The scene now changes to the actual battle. So we may begin a new paragraph here (so Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version).

So the armies met in battle on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar: The armies met in battle may be rendered “The soldiers of the two armies fought each other” or “Judas’ and Nicanor’s armies fought each other.” The thirteenth day of the month of Adar would have been in early March. Adar was the last month in the Babylonian-based Jewish calendar, from mid-February to mid-March.

The army of Nicanor was crushed: The Greek verb rendered crushed is the same one used in Judas’ prayer in the previous verse. Good News Bible loses this connection. It is a small point, but it should be preserved if possible. For this clause New English Bible has “and the army of Nicanor suffered a crushing defeat,” and Contemporary English Version says “and Nicanor’s army was wiped out.”

And he himself was the first to fall in the battle means Nicanor was the first one killed. The phrase in the battle is not necessary. It is clearly understood that Nicanor died while the two armies were fighting.

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.