The priests prostrated themselves before the altar in their priestly garments: The priests prostrated themselves means they deliberately got flat on the ground, face down (compare the comments on “They fell face down on the ground” at 1Macc 4.40). The altar is the altar for sacrifices (see 1Macc 1.54). For priestly garments, see the comments on “the garments of the priesthood” at 1Macc 3.49. Good News Bible has “priestly robes,” but it is better to say “priestly garments.” Translators must take care that their rendering of this clause does not make it sound like the altar was draped in priestly garments A model that avoids this is “The priests, wearing their priestly garments, lay flat on the ground in front of the altar [of sacrifice].”
And called toward heaven upon him who had given the law about deposits: Since 2Maccabees, unlike 1Maccabees, uses the words “God” and “Lord” freely, translators may render heaven as “God” (Good News Bible) or “Lord.” The law about deposits is found in Exo 22.7-15, which deals not only with money, but with goods or animals; it does not deal with the Temple, but with people who leave something with another person for safekeeping. Good News Bible says “the laws designed to protect the money that people deposited in the Temple,” which is not really wrong, but we feel it is unnecessarily specific. A better model for this whole clause is “and they called out to God in heaven, who had given a law about money left for safekeeping.”
That he should keep them safe for those who had deposited them: Here we may be specific about money left for safekeeping in the Temple by saying “They asked him to protect the money that people had left for safekeeping in [or, entrusted to] the Temple.” In languages that prefer direct speech here, we may change the order of the clauses in the last half of this verse as follows: “They prayed to God in heaven, saying, ‘Please protect this money! You yourself gave the law that keeps our money safe while it is in the Temple treasury.’”
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.