To fall upon the camp of the Jews and attack them suddenly: Good News Bible reverses the clauses of this verse. It works well, but is not necessary; we may keep Revised Standard Version‘s ordering as follows: “… and left their camp at night, 2~planning to make a surprise attack on the Jewish army.” If translators have put the phrase “by night” at the beginning of verse 1, they may say “… and left his camp near Emmaus 2~to make a surprise attack on the Jewish soldiers.”

Men from the citadel were his guides: These Men would be renegade Jews who were at the fort (see 1Macc 1.34), men who were natives of the area and would know the terrain. For the citadel, see the comments on 1Macc 1.33. An alternative model for this clause is “Men from the fort in Jerusalem were his guides [or, led him there].”

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.