When they perceived this they were greatly frightened: They perceived this means Gorgias’ men saw that their fellow soldiers had fled and that their camp was on fire. They were greatly frightened may be rendered “they were terrified” (Good News Bible) or even “their hearts/livers shook/sank.” For the sake of making the narrative clearer, we recommend placing this clause at the end of verse 21 (see the model below).

And when they also saw the army of Judas drawn up in the plain for battle, they all fled into the land of the Philistines: For the land of the Philistines, see the comments on 1Macc 3.24.

An alternative model for verses 21-22 is:

• 21~When Gorgias’ men saw all this and that Judas had his army lined up in the plain, ready for battle, they were terrified, 22~and they all fled to Philistia.

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.