So he said, “Shall we find another such man? Come now, we will make him our friend and ally”: This quotation is not designed to report Alexander’s words, but to inform the reader about his thinking. Good News Bible uses indirect speech, an approach we think is better. Shall we find another such man? is a rhetorical question. It expresses how impressed Alexander was with what he heard about Jonathan. The plural pronoun we is the king’s way of referring to himself; translators in certain languages where kings still rule will have special first person pronouns that are used by royalty. Good News Bible provides a good model for this verse, but another option is:

• He was convinced that he could not find a better ally than Jonathan, so he went about trying to win him over as a friend.

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.