And they distributed the beasts among the phalanxes: The beasts refers to the elephants. Good News Bible says “The huge animals,” but translators may say “the elephants” (Contemporary English Version) if that will be clearer to their readers. A phalanx was a tight formation of foot soldiers (usually sixteen parallel lines deep) armed with long spears, advancing with shields held forward and overlapping. It was developed by Philip of Macedon and used by Alexander the Great (see 1Macc 1.1). Good News Bible has “infantry units” for phalanxes and Contemporary English Version has “troops.” Neither of these models satisfactorily describe the phalanx. It is better to say “tightly packed groups of soldiers,” “groups of soldiers in tight formations,” or even “groups of soldiers standing shoulder-to-shoulder in lines.” An alternative model for this clause is “They placed these huge animals here and there [or, at intervals] among the foot soldiers, who were drawn up in tight formation.”

With each elephant they stationed a thousand men armed with coats of mail, and with brass helmets on their heads: Coats of mail were flexible pieces of armor covering the upper part of the body. They were composed of small pieces or rings of metal linked together. They are sometimes called “chain mail,” and the Greek word used here implies chains, if not of linked rings, of linked plates of armor. A coat of mail was different from a “breastplate,” which was a solid piece of metal (see 1Macc 3.3). The purpose of a coat of mail was to deflect javelins or arrows while allowing freedom of movement. Brass helmets is better rendered “bronze helmets” (Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version). “Bronze” is an alloy of copper and tin, making the metal much harder than copper. It can be polished so that it has a bright smooth surface. A helmet was protective armor covering the head. An alternative model for this whole clause is “they stationed a thousand men wearing coats of mail [or, armor] and bronze helmets with each animal.”

And five hundred picked horsemen were assigned to each beast: It is doubtful that anyone went through the 20,000 cavalrymen to pick out 16,000 (500 for each of the 32 elephants; see verse 30). Picked here probably means “elite,” which is at least suggested by Good News Bible‘s rendering for this clause: “Each animal was also accompanied by a special force of 500 cavalry.” We could say “Also, five hundred expert horsemen accompanied each animal [or, elephant]” or “Each elephant also had 500 expert horsemen to go [or, march along] with it.”

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.