They also told the king what Jonathan had done, to throw blame on him; but the king kept silent: To throw blame on him is well rendered in Good News Bible as “hoping that he would hold him responsible.” Other possibilities are “hoping that he would sympathize with them” and “hoping to turn him against Jonathan.” Ptolemy could not express disapproval of Jonathan’s actions without openly breaking with Alexander, which he was not ready to do yet. Ptolemy was impressed by what he saw; he observed firsthand the evidence of Jonathan’s military capabilities, something he had only heard of from Alexander (see 1Macc 10.59-66).

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.