The writer now starts talking about what Antiochus did in Jerusalem, and translators may begin a new paragraph at this point.
Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-fifth year: Chislev is the name of one of the Jewish months. Good News Bible spells it “Kislev,” which we prefer. The fifteenth day of Chislev corresponds to December 7. The one hundred and forty-fifth year of the Seleucid kingdom in Syria is the year 167 b.c. It is possible to begin this verse with “On the seventh day of December [or, Early in December] of the year 145 of the Syrian Kingdom,” but it will involve problems later on. In verse 59 something is dated to the twenty-fifth day of the month, and we cannot be certain at that point if the reference is to ten days after the event here, or to a monthly occurrence. The best solution is probably to follow Good News Bible, which has “On the fifteenth day of the month Kislev in the year 145.” The following footnote could be added: “This corresponds to a date in early December (perhaps December 7) in 167 b.c.”
They erected a desolating sacrilege upon the altar of burnt offering: Instead of they erected, The printed Greek texts read “he erected,” so Good News Bible translates “King Antiochus set up.” However, most manuscripts read “they erected,” which might refer to the renegade Jews, but more likely the king’s officials (see the comments on verse 58). In Greek the next sentence certainly has the subject pronoun “they” (They also built …), so it seems best to read it here also as in Revised Standard Version. New English Bible uses the passive voice in this sentence as well as the next one; it is a neat solution, and those who are able to do this may certainly choose to do so. However, in languages that do not have a passive voice, translators may use the pronoun “they” or the phrase “the king’s officials.” The desolating sacrilege (New English Bible “abomination of desolation”) is also referred to in Dan 9.27; 11.31; and 12.11 (compare Matt 24.15; Mark 13.14). Most scholars interpret this to refer to the altar mentioned in verse 59, an altar built over the Temple’s sacrificial altar, and dedicated to Zeus, chief of the Greek gods (compare 2Macc 6.2). Other scholars see it as an idol. Whatever its identity, it was an “Awful Horror” (Good News Bible) or “Horrible Thing” (Contemporary English Version) to faithful Jews—something unspeakably insulting and offensive to their faith. Translators would do well to check their translation of the phrase in Daniel and the Gospels, and use here the same phrase used there, if appropriate. Upon the altar of burnt offering may be expressed as “on the altar for burnt offerings in front of the Temple.”
They also built altars in the surrounding cities of Judah: Here Good News Bible resorts to the passive voice, since it understood the pronoun “he” as subject of the preceding sentence. If translators follow the Handbook’s preference for a plural subject in the preceding sentence, the subject here can be simply They. Good News Bible renders altars as “pagan altars” to make it clear that these were altars where pagan gods were worshiped. Another possible model is “altars dedicated to foreign gods.” For in the surrounding cities of Judah, Good News Bible provides a helpful model with “in the towns throughout Judea” (Good News Bible). New English Bible is similar with “throughout the towns of Judaea.”
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.