13As a result he was accused before Eupator by the king’s Friends. He heard himself called a traitor at every turn because he had abandoned Cyprus, which Philometor had entrusted to him, and had gone over to Antiochus Epiphanes. Unable to command the respect due his office, he took poison and ended his life.
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Cyprus” in English is translated more specifically as “the island of Cyprus” in some languages. Eastern Highland Otomi for instance has “the land of Cyprus, the little land it sits in the water,” Morelos Nahuatl has “the land-rise of Cyprus,” or Lalana Chinantec has “land in the middle of the water which is called Cyprus.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) it is translated with a sign that depicts the shape of the island and “blossoming flower” (a possible meaning of the name). (Source: Missão Kophós )
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
As a result he was accused before Eupator by the king’s friends: Ptolemy was accused of treason because he tried to deal with the Jews fairly, and this can be specified here. For the king’s friends, see the comments on 1Macc 2.18. This clause may be rendered “As a result, the Friends of the King denounced him to Eupator” or “Because of this, some friends of King Eupator brought charges against Ptolemy” (Contemporary English Version).
He heard himself called a traitor at every turn: Translators who are able to follow Revised Standard Version here should do so; it puts the emphasis where it belongs, on Ptolemy’s personal feelings. Good News Bible moves this clause to a later point in the verse, but to do that we must assume the truth of the accusations against Ptolemy, and we cannot do that. See the comments below.
Because he had abandoned Cyprus, which Philometor had entrusted to him, and had gone over to Antiochus Epiphanes: This is court gossip. It is given as the kind of thing Ptolemy’s opponents were saying about him. Whatever the accusations were, we are not told that they were true. We don’t even have to understand them, only know that Ptolemy’s enemies were saying these things. For Cyprus see the comments on 1Macc 15.23. Philometor is King Ptolemy~VI of Egypt (see 2Macc 4.21).
Here is a possible approach for the second sentence of this verse:
• He knew that personal enemies were calling him a traitor every time they had a chance. They accused him of abandoning the island of Cyprus, which King Philometor of Egypt had placed under his command, and joining Antiochus Epiphanes.
Unable to command the respect due his office, he took poison and ended his life: The first clause in this sentence has a hopeless textual problem; discussing it in detail here would serve no purpose. Here are the translator’s options for the meaning of the sentence:
1. Ptolemy killed himself because people no longer gave him the respect that a provincial governor should have (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Bible, New English Bible).
2. One of the accusations brought against him is that he failed to bring any dignity to his office. So he killed himself (so New Jerusalem Bible).
3. He took his life as a protest against Eupator. Goldstein follows this interpretation by saying “He did not consider noble the authority of Eupator. Accordingly, he took poison and put an end to his life.” Goldstein offers this rendering only as a conjecture and does not even put part of it in his own translation (he leaves blanks in the translation). However, it is an interesting approach, which he explains in his commentary.
For the last sentence of this verse we offer the following models based on each of these interpretations, with appropriate footnotes, and translators may take their choice.
1. No longer able to maintain the respect that his office demanded, he committed suicide by taking poison.*
* No longer … demanded: Greek unclear.
2. They said that he had not been a competent governor.* So he killed himself by taking poison.
* They said … governor: Greek unclear.
3. Since he had no respect for Eupator and no confidence in him,* he killed himself by taking poison.
* Since … in him: Greek unclear.
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.
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