But as they quickly drew back, a space opened and he fell in the middle of the empty space: Razis did not fall onto the soldiers and their weapons. When they saw him jumping, they moved back to protect themselves, and Razis simply hit the ground, still alive. Good News Bible has a good model here, but we may also say “The crowd [of soldiers] quickly moved back, and he hit the ground in the space they left.”

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.