But Apollonius gathered together Gentiles and a large force from Samaria to fight against Israel: The Greek connector rendered But is literally “And,” which is a weak way of connecting what follows with the preceding material. This connector may be omitted here. The translational problem in this verse is whether the Samaritans are to be included among the Gentiles. Good News Bible assumes so by translating Gentiles and a large force from Samaria as “a Gentile army, including a large force from Samaria.” In Revised Standard Version‘s rendering it sounds like there are two separate groups. The author is referring to Samaritans and pagans, that is, people who did not worship the God of Israel (and Samaria). Translators must decide this largely on the basis of how they translate Gentiles (see the comments on 1Macc 1.11). If their word can be used to include worshipers of the God of Israel who were not Jews, Good News Bible may be followed. If such a word cannot be appropriately used to refer to the Samaritans, who worshiped the God of the Jews, then the translation must reflect that. Translators could then say “A man named Apollonius collected an army [or, group of soldiers] consisting of Gentiles [or, non-Jews] and a large number of Samaritans to fight the people of Israel.” We may also restructure the verse as follows:

• A man named Apollonius decided to lead an army to invade Israel. So he assembled a group of soldiers consisting of Gentiles and a large number of Samaritans.

It will also be helpful to include a footnote informing the readers who these Samaritans were. This could read as follows: “The Samaritans lived in the region between Galilee and Judea. Because of differences in understanding the Law of Moses, there was much bad feeling between Jews and Samaritans.”

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.