And, calling upon God the righteous Judge may be rendered “After they had prayed to God, the one who judges justly [or, fairly].”

Attacked the murderers of his brethren: His brethren does not refer to Judas’s actual brothers, but to his fellow-Jews. Good News Bible omits this phrase as redundant information. It may be kept by rendering the clause as “they attacked the men who killed their fellow-Jews.”

He set fire to the harbor by night, and burned the boats, and massacred those who had taken refuge there: Burning the harbor involved more than simply burning the boats. It also involved burning the docks, the piers, and the warehouses along the docks.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• They prayed to God who judges fairly, and then at night they attacked the Gentiles who had murdered their people. They set fire to the harbor, burning the boats and killing everyone who tried to hide there.

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.