So they went up to Mount Zion with gladness and joy: For Mount Zion, see the comments on 1Macc 4.37 and 60. An alternative model for this clause is “After they arrived in Jerusalem, they went up to the Temple on Mount Zion, rejoicing greatly.”

And offered burnt offerings: For burnt offerings, see the comments on 1Macc 1.45.

Because not one of them had fallen before they returned in safety: Compare Isa 35.10 and 52.11-12, where it is God himself who protects his people as they return from Babylonian exile. It is impossible to tell whether the author is making the claim of a miracle that no single Jewish fighter or Jewish captive had been killed in all the battles described in verses 24-51, or whether he refers simply to lack of deaths during the long march described in verses 45-53. Since the writer is so reluctant to look for miracles, it is more likely that a relatively modest claim is being made. If, in all the slaughter going on in this chapter, not a single Jewish fighter fell, the author certainly misses the opportunity to draw attention to it.

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.