Phinehas our father: Father here means “ancestor” (Good News Bible).

Because he was deeply zealous: For Phinehas’ zeal, compare verse 26; Num 25; Psa 106.28-31; and Sir 45.23-24. He was deeply zealous may be expressed as “he carefully obeyed all the commands in the Law of Moses.”

Received the covenant of everlasting priesthood: For the covenant of everlasting priesthood, compare Num 25.10-13 and Sir 45.23-24. Mattathias is claiming that he is a true descendant of Phinehas (see verse 1), who was the grandson of Aaron. In 1Macc 10.18-21 Mattathias’ son Jonathan becomes High Priest; in 1Macc 14.35 the Jews recall that Mattathias’ son Simon was made High Priest. Since the high priesthood had previously been held by men from another line of Aaron’s descendants, this is an attempt to confirm that the Hasmonean priests were also descendants of Aaron.

Alternative models for this verse are:

• Because our ancestor Phinehas carefully obeyed everything in the Law of Moses, he was promised that his descendants would always be priests.

• … the One in Heaven [God] promised him that….

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.