And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah: We recommend that translators begin a new paragraph here. The connector And is not necessary if this is done. Good News Bible has a paragraph break here and renders And as “also,” which is valid. Letters does not refer to ordinary written communication between two people that today would be sent with a postage stamp. It refers to the written decree of Antiochus to his empire in verse 41. New English Bible translates letters nicely as “written orders.” These written orders give specific details about how the king’s policy is to be put into effect. The word cities with reference to Judean settlements other than Jerusalem occurs here for the first time. Jerusalem was the only place at the time populous enough to be called a city in modern English. Good News Bible and Contemporary English Version prefer “towns” here and elsewhere, and the Handbook will follow this. An alternative model for this clause is “King Antiochus also sent messengers carrying written orders for everyone in Jerusalem and in all the towns of Judea.”

He directed them to follow customs strange to the land: The contents of the written orders begin here and continue through verse 50. Since most of the items in the contents are given in the same grammatical construction (beginning with to), this material may be presented in the form of a list (see the following verses). So in contrast to Good News Bible we will present the items in a list, translating this verse as follows:

• The king sent messengers to Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah, with written orders. The Jews were ordered to follow customs foreign to their country, as follows:….

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.