And ordered him on the following day to drug all the elephants—five hundred in number … : King Philopator told Hermon to feed the elephants something to make them wild and uncontrollable, so that they would trample the Jews to death in the stadium (compare 1 Macc 6.34). On the following day refers to the day after the king gave the orders; it does not mean he waited a day to give the orders. To drug all the elephants means the animals were to be given something to make them act in an unusual way; the idea may come across in translation without actually expressing the word drug. What follows makes what was happening pretty clear. We may render the beginning of this verse as “and told him that on the next day he must give all five hundred of the elephants … ” or “and said, ‘Tomorrow, give all five hundred of your elephants….’ ”

With large handfuls of frankincense and plenty of unmixed wine: Frankincense is the resin of a certain plant that was used as an ingredient in perfumes and incense. People must have thought it made elephants act crazy (whether it actually would is beside the point here), but it was a valuable commodity. The author may be intending to show how much Philopator was willing to spend to kill the Jews. Unmixed wine probably refers to wine that had not been diluted with water. We may render this whole phrase as “large amounts of frankincense and undiluted wine [or, wine not mixed with water].” In 3 Macc 5.45 we are told that the elephants were given frankincense mixed with wine. It seems that, although the wine was not mixed with water, it was mixed with frankincense. It would be very difficult to make elephants swallow frankincense separately. So translators may make this clear by saying “large amounts of frankincense mixed with plenty of undiluted wine.”

To drive them in means Hermon had to send the elephants into the stadium where the Jews were being kept. In most languages this clause will follow the next one (see our model below).

Maddened by the lavish abundance of liquor: The Greek word translated liquor refers to drinks of any kind—in this case the wine. It does not refer to distilled spirits, with a very high alcoholic content; such drinks were unknown in ancient times. This clause may be rendered simply “when they were acting wild” or “after the elephants were angry and confused” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

So that the Jews might meet their doom may be rendered “so that they [the elephants] would trample the Jews to death” or simply “so that the Jews would all die.”

Here is an alternative model for this verse:

• … and told him that on the next day he was to give all five hundred of his elephants large amounts of frankincense mixed with plenty of undiluted wine [or, wine not mixed with any water]. Then, when the elephants were acting wild, he was to drive them in where the Jews were [or, into the stadium], so that the elephants would trample the Jews to death.

In languages that prefer direct speech here, the following model may be used (see also Contemporary English Version):

• … and said to him, “Tomorrow, give all five hundred of your elephants large amounts of frankincense mixed with plenty of undiluted wine. Then when they are acting wild, you must drive them into where the Jews are [or, into the stadium], so that they will trample all the Jews and kill them.”

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.