There is a lapse in the narrative at this point. We are not told some things that are implied in verses 37-42. All this has to be left for the reader to understand from the context. There is nothing a translator can do without rewriting the story. Jonathan and his men near Tekoa learned that the Jambrites had stolen their property and killed John. This distracted Jonathan’s attention from Bacchides, and he began to look for an opportunity to punish the Jambrites for what they had done. It is at this point that the narrative resumes with verse 37. A paragraph break is appropriate here (so Revised Standard Version).

After these things it was reported to Jonathan and Simon his brother: After these things is better translated “Some time later” (Good News Bible) or just “Later” (Contemporary English Version). It was reported to Jonathan and Simon his brother may be expressed as “Jonathan and his brother Simon learned [or, heard].”

Jonathan and Simon learned about a big Jambrite wedding, which gave them an opportunity for revenge. In Greek the news is reported as direct speech, and some translators may be comfortable with this. In English it sounds more natural for this to be reported indirectly, as Good News Bible has done. See the models below for each approach.

The sons of Jambri are celebrating a great wedding: The sons of Jambri may be rendered “The people of the tribe of Jambri.” Celebrating a great wedding may be expressed as “are holding a big wedding celebration.”

And are conducting the bride, a daughter of one of the great nobles of Canaan, from Nadabath with a large escort: The phrase one of the great nobles may be expressed as “a very important man.” The name Canaan is surprising, since it had not been used apparently for several centuries to refer to any territory of Judah or its neighbors. Goldstein is convinced that a scribe made an error here, but has no confident suggestion concerning what the original may have been (his translation includes a blank here). But Canaan is in the text, and we must deal with it. Some suggest that the old name, familiar to Jews from the old story of Joshua, is used here to justify the massacre that follows. We prefer to think that the word Canaan is used to refer to one of the old families of the area, some respected family whose history was said to go back to ancient times. The location of the town of Nadabath is unknown, but it was somewhere east of the Jordan. The last half of this verse may be broken into two sentences by saying “and many are going to bring the bride from the town of Nadabath. She is the daughter of a very important man from Canaan” or “… She is from one of the old families of the area.”

Alternative models for this verse are:

• Some time later, news came to Jonathan and his brother Simon that the Jambri tribe was about to celebrate an important wedding. The bride was from one of the old families of the area, and many people were going to go [or, come] with her when she left Nadabath [her hometown].

• Some time later, this message came to Jonathan and his brother Simon: “The Jambri tribe is about to celebrate an important wedding. The bride is from one of the old families of the area, and many people are going to go [or, come] with her when she leaves Nadabath [her hometown].”

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.