And the Romans gave them letters to the people in every place: And may be expressed as “After the meeting” (Contemporary English Version). To the people in every place may be expressed as “to the leaders of the other countries where the Jewish messengers were going.”

Asking them to provide for the envoys safe conduct to the land of Judah: Although the author says nothing about the Roman senators actually renewing relations with the Jews, they did serve notice to the countries where these messengers would travel that the messengers traveled under Roman protection. This was the purpose of the letters. They were in some ways like a passport. It will be natural style in some languages to put this clause into direct discourse; for example, “In these letters they said, ‘Help these men return safely to Judea’” (Contemporary English Version). A model that keeps the indirect discourse is “asking them to help these messengers return safely to Judea.”

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.