Preferring to die nobly rather than to fall into the hands of sinners and suffer outrages unworthy of his noble birth: The writer thinks of suicide under these circumstances as an honorable and noble act. Suffer outrages unworthy of his noble birth probably refers to dying like a trapped animal rather than meeting death as a man of noble birth. These ideas may be difficult to convey in societies with rather different attitudes to suicide. We suggest this model for the verse:

• Razis felt that this was a more honorable [or, noble] way to die than being killed by evil men, which would be a disgrace to his honorable [or, noble] family [or, ancestors].

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.