sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Maccabees 11:8

A paragraph break is appropriate here (so Revised Standard Version).

So King Ptolemy gained control of the coastal cities as far as Seleucia by the sea: Ptolemy advanced past the Eleutherus River to Seleucia. There were several cities called Seleucia. The author calls this one Seleucia by the sea to distinguish it from the others. This is the same Seleucia mentioned in Acts 13.4. Since no other Seleucia is mentioned in Scripture and it is identified as one of the coastal cities, the phrase by the sea serves no function, and translators may omit it without losing any information. Seleucia was the port city for Antioch, the capital of Alexander’s Seleucid Empire. We may translate this clause as “King Ptolemy had now gained control of all the towns along the coast as far north as Seleucia, Antioch’s port city.”

And he kept devising evil designs against Alexander: The first clause of this verse sums up the events of Ptolemy’s northward march; this second one anticipates what was about to happen. So we recommend the following model for this verse:

• King Ptolemy now controlled the towns along the coast as far north as Seleucia, Antioch’s port city, and he continued to plot [or, make evil plans] against King Alexander.

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.