And they said to them: The pronoun they refers to the king’s soldiers. The verb said may be rendered “shouted” (Good News Bible), since the soldiers were quite a distance from the Jews who were hiding. The pronoun them refers to the Jews in hiding. Translators will want to make sure this is clear; for example, this clause may be translated “They shouted to the Jews, who were hiding.”

Enough of this! is literally “Until now” in the Greek text. This probably means “You have resisted long enough” (so Revised Standard Version). Some manuscripts actually read “Until now enough.” The Latin text (Vulgate) is similar with “Are you still going to resist?” Both Good News Bible and New English Bible say “There is still time!” but we recommend “You have resisted [or, You have disobeyed the king] long enough,” or some similar expression.

Come out and do what the king commands, and you will live: The Jews were hiding in caves (see verse 36), so the king’s soldiers tell them to Come out. Either Revised Standard Version or Good News Bible may be used as a model here. Another approach is “We won’t kill you if you come out [of there/the caves] and obey the king’s orders.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• They shouted to the Jews who were hiding in the caves, “You have disobeyed the king long enough. We won’t kill you if you come out of there and obey the king’s orders.”

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.