Loose and untie their unjust bonds!: The Greek verbs rendered Loose and untie are very similar in meaning. Unjust bonds means the Jews were tied up unjustly. So we may render this sentence as “Turn them loose [or, Free them]! You should not have tied them up like this!”

Send them back to their homes in peace may be translated “So turn them loose and send them back safely to their homes.”

Begging pardon for your former actions: For your former actions may be rendered “for what you have done to them.” There is manuscript evidence, as the Revised Standard Version footnote indicates, for saying “for what you ordered to be done.” There is really no difference in meaning.

We recommend the following model for this verse:

• Turn them loose [or, Free them]! You should not have them tied up like this! Turn them loose and send them back safely to their homes. Ask them to forgive you for what you have done!

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.