Translation commentary on 1 Maccabees 10:29

A paragraph break is appropriate here (so Revised Standard Version).

And now I free you and exempt all the Jews from payment of tribute and salt tax and crown levies: Good News Bible renders And now as “hereby,” which adds an appropriate touch of formality to the document. We may say “As of now” or “From now on.” Free you and exempt all the Jews mean the same thing. Such repetition is characteristic of legal language. The pronoun you is plural in Greek; it refers to the Jewish nation. The technical economic terms used here are not clear; we do not know enough about how the Seleucid Empire financed itself. For the meaning of tribute, see the comments on 1Macc 1.4 and especially 8.4. Good News Bible says “regular taxes,” which is a good equivalent. The salt tax appears to have been a tax on salt produced at the Dead Sea (see 1Macc 11.35). “Taxes on salt” (Contemporary English Version) is clearer than “salt taxes” (Good News Bible). Crown levies is literally “crowns.” In this context the expression seems to refer to payments that were originally voluntary, made by a subject people to solicit royal favor, but that later came to be expected. Good News Bible says “other special taxes,” which is quite adequate.

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.