Now a part of the king’s army was spread out on the high hills, and some troops were on the plain: The Syrian army was spread out for some distance over uneven ground. The Greek connector rendered Now is literally “And.” Good News Bible omits this connector and does not have a paragraph break here, which we prefer. Was spread out may be expressed as “covered” (Contemporary English Version). For plain see the comments on 1Macc 3.24. The first half of this verse may be rendered “One part of the king’s army covered the hills, while the other part was on the level ground.”

And they advanced steadily and in good order: They marched ahead steadily (or, deliberately/confidently) and with good discipline, so there were no gaps in the line. An alternative model for the final clause is “they moved forward steadily with great discipline” or “they were very disciplined as they moved forward.”

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.