Having been humbled with the help of the Lord by opponents whom he regarded as of the least account: Opponents whom he regarded as of the least account means he thought of his opponents as weak and easily defeated—nothing he had to worry about. Another way to render the beginning of this verse is “Nicanor was confident that he could defeat the Jews easily, but with the Lord’s help they humiliated him.”

Took off his splendid uniform and made his way alone like a runaway slave across the country till he reached Antioch: The Greek phrase translated splendid uniform does not necessarily imply a military uniform. Compare verse 9, where Nicanor appears to be more of a statesman than a military leader. As a Chief Friend of the King, he was entitled to wear fine clothing. New Jerusalem Bible translates “robes of state,” but New American Bible is better with “fine clothes.” Very likely he removed his fine clothing so he would not be recognized while making his way through enemy territory. Made his way alone indicates either that he dismissed his servants (Goldstein) or that they deserted him in the retreat. Antioch was the capital city of King Antiochus’ empire. An alternative model for this part of the verse is “He had to leave his fine clothes behind and walk alone across the countryside like a runaway slave all the way to Antioch.”

Having succeeded chiefly in the destruction of his own army!: This clause can be interpreted any of three ways: (1) “All he accomplished was to destroy his own army” (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Bible); (2) “He was eminently successful in destroying his own army” (New American Bible; similarly Tedesche); and (3) “and was, indeed, very lucky to reach Antioch after losing his whole army” (New English Bible; similarly Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Abel, Goldstein). The third interpretation combines till he reached Antioch with this clause. Any of these interpretations can be defended and may be used; our own preference is for the third one.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• Nicanor was confident that he could defeat the Jews easily, but with the Lord’s help they humiliated him. He had to leave his fine clothes behind and walk alone across the countryside all the way to Antioch like a runaway slave. He was indeed very lucky to reach that city after losing his whole army [or, all his soldiers].

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.