Then he came and encamped against Bethbasi: The Greek phrase rendered encamped against does not mean “attacked … from all sides” (Good News Bible). Goldstein expresses it better with “laid siege to.” A possible model for this sentence is “He led his army to Bethbasi and surrounded it.”

He fought against it for many days and made machines of war: Machines of war were probably “siege platforms” (Good News Bible; see the comments on “engines of war” at 1Macc 5.30). Contemporary English Version says “weapons to break through the walls,” which is a helpful model. Good News Bible links he fought against it for many days with the next verse, which some translators may also prefer to do. An alternative model for this verse that does this is:

• When he arrived at Bethbasi, he surrounded it with his soldiers, and constructed siege platforms [or, weapons to break through the walls]. After many days of fighting….

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.