But a certain Dositheus, one of Bacenor’s men: The connector But is better rendered “Then” (Good News Bible). Dositheus is not necessarily the same man as the Dositheus of verses 19 and 24. It is possible, but in our opinion, not likely. Instead of one of Bacenor’s men, many Greek manuscripts have “one of the Tubians.” If this reading is correct, it refers to the people of verse 17. This reading is chosen by Good News Bible, New English Bible, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Abel, and Goldstein. It is also our recommendation. (There is no Bacenor; this name originated from a scribal misunderstanding of word division in Greek manuscripts.)

Who was on horseback and was a strong man, caught hold of Gorgias, and grasping his cloak was dragging him off by main strength: While Dositheus was on his horse, he reached down and grabbed hold of Gorgias’ clothing, probably around the collar, and held on while his horse stayed on the run. Main strength may be rendered “brute force” (Good News Bible) or “pure strength.” A man would have to be very strong to do this, and Dositheus was strong enough to do it.

Wishing to take the accursed man alive: Dositheus intended not to kill Gorgias, but to drag him off alive. Accursed man may be rendered “worthless man” (Good News Bible) or even “evil man” (Contemporary English Version).

When one of the Thracian horsemen bore down upon him and cut off his arm: The use of the definite article the in the Thracian horsemen makes it appear that the reader already knows about the Thracians. Since the Thracians have not been mentioned before, this phrase is better rendered “a Thracian cavalry man [or, horse soldier].” Thrace was a region in the Balkan peninsula, where the country of modern Turkey is located. It was thought of as an uncivilized region, but known for producing horses and men for cavalry. Bore down upon him may be rendered “rushed at him.” An enemy cavalryman cut Dositheus’ arm off. Gorgias, of course, then fell to the ground, but was still alive.

So Gorgias escaped and reached Marisa: Marisa was a Gentile city about 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) northeast of Hebron, and 37 kilometers (23 miles) southwest of Jerusalem (see 1Macc 5.66).

An alternative model for verses 34 and 35 is:

• 34~When the battle began, a few Jews were killed, but not many. 35~While they were fighting, Dositheus, a Jew from the Tobias region, a very strong man, reached down from his horse and grabbed Gorgias by the collar. He intended to drag that evil man off alive, by pure strength. But an enemy soldier from Thrace came galloping up and sliced off his arm. Then Gorgias escaped to the town of Marisa.

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.