And someone heedlessly said that it was wrong to take this as a sign in itself: The Greek is literally “And someone foolishly said it would be wrong to consider that [the fact that he has entered other temples] as a marvel.” The implication is not entirely clear, but the author helps us by telling us that it was a foolish thing to say. Perhaps the person meant “I’m not surprised at that. Gentiles don’t care what goes on in their temples.” Perhaps he meant “Big deal! You can’t go into our Temple!” Perhaps he meant “That doesn’t prove anything. You still can’t enter our Temple.” Contemporary English Version assumes the last sense, and it may be used as a model:

• Without thinking, someone foolishly answered, “You’re wrong to think you can go into this temple, just because you’ve gone into others.”

Another possible model is:

• At that point someone said—and it was a foolish thing to say—that it didn’t matter how many other temples he had entered.

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.