Since the death of your brother Judas there has been no one like him to go against our enemies and Bacchides, and to deal with those of our nation who hate us: To go against may be rendered “to take his place in fighting.” There are three objects in this verse, and the relation among them is not clear: our enemies, Bacchides, and those of our nation who hate us. Good News Bible understands our enemies to include the other two. But part of the problem is that the Greek clause rendered those of our nation who hate us is ambiguous, and may be read as “those who hate our nation.” The question is whether the complaint is against the Syrians (led by Bacchides), or against the Syrians as well as their Jewish sympathizers. The number of textual variants in the passage bear witness that the scribes had difficulty understanding which was meant. Revised Standard Version, Good News Bible, New English Bible, Revised English Bible, An American Translation, Tedesche, and Goldstein include Jewish enemies. New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, La Bible Pléiade, and Abel do not. New Jerusalem Bible has a fine model for this approach: “… resistance against our enemies, people like Bacchides and others who hate our nation.” Translators may follow either reading here, but the Handbook sides with Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• “Since your brother Judas died, there has been no one to take his place in fighting [or, resisting] our enemies—not only Bacchides, but also those of our own people who hate us.

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.