He built up Kedron and stationed there horsemen and troops: Cendebeus followed the king’s orders. He fortified Kedron, and based his cavalry and his infantry there (see verses 38-39).

So that they might go out and make raids along the highways of Judea, as the king had ordered him: The meaning of the Greek verb translated make raids is uncertain. Goldstein is similar to Revised Standard Version by rendering go out and make raids as “make sallies as highwaymen.” For make raids along the highways, Good News Bible, New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and New American Bible say “patrol the roads.” Translators may choose either meaning here, but in the context of the previous verse we prefer to follow Revised Standard Version. An alternative model for the last half of this verse is “so they could use it [Kedron] as a base for raiding [or, attacking] towns along the roads of Judea. This was what the king had ordered him to do.”

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.