Judas posted armed men in readiness at key places to prevent sudden treachery on the part of the enemy: Judas did not trust Nicanor. He thought that Nicanor might take advantage of the peace talks to attack the Jews unexpectedly. So Judas stationed soldiers at particular places around the meeting area to guard against this. Probably these armed troops were in plain view, not to surprise the enemy with resistance in case the enemy attacked, but to prevent the enemy from attacking in the first place. Contemporary English Version renders this sentence as “Judas had placed armed guards at key positions around the meeting place, just in case the enemy had set a trap.”

They held the proper conference: Good News Bible has “But the two leaders had a friendly meeting,” and Goldstein says “Their conversation resulted in agreement” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible). Goldstein’s interpretation is most likely. We may also say “Judas and Nicanor came to an agreement at this meeting.”

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.