But in the heat of the struggle he did not hit exactly: When Razis fell on his sword, he did not succeed in killing himself. However, he did wound himself (see verse 45). Translators should keep the connector But, although neither Good News Bible nor Contemporary English Version have it. Except for the omission of But, Contemporary English Version‘s model is better here than the one in Good News Bible: “In all the confusion, Razis only wounded himself with the sword.” We may also say “But in all the excitement, he didn’t aim the sword correctly. So it did not kill him.”

And the crowd was now rushing in through the doors: However the doors of the courtyard were opened, whether broken down or burned, the soldiers were now rushing in. If Razis was going to kill himself, he had to hurry. The crowd refers to the soldiers sent to arrest him. For this clause we may say “By now, a swarm of soldiers was rushing through the doors of the fort.”

He bravely ran up on the wall, and manfully threw himself down into the crowd: There must have been steps leading from the courtyard to the top of the wall that separated the courtyard from the street. We are not told how tall the wall was, but it is hard to conceive of it being tall enough to kill a man jumping off it. It did not. Perhaps at this point, Razis realized that the soldiers were going to kill him, and the noblest thing he could do was jump right into their midst, maybe killing himself on one of their swords or spears as he fell. Manfully means again that this attempt at suicide is viewed as a brave and honorable action.

Here is an alternative model for this verse:

• But in all the excitement, he didn’t aim the sword correctly, and it did not kill him. By now a swarm of soldiers was rushing through the doors of the fort. Razis then bravely ran up to the top of the wall, and bravely jumped off it into the crowd [of soldiers].

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.