Philip, and Perseus king of the Macedonians, and the others who rose up against them, they crushed in battle and conquered: Philip refers to Philip~V of Macedon, who ruled 220–179 b.c. He is not same Philip mentioned in 1Macc 1.1. Perseus was his son, the last king of Macedon, who ruled 179–168 b.c. They were both defeated by Roman forces, Philip in 197, Perseus in 168. After Perseus was defeated, Macedon became a Roman province. The Macedonians is literally “Kittim” (see the comments on 1Macc 1.1). Here the Macedonians or “Macedonia” is an appropriate translation. Philip, and Perseus king of the Macedonians may be expressed as “Philip and Perseus who had ruled Macedonia.”

The Greek expression rendered and the others who rose up against them does not say or imply that other kings joined Philip and Perseus against Rome, as Good News Bible has it. The others who rose up against them (literally “those who rose against them”—the word “others” is not there) may simply be a restatement of the same idea in verse 4, in which case it can be rendered “and others who dared oppose them.” But why would the author say the same thing again? There is a problem here with the presence of the word rendered and in Greek. The Hebrew prefix meaning “and” can be used to introduce a relative clause. If this is what the author meant, then the Greek translator should have used “who.” Goldstein accepts this solution by rendering the whole clause as “who had attacked them.” We believe this is the most reasonable explanation.

For this verse Good News Bible can be interpreted as saying that the Romans defeated Philip and Perseus and a number of other kings in one grand battle, which is not intended at all. Revised Standard Version can be interpreted as saying that the Romans defeated King Perseus of Macedon, some other person named Philip, as well as other people who had rebelled against those two, none of which is intended. A better model for this verse is:

• There were two particular kings whom the Romans overwhelmed and crushed in battle: Philip and Perseus of Macedonia, who dared to oppose them.

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.