He feared that Jonathan might not permit him to do so, but might make war on him: Good News Bible‘s model for this first half of the verse is not quite correct. It is better to say “However, he was afraid that Jonathan would go to war against him to prevent this from happening [or, to protect Antiochus].”

So he kept seeking to seize and kill him may be expressed as “so he kept looking for a way to capture Jonathan and kill him.”

And he marched forth and came to Beth-shan is literally “and setting out he came to Beth Shan.” In the following verses it becomes clear that Trypho did not have a strong force with him, but in verse 43 we learn that there were some troops, and verse 49 says he sent infantry and cavalry units out to kill some of Jonathan’s soldiers, but apparently not enough to do the job. It would be helpful to indicate here that Trypho had troops. Good News Bible does this by referring to “his army,” but this may give the wrong impression. A better rendering for this clause is “He set out with some troops and went to Beth Shan.” For the town of Beth-shan, see the comments on 1Macc 5.52.

Good News Bible restructures this verse, but we suggest that translators keep the clauses in the same order as Revised Standard Version.

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.