Then a certain Eleazar, famous among the priests of the country … : This Eleazar is otherwise unknown, although a number of Jewish heroes had this name. This is not the Eleazar of 1 Macc 6.43; 2 Macc 6.18; 8.23; or 4 Macc 5.4. The mention of priests in Egypt, far away from the Temple in Jerusalem, is surprising, and indeed, one important Greek manuscript has “Jews” instead of priests, but the scribe was probably trying to correct what he perceived as a mistake. There was in fact a Jewish temple built in the Egyptian city of Leontopolis by Onias IV, a Jewish priest, but this was well after the time in which 3 Maccabees took place. However, the text says priests and that is what we have to translate. We may begin this verse with “There was a well-known Jewish priest in Egypt named Eleazar…” or “Eleazar was a Jewish priest who had been highly respected…” (Contemporary English Version).

Who had attained a ripe old age: Ripe old age is an English idiom for “very old.” One way to render this clause is “He was a very old man.”

And throughout his life had been adorned with every virtue means Eleazar was a person who always did the right or good thing, and this great goodness made the other Jews revere him. We may translate this clause as “and people had always honored him because he always did the right [or, good] thing.”

Directed the elders around him to cease calling upon the holy God and prayed as follows: In this verse Eleazar ordered the leaders around him to be quiet and listen to the prayer that he was about to offer. For elders see 3 Macc 1.23; for holy God, see 3 Macc 2.2.

It will help the reader follow the story if Eleazar is identified here as one of the prisoners in Alexandria (so Contemporary English Version). A model of this verse that does this is:

• There was a well-known Jewish priest in Egypt named Eleazar, who was a prisoner with the other Jews. He was very old, and such a good man that people had always honored him highly. While the other Jewish leaders were praying to the holy God, Eleazar ordered them to be quiet. Then he began praying, and here is what he said:….

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.