So that, if anything unexpected happened or any unwelcome news came, the people throughout the realm would not be troubled: So that is expanded to “He did this so that” by Good News Bible. The two clauses, anything unexpected happened and any unwelcome news came, refer to essentially the same thing—the unexpected death of the king. Translators may combines these clauses or keep them both as Good News Bible has done. A model for the first half of this verse that combines them is “He did this so that if the people throughout his kingdom should suddenly receive the sad news of his death, they would not become worried.”

For they would know to whom the government was left: Having the king’s successor known would lessen the possibility of civil disturbances or attempted military coups.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• He did this so that if the people throughout his kingdom should suddenly receive the sad news of his death [or, that he had died], they would not worry about the future, because they knew who the new king would be.

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.