They drove Israel into hiding: It is not clear whether the pronoun they refers to the outsiders enforcing the royal decree or to the Jews who were willing to go along with it. It is easier to take it as the latter (so Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version). Israel here refers to those Jews who were unwilling to abandon God’s Law. Good News Bible says “true Israelites,” and Contemporary English Version has “faithful Jews.”

In every place of refuge they had: Well over 100 man-made caves have been discovered in the hills south of Jerusalem. Jews hid in these caves not only during the Jewish wars of the first and second centuries a.d., but in this time as well.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• and forced loyal [or, faithful] Israelites to go into hiding anywhere they could find safety.

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.