The scene changes from the Syrian army to the camp of Judas’ army, so translators should begin a new paragraph at this point (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Bible).

Now Judas was encamped in Elasa: Now may be expressed as “Meanwhile” or “At that time.” The location of Elasa is unknown. It is sometimes identified with the modern town of Khirbet Il’asa near Beth Horon, but that seems to be too far away from the scene of action. There are various Greek spellings for Elasa; sometimes it is given as “Eleasa” or “Alasa.” All of these spellings are probably variants on the same Hebrew name.

And with him were three thousand picked men: Picked men are men specially selected for the job at hand. Good News Bible translates “experienced soldiers,” which changes the focus but does not mislead. This clause may be rendered “and he had 3,000 [or, three thousand] of his best soldiers with him.”

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.