And that they were very strong: As we stated in the discussion on the previous verse, this clause seems to be emphatic. So we may translate “Yes, they were [indeed] a strong military power” or “They really did have a very strong army.”

Men told him of their wars and of the brave deeds which they were doing among the Gauls: The Gauls lived in the part of Europe that is roughly modern France and Belgium. The relative clause which they were doing among the Gauls describes both the wars and brave deeds of the Romans. So the whole sentence may be rendered “Judas had learned about how heroic their soldiers were when they fought in Gaul.”

How they had defeated them and forced them to pay tribute may be expressed as “They defeated the people of Gaul, and forced them to pay taxes.” For tribute see the comments on verse 4.

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.