Where the book of the covenant was found in the possession of any one: The book of the covenant also refers to the books of the Torah. The book is literally “a book.” It may refer to any one of the books of the Torah, or to the whole of it. The covenant refers to God’s agreement with his people (compare verse 11). Good News Bible renders the book of the covenant as “a copy of the sacred books,” which is a good translation. We could also say “any of the sacred books.” An alternative model for the whole clause is “If they found [or, caught] anyone with a copy of the sacred books” (similarly Good News Bible).

Or if any one adhered to the law may be rendered “or if they found anyone obeying the Law of Moses.” New English Bible has “or conforming to the law.”

The decree of the king condemned him to death may be expressed as “according to the command of the king they were to be killed.”

The verse has only one sentence and it is rather complex. Good News Bible offers a reasonable translation, but even that may be too complicated for many translators. Possible alternative models are:

• They [or, The king’s officials] obeyed the king and killed anyone who owned a copy of the sacred books, or who [even] observed [or, kept] the Law of Moses.

• The king’s order meant that anyone who owned a copy of the sacred books or who observed [or, kept] the Law of Moses was put to death.

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.