Were your parents or children present, I would have prepared them to be a rich feast for the savage beasts instead of the Jews: One problem here is that the king describes the elephants as feasting on the victims, as though they were eating the people (as Contemporary English Version translates). But elephants are not meat-eaters. Either the author did not know that, or he is using the expression rich feast metaphorically. A model that avoids that problem here is “If your parents or children were here, I would have the elephants trample them to death instead of the Jews.”

Who give me no ground for complaint: The king insists that he has no complaint against the Jews.

And have exhibited to an extraordinary degree a full and firm loyalty to my ancestors: He also claims that they have always been loyal to his ancestors, that is, his own royal family or dynasty.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• “If your parents or your children were here, I would let the elephants kill them, but not the Jews. I have no complaint against the Jews. They have always been firmly and consistently loyal to my ancestors and to me.

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.