Antioch

The Greek that is transliterated as “Antioch” in English means “driven against.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997)

In Western Lawa it is given the prefix weīyng (เวียง) to denote it as a larger settlement.

David Clark (in The Bible Translator 2013, p. 54ff. ) explains: “Place names often present difficulties in minority languages in Thailand, where it is normal to prefix unfamiliar names with a ‘classifier’ to show whether the name refers to a town, village, river, mountain, island, and so on. The problem in many such languages is that whereas English has numerous terms for human settlements of different size and importance (metropolis, conurbation, city, town, village, hamlet, etc.), they have only two terms. Generally, one refers to a metropolis like Bangkok, and the other to virtually all other settlements. This kind of contrast does not transfer well into the historical and cultural setting of the Bible, where even quite large towns were relatively small by modern standards. Especially in the Old Testament, what the Hebrew text calls ‘cities’ (because they had a wall) would often be classed as no more than villages in Thai minority languages. What many translators have done is to apply the term for a larger settlement to places of importance in the narrative, even if they were not very large in absolute terms. Thus in Lawa, Antioch, which is of considerable significance in Acts, is given the label for the larger size of settlement (weīyng).”

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Antioch .

Translation commentary on 2 Maccabees 4:33

When Onias became fully aware of these acts: Good News Bible says “When Onias heard about this.” New English Bible is better with “When Onias heard this on good authority,” and so is New American Bible with “When Onias had clear evidence of the facts.” Another possible model is “When Onias had clear evidence of what Menelaus had done.”

He publicly exposed them means that he openly accused Menelaus of robbing the Temple.

Having first withdrawn to a place of sanctuary at Daphne near Antioch: The phrase having first withdrawn may be rendered “fled for safety” (Good News Bible) or “ran for safety” (Contemporary English Version). A place of sanctuary was a place where, by custom or law, he would be safe from attack. This would presumably be a religious site, but sanctuary is not used here in that sense; it means “safety.” Daphne was a park-like area about 8 kilometers (5 miles) from Antioch where there were some temples. One dedicated to the god Apollo was especially famous. It may appear odd that the pious Onias went to a pagan temple to claim safety, but the writer shows no embarrassment about it. Evidently if no worship of idols was involved, and if it might save his life, it was considered acceptable.

Good News Bible rearranges this verse so that the reference to Onias’ seeking sanctuary precedes his public accusation. This rearrangement eliminates the need for the word first. Here is another model that also does this:

• When Onias had clear evidence of what Menelaus had done [or, was convinced that this had happened], he fled for safety to a temple near Antioch at Daphne. Then he openly accused Menelaus of robbing the Temple [in Jerusalem].

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.