And insistently urged him to hand Antiochus over to him, to become king in place of his father: Good News Bible‘s model is helpful here, and so is Contemporary English Version with “and kept begging him to hand over the young boy. He said, ‘Antiochus should take his father’s place as king.’”

He also reported to Imalkue what Demetrius had done and told of the hatred which the troops of Demetrius had for him: Trypho’s scheme must have begun with this report rather than urging Imalkue to turn the young Antiochus over to him. So this sentence can be joined to the last sentence of the previous verse by saying “39 … So he went to Imalkue, the Arab who was bringing up Alexander’s young son Antiochus, 40 and told him what Demetrius had done, and how the [dismissed] troops now hated him.”

He stayed there many days: It is during this extended stay that Trypho urged Imalkue to hand over Antiochus.

Translators may follow Good News Bible‘s reordering of this verse, but we suggest the following model:

• … and told him what Demetrius had done, and how the troops he had dismissed now hated him. He stayed there for a long time, urging Imalkue to hand the boy Antiochus over to him [or, put the boy Antiochus under his care], so the boy could take his father’s place as king.

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.