And when the Jews saw the dust raised by the elephants going out at the gate and by the following armed forces, as well as by the trampling of the crowd, and heard the loud and tumultuous noise: The Jews, huddled together in the stadium, could see what was going on. But they saw the dust raised by all the elephants and people, and heard the noise. They knew what was coming. But they would not actually see the king and the elephants until 3 Macc 6.16. The gate is not identified, but it probably was the gate of the enclosure where the elephants were kept. Contemporary English Version seems to identify it as the gate of stadium, which is incorrect. Armed forces refers to the soldiers. The following model of this verse joins the last clause to the next verse:

• The elephants were now coming out of their pens [or, the places where they were kept], soldiers were coming with them, and crowds of people were coming also. All this raised a lot of dust and made a lot of noise. When the Jews saw all the dust and heard the loud noises….

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.