Then many who were seeking righteousness and justice went down to the wilderness to dwell there: Then may be rendered “At that time.” The word many refers to a particular group of Jewish people, a group that does not include Mattathias and his family. This group will be completely slaughtered in verse 38. Many may be rendered “a large number of Jews.” Good News Bible translates who were seeking righteousness and justice as “who were seeking to be right with God through obedience to the Law.” Went down means they went from the higher elevation of inhabited areas to the lower level of an isolated area. This verb phrase may be rendered simply “went.” The wilderness probably refers to the Wilderness of Judea, land well south of Jerusalem, perhaps around Tekoa, mentioned in 1Macc 9.33. A wilderness is a mostly a dry, barren area, with occasional patches of moisture and vegetation, not a region with nothing but sand, as the word “desert” in Contemporary English Version and other versions may imply. For the most part it is uncultivated. Nomads and their herds inhabit certain areas of the wilderness. In cultures where a wilderness in this sense is unknown, translators may use a descriptive phrase; for example, “rocky region,” “place where people don’t settle,” “arid [or, dry] place with no houses,” or “dry barren land.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• At that time a large number of Jews [or, Israelites] who wanted to follow their own religion and Law properly went out to live in the wilderness.

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.