He advanced against Beth-zur, a strong fortress of the Jews: For the city of Beth-zur, see the comments on 1Macc 4.29. This clause may be rendered “He and his soldiers attacked the strong Jewish fort of Bethzur.”

Was turned back, attacked again, and was defeated: Was turned back and was defeated both mean the same thing. As the footnote in Revised Standard Version indicates, the Greek verb translated attacked again can also mean “faltered”; it basically means “beat against.” The grammatical form of the three Greek verbs rendered turned back, attacked again and was defeated suggests that there was not just one or two attacks. Antiochus repeatedly tried to take Bethzur, but failed in each attempt. So either sense of the verb rendered attacked again will fit in this context.

Good News Bible handles this verse well, and so does Goldstein with “He repeatedly attacked Beth-Zur, a strong fortress of the Jews, but again and again was repulsed, defeated, humiliated.” Translators may rely on either of these as a model with confidence.

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.