They praised the Lord who had acted marvelously for his own place: Since we recommend that a new sentence begin here, an introductory connector such as “But” (Good News Bible) or “Meanwhile” would be appropriate. The pronoun they refers to the Jews, and this should be made clear, as in Good News Bible. Good News Bible renders the Lord as “Almighty God” because of the reference to the Almighty Lord at the end of the verse. The Greek text plainly says the Lord, and this is what translators should follow, unless they translate this verse as one long sentence (so Good News Bible), which we do not recommend. Who had acted marvelously for his own place refers to the action God took in striking down Heliodorus to protect the Temple. Good News Bible says “because he had miraculously protected his Temple,” which is good. Another possible model is “because of the way he showed his great power while protecting his Temple.” For the first part of this verse New English Bible has “the Jews were praising the Lord for the miracle he had performed in his own house.” It may also be rendered “Meanwhile the Jews were praising the Lord for the miracle he had performed to protect his Temple.”

And the temple, which a little while before was full of fear and disturbance, was filled with joy and gladness means that the Temple had earlier been full of people who were fearful and disturbed, but who were now glad and joyful. We may make this clear by saying “A little while earlier the Temple was filled with people who were fearful and disturbed [or, confused], but now they were glad and joyful.” The Greek terms for fear and disturbance are similar in meaning. Good News Bible has “fear and confusion.” Translators should have no difficulty finding suitable expressions or idioms for these terms and synonyms for the terms joy and gladness.

Now that the Almighty Lord had appeared: For the Almighty Lord, see the comments on verse 22. Had appeared does not mean that the Lord himself became visible; it refers to the demonstration of his power in the vision.

One possible model for this verse is:

• Meanwhile the Jews were praising the Lord for the miracle he had performed to protect his Temple. Only a little earlier, the crowd of people in the Temple were afraid and distressed, but now, since the Almighty Lord had shown his power, they were happy and joyful.

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.