And …: Since verse 20 is short, Good News Bible is comfortable with continuing the sentence into the first half of this verse. Most translators will find this workable, though some may wish to end a sentence with verse 20 and begin a new one here, for example, “Jason also told about….”

The appearances which came from heaven to those who strove zealously on behalf of Judaism: Unlike 1Maccabees, 2Maccabees occasionally describes visions appearing from heaven to the faithful Jews (see 3.22-40; 5.1-4; 10.29-30; 11.8). There is a play on words here that translators will almost certainly not be able to represent, but it should be noted. The Greek name Epiphanes, given to Antiochus, means “one who appears,” and it is closely related to the noun translated appearances. For the appearances which came from heaven, Good News Bible has “the heavenly visions that appeared,” and Contemporary English Version says “some visions … were given from heaven.” “Visions” is a difficult concept to translate. A “vision” in the Scriptures always suggests an appearance by a supernatural being in which the person seeing the vision hears a message. Often the vision comes in a dream, but in the present context it may be necessary to say “those people who were fighting bravely and enthusiastically saw heavenly beings in the sky” or “heavenly beings appeared in the sky to those who were….” Those who strove zealously on behalf of Judaism are the Maccabees and their followers. Instead of strove zealously, Good News Bible has “fought bravely and enthusiastically,” which is a better rendering of the Greek. Judaism refers to the Jewish religion, and the Maccabees, by fighting on behalf of it, were in fact “defending” it (so Good News Bible) against Antiochus, who wanted to stamp it out. Good News Bible retains the word Judaism. In many languages it will be better to say “the Jewish religion” or even “our Jewish way of life” (Contemporary English Version).

So that though few in number they seized the whole land and pursued the barbarian hordes: In Greek these clauses are part of sentence beginning in verse 19; they continue to describe what Jason of Cyrene wrote. In many languages it will be better to begin a new sentence here (so Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version, New English Bible). Readers will understand clearly enough that we are still dealing with the contents of Jason’s history, but if not, they will soon be reminded of it in verse 23. The connector so that introduces a result. Good News Bible leaves this connector implied, but it may be made explicit by beginning the last half of this verse with “As a result, our forces, even though few in number, plundered….” The pronoun they refers to the Maccabees and their followers (Good News Bible “Our forces,” Contemporary English Version “our small army”). Seized the whole land is more correctly translated by Contemporary English Version as “made raids across the whole country,” or we may say “attacked the enemy everywhere in the whole country.” The reference is surely to 2Macc 8.5-7, when Judas began his rebellion with sudden attacks here and there. We are not to imagine that Judas and his men “plundered” (Good News Bible) towns and areas that were friendly to them, for “plundered” always has the negative idea of “took possessions by force.” The idea seems to be that they took control of the whole country. Pursued is a correct translation of the Greek verb here, but in this context it is better rendered “routed” (Good News Bible), that is, put to flight. Judas’ men kept pressure on the enemy until the enemy fled and withdrew from the land. Barbarian hordes is a critical, disparaging way of referring to the enemy. Translators should use an expression that conveys scorn and insult, without being obscene. Good News Bible expresses it well with “heathen forces.” An alternative model for the last half of this verse is “As a result, even though our forces were few in number, they took control over the whole country by making the godless enemy soldiers run away.”

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.