And wept for him: Good News Bible adds “at the tomb,” but this is not necessary. A short sentence can be effective here; for example, “They wept for him,” “The brothers wept for him,” or “They wept for their brother.”

And all Israel made great lamentation for him; they mourned many days and said: All Israel refers to all Jews anywhere in the land of Judea, or even beyond the land, wherever the news reached. An alternative model for these two sentences is “Jews everywhere cried bitterly. They mourned for him many days [or, for a long time]. They said….”

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.