They also defeated Antiochus the Great, king of Asia, who went to fight against them with a hundred and twenty elephants and with cavalry and chariots and a very large army: Rome defeated Antiochus in a battle in 189 b.c. They also defeated is not in the Greek, but Antiochus is another direct object of the verbs “crushed” and “conquered” in verse 5. Antiochus the Great (223–187 b.c.) is Antiochus III, who is mentioned in 1Macc 1.10 (see the comments there). Although the Greek says literally king of Asia, Good News Bible translates “king of Syria” since this is how Antiochus is usually identified. Asia seems to be used occasionally to refer to the whole Syrian Empire (compare 1Macc 11.13). For elephants, cavalry, and chariots, see 1Macc 1.17. A very large army may be rendered “a huge number of soldiers.”

He was crushed by them: In Greek this clause emphasizes what has already been said, that the Romans defeated Antiochus. Good News Bible translates verse 6 as a separate sentence, and uses this clause to fill in the idea that is only understood in the first part of the verse (see the comments above). This is a legitimate approach, but translators need to build in this emphatic statement at the beginning of the verse by saying, for example, “They also [or, even] defeated—decisively—Antiochus….”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• The Romans also decisively crushed the soldiers of King Antiochus the Great, king of Syria, when he attacked them with chariots, cavalry, one hundred and twenty elephants, and a huge number of soldiers.

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.