Its contents were as follows: This clause is not needed here if translators include its meaning in the previous verse, as Good News Bible does with “the following letter.” However, many languages may prefer to keep it by saying simply “It said” (Contemporary English Version). As in 1Macc 8.23-32 and 10.25-45, it may be helpful to indent the letter that follows.

King Antiochus to Simon the high priest and ethnarch and to the nation of the Jews, greeting: Antiochus is assuming here the title of king. As the younger son of Demetrius~I, he was prepared to fight Trypho for control of the kingdom. He probably assumed the worst about the fate of his brother Demetrius~I. The nation of the Jews may be rendered “the Jewish people” (Contemporary English Version). In some languages it may be helpful to place the idea of greeting earlier in this clause by saying “King Antiochus [the Seventh] sends his greetings to…” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

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.