We recommend following Good News Bible in reordering verses 3-4 so that the last clause of verse 4 is moved to the beginning. The discussion below follows that order. But to help translators see this change clearly, we will number the clauses in the order they appear in Revised Standard Version.

(3)~And that Apollonius, the son of Menestheus and governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, was intensifying the malice of Simon: For the problem regarding the identity of this Apollonius, see the comments on 2Macc 3.5. For Coelesyria see 1Macc 10.69; for Phoenicia see 2Macc 3.5. Good News Bible appears to say that Menestheus was the governor; this is mistaken. Apollonius is identified in two ways, as the son of Menestheus and as the governor. The problem can be solved by reversing the two as follow: “The governor of Greater Syria and Phoenicia, Apollonius, the son of Menestheus, encouraged Simon in his evil plans/deeds” or “Apollonius, who was the governor of Greater Syria and Phoenicia, and the son of Menestheus, encouraged….” The Revised Standard Version footnote on Menestheus indicates that the Greek text is uncertain here. This is because some Greek manuscripts have confused this name with forms of one or more verbs. The reading in Revised Standard Version is based on verse 21.

(1)~When his hatred progressed to such a degree that even murders were committed by one of Simon’s approved agents: We do not know what incidents are in view here, but these clauses say that Simon’s hatred of Onias became so intense that he actually had one of his approved agents (Good News Bible “trusted followers”) kill some people. We may say “Simon’s hatred for Onias became so strong that one of his trusted followers killed some people.”

(2)~Onias recognized that the rivalry was serious: The rivalry refers to the contest of wills between Onias and Simon. Onias knew that feelings were strong, but not until these murders did he realize just “how dangerous the situation had become” (Good News Bible). Good News Bible offers a good model here.

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.