They chose to die rather than to be defiled by food or to profane the holy covenant: Good News Bible interprets the clauses be defiled by food and profane the holy covenant to be the same thing, but they are probably different. The holy covenant is probably that of Gen 17.9-14, in which circumcision is the sign of the covenant (see the comments on verse 15). Circumcision does not have to be made explicit (although it may be), but the profaning of the covenant should not be simply identified with eating unclean food. Alternative models for the beginning of this verse are “They chose to die rather than eat food that was [ritually] unclean [or, forbidden], or treat the holy covenant as something ordinary,” and “They chose to die rather than eat food that was ritually unclean, or violate the agreement with the One in Heaven by not circumcising their sons.”

And they did die: Not only did the faithful Jews choose to die, they did die. New English Bible says “and so they died.” Revised English Bible combines this clause with They chose to die, saying “They welcomed death and died.” This is a good approach, but we would prefer to end with a short emphatic statement, such as “And die they did.”

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.