They hunted down the arrogant men, and the work prospered in their hands: The arrogant men (literally “the sons of pride”) probably refers to “the arrogant Gentile officials” (Good News Bible). However, this phrase may refer to the renegade Jews. Good News Bible connects the first half of this verse closely to the last half. However, we would prefer to connect the first half to verses 45-46 in this way: “45 … went everywhere tearing down pagan altars, 46 and forcing the parents to circumcise … 47 They also hunted down the arrogant Gentile officials.”

And the work prospered in their hands then is a general statement concerning the success of the rebel bands in doing what is described in the next verse. We suggest connecting this clause with verse 48 by rendering it as follows: “They did what they set out to do” (see the models below for verses 47-48).

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.