These took their position beforehand wherever the beast was; wherever it went they went with it, and they never left it: Good News Bible severely compresses this verse, but it correctly interprets the demonstrative pronoun These as referring to the cavalry, not the infantry mentioned earlier in verse 35. (To be honest, this is not perfectly clear, but in our judgment is highly probable.) Aside from the Greek grammar, men on horseback could coordinate their movements with those of an elephant; men on foot could not. This verse describes how elephants and cavalry were used in ancient warfare, at least where elephants were used in the Near East. It is not describing what actually happened at the time of the Maccabees. The battle does not even begin until verse 40. New Jerusalem Bible expresses well what is involved here: “The horsemen anticipated every move their elephant made; wherever it went they went, never quitting it.” Another possible model is “When fighting, these groups of cavalry [or, soldiers on horseback] would never leave the elephants. Anywhere the elephants went the cavalry would stay close by and ahead of them.” A somewhat simpler model is “These cavalry soldiers were commanded not to leave the elephants until the battle was over.”

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.