Now Judas heard of the fame of the Romans may be rendered “Judas heard that the Romans were an important nation.”

That they were very strong: The adjective strong refers to military power. So we may translate “and that they were a strong military power” or “and that they had a very strong [or, powerful] army.” This clause is repeated in Greek (also Revised Standard Version) at the beginning of the next verse. There are three explanations for this:
1. The second occurrence of the clause is a scribal error, in which case translators may ignore it (so Good News Bible). Traduction œcuménique de la Bible explains it this way, although it does repeat the clause and adds a footnote.
2. The second occurrence is to be closely connected with the rest of verse 2. For instance, Goldstein translates, “1 … they were a great power … 2 As for their being a great power, Judas’ informants told him of the Romans’ valor in war….” In this line of thinking, verses 2-12 explain the author’s statement in verse 1, that they were very strong, and verses 13-16 explain the statement they were well-disposed toward all who made an alliance with them.
3. The second occurrence can be understood as emphatic. Abel translates it as a sentence in parentheses: “(Their power really was very great.)”

The second and third explanations are not mutually exclusive, and this is how we understand the repeated clause, so the model below sets this verse apart as a separate paragraph. See also the comments on the next verse.

And were well-disposed toward all who made an alliance with them may be expressed as “He knew that they welcomed all those who joined them as allies” (Good News Bible), “but that they were kind and friendly to their allies,” or “but that they were kind toward those nations who came to them and made a treaty of friendship with them.”

That they pledged friendship to those who came to them may be rendered “that those who came to them could be sure that Rome would be friendly to them,” “that the Romans would guarantee them their protection [or, friendship],” or even “that the Romans would guarantee that they [the Romans] would protect them.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• Judas heard that the Romans were an important nation. He knew that they had a very strong army, but that they were kind toward any nation who came and made a treaty of friendship with them. He knew that they would guarantee to protect [or, be friendly toward] such nations.

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.