And Judas sent them this friendly message: Friendly message is literally “peaceful words” (compare Deut 20.10-15). Good News Bible renders this clause well with “Then Judas sent a friendly message to them.” But another possible model is “Judas assured them of his peaceful intentions with this message.”

Let us pass through your land to get to our land: Compare Num 20.19; Deut 2.28. Many translators will need to use a polite word such as “Please” here; for example, “Please let us pass through your territory [or, town] to return home.”

No one will do you harm may be expressed as “We will not hurt you in any way.”

We will simply pass by on foot: On foot merely indicates that they will simply walk through town and be on their way. If they had animals, it may indicate that they would walk through dismounted as a sign that they intended no threat. A possible model for this clause is “We will do nothing but walk through.”

But they refused to open to him: Open refers to the town gates, which Good News Bible helpfully brings into the translation with “But they still refused to open the gates.”

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.