Do not fear this butcher, but prove worthy of your brothers: The mother urges her son to be as brave as his brothers had been. The Greek word translated butcher refers to a public executioner, one whose duty it is to carry out death sentences pronounced by a legal authority. Here the mother uses it not as a factual description but as an insult. She speaks of the king as one whose only purpose is to kill people as if they were animals. Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible misunderstand the Greek text translated but prove worthy of your brothers. It is better rendered “but be as brave as your brothers were.”

Accept death, so that in God’s mercy I may get you back again with your brothers: Good News Bible moves Accept death earlier in the verse, translating it “Give up your life willingly.” We recommend that translators keep this clause in its original place (see the model below). For so that in God’s mercy I may get you back again with your brothers, Contemporary English Version has a good model with “Then God will have pity and give you back to me on the day he gives me your brothers.” Good News Bible inserts “at the resurrection” to make it clear that the mother is speaking of a reunion with her family after death. The word “resurrection” is consistent with the author’s point of view.

Alternative models for this verse are:

• Don’t be afraid of this butcher. Be as brave as your brothers were, and die willingly. Then, when God in his mercy raises the dead, and I have my sons again, you will be there with your brothers.”

• … Then, on the day when God shows his mercy and raises those who have died, and gives me back my sons, you will….”

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.