When he heard this, he was greatly shocked: Good News Bible renders he was greatly shocked as “John was horrified,” which is a good choice of words; John probably had no reason to think that his own brother-in-law was going to kill the closest members of his family. An alternative model for this whole sentence is “John was horrified when he heard what had happened.”

And he seized the men who came to destroy him and killed them, for he had found out that they were seeking to destroy him: The translator’s problem here is the clause for he had found out that they were seeking to destroy him. It appears repetitious and unnecessary. Good News Bible‘s provides a possible solution, saying “but, because he had been warned in advance, he was able to capture and put to death the men who had been sent to kill him.” Contemporary English Version is also good with “He found out which soldiers had come to kill him, and he had them arrested and put to death.” New American Bible has “When the men came to kill him, he had them arrested and put to death, for he knew what they meant to do.” This is an attractive alternative approach, which can be simplified to “When the men came to kill him, he had them arrested and put to death, because he knew why they had come.”

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.