And Zabdiel the Arab cut off the head of Alexander and sent it to Ptolemy: In English the phrase Zabdiel the Arab makes it sound like this person is well known, which is not the case. For this reason Good News Bible refers to him as “an Arab named Zabdiel.” Revised English Bible has “Zabdiel, an Arab chieftain.” (Josephus refers to him as a prince.) We may say simply “Zabdiel, an Arab.”

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.