And would also march against Judea and rapidly level it to the ground with fire and spear: King Philopator also swore that after the Jews in Alexandria were killed, he would take his army to Judea, and quickly destroy its cities and kill the Jews there. Level it to the ground is an expression that is normally used in connection with cities, not a country, but obviously the Judean cities are in view here. With fire means the king would burn the cities; with … spear means he would kill the people. Spears would not be used to tear down the cities. A spear was a long, straight rod with a sharp end used for piercing by thrusting. In battle the spear was held in the middle and thrust at the enemy. Only rarely was it intended for throwing. Here the spear is simply an image for warfare, so these two clauses may be translated “He also said that he would send an army to attack the land of Judea and quickly burn its cities and kill its people” or “He also said, ‘I will send an army to attack Judea and burn down its cities and kill all its people.’ ”

And by burning to the ground the temple inaccessible to him would quickly render it forever empty of those who offered sacrifices there: King Philopator also planned to burn the Temple in Jerusalem to the ground—that Temple where all the trouble started because it was inaccessible to him; that is, the priests would not allow him to enter it. Forever empty of those who offered sacrifices there means either that the Temple will be a permanent ruin or the priests will be killed off, or both. This whole clause may be rendered “As for that Temple that he was not allowed to enter, he would make sure that no one ever offered sacrifices there again by burning it down” or “As for that Temple that they didn’t allow him to enter, he was going to make sure that no one would ever offer sacrifices there again by burning it down.”

There is some awkwardness in the Greek of this verse and several difficulties in the text. The main problem for translators is that the Greek text does not actually say inaccessible to him, but “inaccessible to us.” This reading has to be the result of an error in writing or copying.

Here are alternative models for this verse:

• He also said that he would attack the land of Judea and quickly burn its cities and kill its people. And as for that Temple that he was* not allowed to enter—he would make sure that no one ever offered sacrifices there again by burning it down.
* he was: Greek we were.

• He also said, “I am going to send an army to attack the land of Judea and burn its cities and kill all its people. As for that temple that they would not allow me to enter, I will burn it down to make sure that no one ever offers sacrifices there again.”

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.