It has pleased our people to receive these men with honor may be expressed as “We Spartans gladly welcomed these men and honored them” (Contemporary English Version).

And to put a copy of their words in the public archives, so that the people of the Spartans may have a record of them: The public archives is literally “the books appointed for the people.” This expression may be rendered in the same way as “our public decrees” in the previous verse. An alternative model for the first half of this verse is “We were delighted to receive these men with all honors. Also, we have put an official copy of their message in our public records [or, record books]. This is so that the people of Sparta might have a permanent record of it.”

And they have sent a copy of this to Simon the High Priest: This clause is clearly stated in Good News Bible, which reads “A copy of this document has been made for the High Priest Simon.” The document placed in Sparta’s public records (verses 22b-23) was copied and sent to Simon.

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.