But the king fled into the palace: Demetrius went to the palace to escape the mob.

Then the men of the city seized the main streets: When “the mob took control of the streets” (Good News Bible), anyone on the king’s side was in physical danger.

And began to fight is a bit unclear, since it does not say whom the mob was fighting. Certainly the king’s opponents were fighting his supporters, but some of his supporters would have been local citizens also. Good News Bible says “and began to riot,” which expresses well what happened without raising questions.

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.