And Bacchides chose the ungodly and put them in charge of the country: Bacchides selected some Jews who were willing to compromise their religion and made them his administrators in managing affairs in Judea. We would call these men “collaborators.” For the ungodly, see the comments on 1Macc 3.8. Good News Bible calls them “renegade Jews.” Other possible models are “godless Jewish people” or “Jews who did not follow the Law of Moses.” Obviously there were only “some” (Good News Bible) put in charge and not all of them, and it is helpful to say so. Good News Bible adds the word “deliberately,” which may be inferred from the text. Bacchides did not choose these men by accident. However, this word is not in the Greek text, so we do not believe it is necessary to add 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.