Then all the lawless plotted and said: The lawless are the Hellenizers, the Jews who opposed the Maccabees and were willing to come to terms with Gentile authority (see the comments on verse 23 and 1Macc 1.11). Good News Bible has “the renegades,” and New American Bible translates “the transgressors of the law.” We may also say “those people who broke the Law of Moses [or, the Jewish Law].” Plotted may be rendered “plotted [or, made evil plans] against Jonathan and his men,” so an alternative model for the whole sentence is “Then all those people who broke the Law of Moses plotted against Jonathan and his men. They said….”

See! Jonathan and his men are living in quiet and confidence: Confidence is a better choice of words than “security” (Good News Bible). The idea is that they are sure of themselves. Goldstein translates in quiet and confidence as “confident and undisturbed.” One model for this sentence is “Look! No one is challenging Jonathan and his men. They have become [too] confident [or, sure of themselves].”

So now let us bring Bacchides back, and he will capture them all in one night: Of course, the plotters are not going to literally bring Bacchides back. They will explain the situation to him and urge him to return to Judea and make a surprise attack. So we may say “If we can get Bacchides to return to Judea now, he can capture them all in a single night.”

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.