soldier

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “soldier” in English didn’t have a direct equivalent in Enlhet so it was translated with “those that bind us” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. ) and in Noongar it is mammarapa-bakadjiny or “men of fighting” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

Translation commentary on 2 Maccabees 5:12

And he commanded his soldiers to cut down relentlessly every one they met and to slay those who went into the houses: The verb cut down refers to killing with swords. Relentlessly means “without mercy.” Those who went into the houses refers to people who went indoors to try to escape the slaughter. The soldiers were to kill people not only in the streets, but to go into homes to find people to kill.

Here is an alternative model for this verse:

• He ordered his soldiers to take their swords and kill everyone they found [or, met] without mercy, even those people hiding in their houses.

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.