Onias welcomed the envoy with honor means that Onias welcomed the messenger who delivered the letter from King Arius and gave him the honors due a king’s ambassador. The envoy may be expressed as “your envoy” or “your ambassador” (Good News Bible).

And received the letter: The Greek word translated received probably means “accepted” rather than “acknowledged receipt” (Good News Bible).

Which contained a clear declaration of alliance and friendship: Good News Bible says “which declared our alliance and friendship,” which is potentially misleading; its rendering seems to say the alliance already existed, rather than that the letter established it. A better model is “which clearly spoke of a friendly alliance between Sparta and us” or “which clearly stated that Jews and Spartans should become friends and allies” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

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.