In bonds and in public view they were violently dragged along as far as the place of embarkation: The writer has said nothing so far about how all the Jews were transported to Alexandria, but we learn here that it was by boat. The pronoun they refers to the Jewish brides, which may be made explicit (so Contemporary English Version). The Greek expression for In bonds and in public view is a clever play on words, and that is the main reason these two phrases are here. Neither phrase adds a great deal to the terrible picture, and if a translator feels the need to omit either or even both of them, nothing will be lost. In bonds does not specify how the women were bound. Ropes may be intended (see 3 Macc 4.8), and it would not hurt to say that. They seem to have been tied together in a chain, ropes around their necks (see again verse 8). In public view may be rendered “while people were watching.” The place of embarkation is whatever place along the river that they were put aboard the boat. It may refer to an actual dock, but not necessarily. Translators need to make it clear that the women were put onto boats. Contemporary English Version has a good rendering for this phrase, saying “the dock where boats were waiting to take them to Alexandria.” Here are our suggested models for this verse:

• While people watched, these women, all roped together, were brutally dragged down to the river where boats would take them to Alexandria.

• While people watched, the soldiers brutally dragged these young women, all roped together, down to the river….

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 3-4 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2018. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.