even want a footnote on “Romans,” saying “Romans: or Spartans; the Greek text is not clear.” An alternative model for the first half of this verse is “When the Romans heard that Simon had become High Priest in the place of his brother Jonathan.”

And that he was ruling over the country and the cities in it may be expressed more simply as “and that he was now ruling over Judea.”

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.