They were carried away by their traditional conceit: The Greek word for conceit means “pride” in the bad sense. Traditional is literally “very old.” Philopator is saying this intense national pride the Jews have goes back a long way—it is ancient. Carried away means this ancient pride led them to do something that smart people would not do; because of it they refused to allow the king to enter the sanctuary. Contemporary English Version renders this clause as “They were very arrogant, just as they have always been,” which is good. Other possible models are “Their ancient arrogance was in control of their judgment” and “They have always been arrogant people, and this caused them to be stubborn.”

And excluded us from entering: This clause may be put at the beginning of the verse; for example, Contemporary English Version begins with “to let us in.”

But they were spared the exercise of our power may be expressed as “I did not punish them, however.”

Because of the benevolence which we have toward all: Again Philopator emphasizes how kind and gracious he is, and again, the reader knows otherwise. He says he did not punish the Jews on this occasion, simply because he is such a kind ruler.

Here is an alternative model for this verse:

• … they refused to let me enter. Their ancient arrogance was in control of their judgment [or, They have always been arrogant people, and this caused them to be stubborn]. I did not punish them, however. You know how kind I am to all my subjects [or, everyone in my kingdom].

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.