Then both friends and bodyguards … : Both friends and bodyguards does not mean there were only two friends. It means Philopator’s friends as well as his bodyguards took action. Friends refers to Philopator’s close advisers and officers, not simply to people who liked him (see 1 Macc 2.18). Bodyguards were soldiers who had the duty of protecting Philopator from harm.

Seeing the severe punishment that had overtaken him: Severe punishment is the author’s comment on what was happening; the Egyptians might not have perceived what was happening to Philopator as divine punishment. Translators may find this hard to express without causing confusion. The best course is probably to refer to what was happening to Philopator; for example, the beginning of this verse may be rendered “When Philopator’s officers and bodyguards saw what was happening to him….”

And fearing lest he should lose his life may be translated “they were afraid that he was going to die.”

Quickly dragged him out: The men grabbed Philopator, presumably by the arms, and dragged him out of the Temple area. Contemporary English Version says “so they dragged him away from the crowd,” which is a good way to express this clause.

Panic-stricken in their exceedingly great fear may be rendered “completely panic-stricken,” “completely panicking [or, losing their nerve],” or “they themselves were terribly afraid.”

Here are models for this verse:

• When Philopator’s [or, the king’s] officials and bodyguards saw what a terrible thing was happening to him, they were afraid that he was dying. Completely panic-stricken themselves, they dragged him out of the Temple area [or, away from the crowd].

• … was dying. They themselves were terribly afraid, but they dragged him out of the Temple area [or, away from the crowd].

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.

But in their innate malice they took this in a contrary spirit, and disdained what is good: The phrase in their innate malice accuses the Jews of being evil by nature. So we may begin this verse with “But the Jews are evil by nature…” or “But because the Jews are evil by nature….” They took this in a contrary spirit, and disdained what is good may be rendered “so they were offended by my good offer and refused to accept it.” What is good is the offer of citizenship and participation in the state religion. When the Jews of Alexandria refused this, the king interpreted their action as hostility. Here is an alternative model for the first part of this verse: “I made the Jews a good offer, but because they are evil by nature, they were offended and refused to accept it.”

Since they incline constantly to evil essentially repeats their innate malice. Just as the king insists on his own benevolence, he insists on the stubborn evil of the Jews. This clause is part of the sentence at the beginning of the next verse, so a model of it is given there.

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.

The servants in charge of the Jews went out in the evening and bound the hands of the wretched people: The servants in charge of the Jews refers to the people who were guarding them at the stadium. The wretched people may be rendered “the poor unfortunate people” (Anderson).

And arranged for their continued custody through the night means these guards made sure that the Jewish prisoners would not get away during the night.

Convinced that the whole nation would experience its final destruction may be rendered “They believed all the Jews would die the next day.”

Here is a model for this whole verse:

• That evening, the servants who were guarding the Jews tied the hands of these pitiful people, and made sure that they would not escape during the night. They were convinced that all the Jews would die the next day.

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.

After summoning Hermon he said in a threatening tone: The king made a show before his guests of insulting and threatening Hermon, the elephant keeper.

How many times, you poor wretch, must I give you orders about these things?: This is a rhetorical question that strongly rebukes Hermon. You poor wretch is an insult. Translators should have many excellent equivalents for this insult in their language. Poor does not indicate poverty, but being pitiful or unfortunate.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• He called for Hermon, and threatened him, saying, “You stupid fool! How many times must I tell you to do this?

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.

Then the most glorious, almighty, and true God revealed his holy face: God revealed himself to Philopator and the other Gentiles. In the phrase revealed his holy face, the adjective holy is already included in the pronoun his, so it may be rendered simply “revealed himself.” A model for this whole clause is “Just then [or, Right at that moment], the most glorious, all-powerful, and only true God revealed himself to all the Gentiles.”

And opened the heavenly gates may be translated “and opened the gates [or, entrances] of heaven” or even “They saw him open the gates of heaven.”

From which two glorious angels of fearful aspect descended, visible to all but the Jews probably means the Gentiles saw two shining or shimmering [glorious] angels come down through the gates of heaven. The Greek word translated angels can also mean “messengers.” Here heavenly messengers from God are in view. Translators will have probably already struggled with the translation of this term both in the Old Testament (for example, Gen 16.7; 21.17) and the New Testament (for example, Matt 1.20; Luke 1.11; Acts 10.3). Fearful aspect means the angels appeared to the onlookers to be a threat, not a source of blessing, so the Gentiles were all terrified. This idea may be put into a final sentence, for example, “The Gentiles were terrified, but the Jews never saw anything.” The translator’s main problem here is that readers will begin the verse assuming the Jews saw what was happening, but are not told until the end that they did not.

One possible model for this verse is:

• Then God—the most glorious, the almighty [or, all-powerful], the only true God—appeared to the Gentiles! They saw him open the gates of heaven, and two shining angels came down. The Gentiles were terrified, but the Jews saw none of this.

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.

