After summoning Hermon he said in a threatening tone: The king made a show before his guests of insulting and threatening Hermon, the elephant keeper.

How many times, you poor wretch, must I give you orders about these things?: This is a rhetorical question that strongly rebukes Hermon. You poor wretch is an insult. Translators should have many excellent equivalents for this insult in their language. Poor does not indicate poverty, but being pitiful or unfortunate.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• He called for Hermon, and threatened him, saying, “You stupid fool! How many times must I tell you to do this?

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.