But Maccabeus arranged his army in divisions, set men in command of the divisions, and hastened after Timothy, who had with him a hundred and twenty thousand infantry and two thousand five hundred cavalry: The connector But is better rendered “Then” (Good News Bible) or “now” (Contemporary English Version). For divisions as a military unit, see the comments on 2Macc 8.21. Nothing is said here about how many parts Judas divided his army into or how many men were in each. The army was divided into these units for tactical purposes. Revised Standard Version‘s footnote indicates that men is literally “them.” We believe Good News Bible is correct in interpreting “them” to refer to Dositheus and Sosipater, and we advise following Good News Bible in naming the two men here. Each of them was placed in charge of a division. Consequently, we think Good News Bible is mistaken in speaking of “several divisions.” It seems more likely that there were three at the most, with Judas commanding one of the three, Dositheus and Sosipater the others. However, it may not be necessary to raise the issue. An alternative model for this verse is:

• Then [Judas] Maccabeus split his army into units [or, divisions]. He put Dositheus and Sosipater each in charge of a unit. Then they all hurried after Timothy, who had a force of 120,000 foot soldiers and 2,500 cavalry [or, soldiers on horseback].

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.