And to leave their sons uncircumcised: This clause ends the list of things Antiochus commanded the Jews to do. For uncircumcised see the comments on “circumcision” at verse 15. An alternative model for the clause is “Their sons were not to be circumcised” or “Don’t circumcise your sons.”

They were to make themselves abominable by everything unclean and profane: The Greek words rendered unclean and profane mean essentially the same thing, so Good News Bible combines them, saying “ritually unclean.” The last half of this verse may be rendered “The [whole] purpose of the orders was for the people to make themselves ritually unclean by all sorts of acts forbidden by the Law.” This sentence may begin a new paragraph (see the model below).

An alternative model for verses 44-48 is:

• 44 Antiochus sent messengers carrying written orders for everyone in Jerusalem and in all the towns of Judea. He ordered the Jews to comply with the following laws foreign to their country:
45 “You are no longer allowed to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, or wine offerings in the Temple.
You are to treat Sabbaths and feast days as ordinary work days.
46 You must do things to defile the Temple and the priests.
47 You must build altars, temples, and other places to worship our gods.
You must sacrifice pigs and other animals you consider unclean.
48 Don’t circumcise your sons.”

The whole purpose of the orders was for the people to make themselves ritually unclean by all sorts of acts forbidden by the Law of Moses.

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.