This was the act of God who rules over all things may be translated “This was God’s work. He rules over all things” or even “God who rules over all things had done this.”

For he had implanted in the king’s mind a forgetfulness of the things he had previously devised may be rendered “he had made the king completely forget his own plans.”

This short verse seems to be a parenthetical addition by the narrator, and some translators will be able to put it into parentheses as in our first model below. The narrator is breaking into the narrative to whisper in the reader’s ear an explanation of what is going on.

Alternative models for this verse are:

• (This was God at work. God rules over all things, and he had made the king completely forget his own plans.)

• God who rules over all things made the king completely forget his own plans.

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.