The number of his forces was a hundred thousand foot soldiers, twenty thousand horsemen: For foot soldiers and horsemen, see the comments on “infantry” and “cavalry” at 1Macc 3.39.

And thirty-two elephants accustomed to war: For the use of elephants in war, see the comments on 1Macc 1.17. Good News Bible renders elephants accustomed to war (literally “elephants that knew war”) as “elephants trained for war,” but the Greek phrase here probably means the elephants had experience (so Revised Standard Version). Experience implies training, but training does not imply experience. It would not be too much to say “elephants trained for war and experienced in it” or “trained, experienced war elephants.”

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.