I remember with affection your esteem and good will: Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible omit (as does Rahlfs’ text) a clause that is found in most Greek manuscripts here (though not the oldest), and is printed in Kappler and Hanhart’s text. In that text the first sentence of this verse reads as follows: “As for me, I am sick, but I remember with affection your esteem and good will.” The clause, “As for me, I am sick,” is found also in the Latin. The problem here is tied in with the problem in verse 20, since the phrase “esteem and good will” is not found in the Latin or in one Greek manuscript. (Instead of “I remember with affection your esteem and good will,” they have simply “I remember you with affection”; this does not require a change in the Greek word translated “you” or “your.”) These are the same authorities that omit “having hope in heaven” in verse 20. Similarly, the authorities omitting the clause, “I am most grateful to God,” in verse 20 omit “I am sick” here. Omitting the “grateful” clause would necessitate a change of some kind, since it would otherwise have the text reading “Since my hope is in heaven, I am sick.” Once again we strongly recommend translating the Greek text as it stands in Kappler and Hanhart’s edition. This is what New American Bible does again, saying “Now that I am ill, I recall with affection the esteem and good will you bear me.” Another possible model is “As for me, I am sick, but I remember affectionately your high regard [or, great respect] for me and your good wishes.” It would also be helpful to include a footnote on verses 20-21 to indicate that the Greek is uncertain.

On my way back from the region of Persia I suffered an annoying illness: Good News Bible inserts a paragraph break here, which is helpful. On my way back may be rendered “On my way home” (Good News Bible) or even “As I was returning home.” The Greek word translated annoying is also rendered “tiresome” (New English Bible), “troublesome” (Revised English Bible, New American Bible), and “seriously” (Goldstein, New Jerusalem Bible). In this context it seems logical that Antiochus describes the illness as serious enough to be worrisome, serious enough for him to give thought to who would succeed him as king when he dies—whether he dies as a result of this illness or not. For I suffered an annoying illness, Good News Bible has “I fell violently ill,” which seems to be taking the description of the illness in verses 9-11 into consideration, but as we have indicated in the introduction to this section, Antiochus’ letter in several ways does not fit well in its context. This is one of those ways. This clause may be rendered “I became very sick.”

And I have deemed it necessary to take thought for the general security of all: And I have deemed it necessary may be expressed as “and so I thought it best” (Good News Bible) or “and so I thought that it would be necessary.” To take thought for the general security of all means that he has been thinking about who his successor should be, although that is not how he puts it explicitly. He expresses it in terms of the stability of the whole empire. The word general (in the sense of “common to everyone”) and the phrase of all are somewhat repetitious and can be combined.

The last half of this verse may be expressed as follows:

• “While I was on my way back home from Persia, I became very sick, and it worried me enough that I had to start thinking about the future security of my people.

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.