But the Lord sent upon the king a portion of sleep, that beneficence which from the beginning, night and day, is bestowed by him who grants it to whomever he wishes: The order of words in the Greek text here is much different from that of Revised Standard Version; it is a flowery, suspenseful buildup to the announcement that the king was sound asleep. Translators will probably want to follow roughly the order in Revised Standard Version. But the Lord sent upon the king a portion of sleep may be rendered simply “But the Lord had caused the king to sleep.” That beneficence which from the beginning, night and day may be expressed as “Sleep is a good thing that the Lord, from the beginning of time, has given to anyone he wishes, night or day.” Is bestowed by him who grants it to whomever he wishes may be rendered “And now the Lord was letting Philopator have a little nap.” In this model we try to reflect the flowery and suspenseful buildup in the Greek with a bit of irony, saying that God chose this particular time (in answer to the Jews’ prayer, of course) to give the king some sleep. It was not “a little nap,” of course, but a deep sleep. If the irony here would not be evident, translators should say “deep sleep” (Contemporary English Version). An alternative model for this verse is:

• But the Lord had caused the king to fall asleep. Sleep is a good thing that the Lord, from the beginning of time, has given to anyone he wishes, at any time of day or night. And now the Lord was giving Philopator a little nap [or, a deep sleep].

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.