And Simon sent and took the bones of Jonathan his brother, and buried him in Modein, the city of his fathers: Good News Bible and Contemporary English Version say “body” rather than bones, since this is the usual manner of referring to a corpse in English, unless bones are all that remain of a person. Here surely not enough time had elapsed for the body to have completely decomposed. Modein was the hometown for the Maccabees (see 1Macc 2.1). The city of his fathers may be rendered “the town of his ancestors.” Good News Bible‘s model for this verse is a little difficult, especially with the passive verb “be buried.” We may revise the model slightly to read:

• Simon had people take back the body of his brother Jonathan and bury it in the family tomb [or, grave] in Modein, the town of his ancestors.

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.