And when the Jews saw the royal might: Good News Bible‘s connector “But” is better than And. The royal might may be rendered “just how strong the king’s army was.”

And the fierce attack of the forces may be expressed as “and how fiercely the Syrian soldiers were willing to fight.”

They turned away in flight: It is not exactly said that the Jews were defeated (though they were), only that they made a tactical retreat. So Good News Bible has “they retreated.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• But when the Jews realized just how strong the Syrian king’s army was and how fiercely his soldiers were willing to fight, they retreated.

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.