Because Simon did not send him the money and the sons, he perished: Alternative models for this verse are “Jonathan died because Simon didn’t send the money and the two hostages” and “If Simon had sent the money and the two boys, Jonathan would not have died.”

Simon did not actually know that Jonathan was alive. He could only take Trypho’s word for it. But he figured that if Jonathan were still alive, Trypho was not going to hand him over. If Jonathan was not dead now, he soon would be, no matter what Simon did. This might argue for not submitting to Trypho’s demands. But on the one hand, Simon did not want to endanger his leadership by having Jonathan’s supporters blame him for Jonathan’s death. And on the other, as some suggest, Simon might have been happy enough to have Jonathan’s sons gone, in case they should represent any threat to his own leadership.

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.