After the death of Judas, the lawless emerged in all parts of Israel: This is similar to the repeated theme in the book of Judges, where after the death of each judge, conditions in Israel worsened. For the lawless, see the comments on 1Macc 1.11. The author has in mind people who sympathized with Hellenistic culture, and were willing to compromise Jewish tradition, and did not follow the Law of Moses. These people had been quiet during the time that Judas was a popular leader, but now they began to make themselves heard again throughout Judea.

All the doers of injustice appeared: The doers of injustice are probably the same people as could be the lawless. This phrase stresses their wickedness. For the whole clause Good News Bible has “and all the wicked people returned,” but it is better to indicate that the same people are in view in both clauses of this verse by saying:

• After the death of Judas, all over Israel people with no respect for the Law began to reappear. These were people with no regard for doing what was right.

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.