Upon receiving this letter the Jews did not immediately hurry to make their departure, but they requested of the king … : The king’s letter was not addressed to the Jews (see 3 Macc 6.41–7.1), but the author presumes that the Jews received a copy of it. The letter gave the Jews protection as they returned home, but there was unfinished business. They wanted to put to death the Jews who had not been faithful during the persecution. To put people to death, they had to get permission from the king. This probably involved a trip to the palace, and we suggest saying that here to help the reader understand the difficult course of events in the following verses. A possible model for the first half of this verse is “When the Jews read King Philopator’s letter, they did not hurry to return home [or, to leave Alexandria]. They went to the king and asked permission….”

That at their own hands those of the Jewish nation who had willfully transgressed against the holy God and the law of God should receive the punishment they deserved: That at their own hands may be expressed as “if they could punish” (Contemporary English Version) or “if they could deal with.” Those of the Jewish nation who had willfully transgressed against the holy God and the law of God may be rendered “the Jews who had deliberately broken the Law of the holy God” or “the other Jews in Alexandria who had sinned against God and rejected his Law” (Contemporary English Version). For holy God, see 3 Macc 2.2. Should receive the punishment they deserved may be translated “and make sure that they were punished as they should be.”

We suggest reordering this verse as follows:

• When the Jews read this letter, they were in no hurry to leave Alexandria. They wanted to deal with the Jews who had deliberately broken the Law of the holy God, and make sure that they got the punishment they deserved. So they went to the king and asked permission to do this.

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.

Lord, Lord, king of the heavens, and sovereign of all creation, holy among the holy ones, the only ruler, almighty: The repetition of Lord is unusual, and indicates, along with the piling up of different addresses to God in this verse, the intensity of Simon’s prayer. We may vary this repetition, as does Contemporary English Version, by saying “Lord God.” But it may be better to translate it literally, if in the translator’s language, this repetition conveys the same sense of earnest pleading with God. King of the heavens may be rendered “King of heaven” (Contemporary English Version), understanding “heaven” as the place where God reigns as king. The heavens often means “the sky,” but that is not quite appropriate here. Sovereign of all creation describes God as the absolute ruler over everything in the universe. The holy ones probably refers to the angels, and holy among the holy ones describes God as surpassing the angels in holiness. Holy here indicates a quality that can describe both God and angels; they are awesome, they are pure, they deserve deep respect, they are different in quality from beings on earth. God is more holy (has greater taboo) than the angels because he deserves worship as well as awe and wonder. In this part of the verse God is addressed seven times, in six different ways (Lord being repeated). If these phrases seem strange in the translator’s language, they may be rendered as a statement or statements, for example, “Lord, Lord, you are king of heaven and the only ruler of the whole world. You are more holy [or, have greater taboo] than all the angels. Your power has no limits.”

Give attention to us asks God to hear the prayer of Simon and his fellow Jews and to grant them what they request. This clause may be rendered “Consider our situation,” “Look at our situation,” “Look at what we are enduring,” or even “Look at us!”

Who are suffering grievously does not imply a long state of suffering; it refers only to the desperate situation in which the Jews find themselves at this moment. This clause may be translated “We are in a terrible [or, desperate] situation.”

From an impious and profane man: The Greek words for impious and profane say substantially the same thing—Philopator cares nothing about what is holy.

Puffed up in his audacity and power: The Greek word translated puffed up pictures a horse snorting in defiance. Some translators may render this whole expression as “a man who is as arrogant as a horse snorting in defiance.” Many translators will prefer to render the relative clause who … power as an independent sentence, for example, “We are in a terrible situation because of a man who cares nothing about our religion, who is absolutely determined to do what he wants to do.”

Here is an alternative model for this verse:

• “Lord! Lord! King of heaven! Ruler alone of all the world! You are more holy than the angels and your power has no limits. Look at us! We are in a terrible situation! This man cares nothing about our religion! He is absolutely determined to do what he wants [to do]!

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.

When the impious king comprehended this situation: Translators will do well to name King Philopator at the beginning of this new section. Contemporary English Version is good with “As soon as the evil King Philopator….” This clause refers to the king realizing that his wishes (3 Macc 2.28-30) are not being carried out. While some Jews are deserting Judaism, others are remaining loyal, and finding some way to avoid punishment. So this situation may be rendered “what the Jews were doing to avoid being punished” (Contemporary English Version).

He became so infuriated that not only was he enraged against those Jews who lived in Alexandria: He became so infuriated may be rendered “he became terribly angry” (Contemporary English Version) or “his heart/liver became very hot.”

But was still more bitterly hostile toward those in the countryside: Perhaps Philopator had reason to believe that the Jews outside of Alexandria were more easily able to escape the demands he had made. In the countryside refers to those living in rural areas.

And he ordered that all should promptly be gathered into one place, and put to death by the most cruel means: The connector and may be rendered “so,” since it introduces the result of the king’s anger. He intends that all Jews in Egypt should be brought in one place, so that he can be sure they are all killed cruelly. Contemporary English Version takes the adverb promptly with the verb ordered, but we believe it goes with the verb be gathered. Still, we may rely on Contemporary English Version for the framework of a model for this verse as follows:

• As soon as the evil King Philopator learned what the Jews were doing to avoid being punished, he became terribly angry at the Jews in Alexandria and even more furious at those living in the countryside. So he ordered his men [or, soldiers] to quickly [or, immediately] bring all the Jews together and kill them all violently [or, in some violent way].

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.