They sought and searched for the friends of Judas: It is not clear from the Greek who did the searching, whether the Syrians or the renegade Jews given authority. For Good News Bible it was the renegade Jews since it renders the pronoun They as “These men,” and in our judgment this is right. The renegade Jews would know their fellow Jews who were resisting Bacchides and the Syrians, while the Syrians would not. Sought and searched for may be rendered “hunted down” (Good News Bible) or “searched carefully for” (Contemporary English Version).

And brought them to Bacchides, and he took vengeance on them and made sport of them: Good News Bible says “and brought them all before Bacchides, and he subjected them to torture and humiliation.” The Greek does not actually use a word as strong as “torture,” but it may be implied here. What does it mean that Bacchides took vengeance on them? We suspect a good deal of pain was involved. If they survived long enough to be objects of ridicule, the pain must have been prolonged. “Torture and humiliation” are appropriate terms in this context, or we may render the last half of this verse as “and they brought them to Bacchides who laughed as he tortured 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.