Now the Gentiles in Gilead gathered together against the Israelites who lived in their territory, and planned to destroy them: The Gentiles in Gilead assembled a fighting force with the purpose of destroying the Jews who lived in their area. Gilead was a territory just east of the Jordan River. Revised Standard Version supplies and planned, which is not in the Greek. So this whole sentence may be rendered “The Gentiles in the region of Gilead assembled [or, gathered together] with the purpose of attacking and destroying [or, wiping out] the Israelites living among them.”

But they fled to the stronghold of Dathema: The Jews tried to escape the Gentiles by fleeing to the fort at Dathema. For stronghold see the comments on 1Macc 1.2. The location of Dathema is unknown, but it may have been a few kilometers (miles) east of Lake Galilee.

We may reorder the clauses of this verse as follows:

• Some Israelites living in the region of Gilead fled to [or, took shelter in] the fortress at Dathema, because the Gentiles in that region had assembled an army to attack them.

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.