And it was reported to the king’s officers, and to the troops in Jerusalem the city of David: For the king’s officers, see the comments on verse 15; for the city of David, see the comments on 1Macc 1.33. An alternative model for this first half of this verse is “After this the king’s officials and soldiers in the fort at Jerusalem heard [or, found out].”

That men who had rejected the king’s command may be rendered “that some men who had refused to obey the king’s command.” Good News Bible has “that some men who had defied the kings’ command.”

Had gone down to the hiding places in the wilderness may be expressed as “had gone into the wilderness to hide.”

Good News Bible offers a useful model for this verse for languages that do not have a passive voice. Another possible one is:

• But soon the king’s officials and soldiers in the fort at Jerusalem found out that some men who had refused to obey the king’s command had gone into the wilderness to hide.

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.