For such a great community ought not to be left to its fate when it had committed no offense: The well-meaning Greeks realized that the Jews had done nothing to deserve what was happening, and that something should be done to help them. The conjunction For may be rendered “They felt that.” Its fate refers to the “persecution” or “suffering” of the Jews. So we may render this verse as “They felt that there should be some way to help the Jews avoid persecution [or, suffering], since they had done nothing wrong” or “They felt that there must be some way that they could prevent the Jews from being persecuted, since….”

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.