But, leaning close to him: Translators should try to picture the scene. The mother left Antiochus and went close to her son, who was standing nearby. He was very young and smaller than she was. She then leaned “over him” (Good News Bible). Contemporary English Version says she leaned “toward her son,” but this rendering doesn’t fit the picture.
She spoke in their native tongue as follows, deriding the cruel tyrant: Their native tongue refers to “their native language” (similarly Good News Bible). Deriding the cruel tyrant does not mean that she called Antiochus names. It means that when she spoke to her son she ignored the king’s plea to persuade her son to save himself. Good News Bible says “she fooled the cruel tyrant,” which is good. An alternative model for the first half of this verse is “But she fooled that cruel tyrant. She leaned close to [or, over] her son, and spoke to him in their own language. Here is what she said….”
My son, have pity on me: This seems like a strange thing for a mother to say to a son whom she is about to see put to death. Perhaps she means to point out that she is in a difficult situation; she loves her son but at the same time does not want her son to shame the faith of their ancestors. The best approach here is to follow Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible.
I carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you for three years, and have reared you and brought you up to this point in your life, and have taken care of you: Translators should have no difficulty with I carried you nine months in my womb. Nursed you refers to breast-feeding him. Breast-feeding a child for three years was not uncommon in that society. Have reared you and brought you up to this point in your life mean the same thing and may be combined as in Good News Bible, which has “looked after all your needs up to the present day.” Contemporary English Version is similar with “I have looked after you.” However, translators may find synonymous expressions in their language that are appropriate here. The variant translation for have taken care of you in the Revised Standard Version footnote is unlikely and can be disregarded.
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.