Jonathan went out to meet him with forty thousand picked fighting men, and he came to Beth-shan: At this point Jonathan did not know Trypho’s intentions. Still loyal to Antiochus~VI, he could not assume that Trypho was coming with hostile intent, but he was obviously suspicious. The Greek word translated meet does not necessarily mean “meet in combat” or “attack” (Contemporary English Version). For picked fighting men, see the comments on 1Macc 4.28; 6.35; 9.5.

This verse can be joined to the preceding one as follows:

• He set out with some troops and went to Beth Shan, 41~where Jonathan met him with 40,000 well-trained soldiers [of his own].

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.