Lord, Lord, king of the heavens, and sovereign of all creation, holy among the holy ones, the only ruler, almighty: The repetition of Lord is unusual, and indicates, along with the piling up of different addresses to God in this verse, the intensity of Simon’s prayer. We may vary this repetition, as does Contemporary English Version, by saying “Lord God.” But it may be better to translate it literally, if in the translator’s language, this repetition conveys the same sense of earnest pleading with God. King of the heavens may be rendered “King of heaven” (Contemporary English Version), understanding “heaven” as the place where God reigns as king. The heavens often means “the sky,” but that is not quite appropriate here. Sovereign of all creation describes God as the absolute ruler over everything in the universe. The holy ones probably refers to the angels, and holy among the holy ones describes God as surpassing the angels in holiness. Holy here indicates a quality that can describe both God and angels; they are awesome, they are pure, they deserve deep respect, they are different in quality from beings on earth. God is more holy (has greater taboo) than the angels because he deserves worship as well as awe and wonder. In this part of the verse God is addressed seven times, in six different ways (Lord being repeated). If these phrases seem strange in the translator’s language, they may be rendered as a statement or statements, for example, “Lord, Lord, you are king of heaven and the only ruler of the whole world. You are more holy [or, have greater taboo] than all the angels. Your power has no limits.”
Give attention to us asks God to hear the prayer of Simon and his fellow Jews and to grant them what they request. This clause may be rendered “Consider our situation,” “Look at our situation,” “Look at what we are enduring,” or even “Look at us!”
Who are suffering grievously does not imply a long state of suffering; it refers only to the desperate situation in which the Jews find themselves at this moment. This clause may be translated “We are in a terrible [or, desperate] situation.”
From an impious and profane man: The Greek words for impious and profane say substantially the same thing—Philopator cares nothing about what is holy.
Puffed up in his audacity and power: The Greek word translated puffed up pictures a horse snorting in defiance. Some translators may render this whole expression as “a man who is as arrogant as a horse snorting in defiance.” Many translators will prefer to render the relative clause who … power as an independent sentence, for example, “We are in a terrible situation because of a man who cares nothing about our religion, who is absolutely determined to do what he wants to do.”
Here is an alternative model for this verse:
• “Lord! Lord! King of heaven! Ruler alone of all the world! You are more holy than the angels and your power has no limits. Look at us! We are in a terrible situation! This man cares nothing about our religion! He is absolutely determined to do what he wants [to do]!
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.