Many pursued them and overtook them: Many of the king’s soldiers in Jerusalem went after the Jews who hid in the wilderness and found them. This is not so much a matter of pursuit and capture as seeking and finding. Good News Bible says “A large force of soldiers pursued them, caught up with them,” but a better model is “A large number of soldiers went out after them and found them.”

They encamped opposite them and prepared for battle against them on the sabbath day: The king’s soldiers camped near the Jews who hid in the wilderness and prepared for the next day’s battle, which would be on the Sabbath. Since the Jews did not work on the Sabbath, their enemies may have hoped that if they attacked then, the Jews would not defend themselves. For sabbath see the comments on 1Macc 1.39. An alternative model for this last half of the verse is “They camped [or, set up their tents] nearby and prepared to attack on the Sabbath.”

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.