The king, after considering this, returned to his drinking: Contemporary English Version translates The king, after considering this as “Philopator was still confused.” The idea of confusion is not explicit in the Greek text, but it simply says that it took some time for Philopator to clearly realize what was happening. A more accurate rendering is “The king thought this over.”

And ordered those present for the banquet to recline opposite him: Those present for the banquet refers to the guests mentioned in verse 14. To recline indicates the posture usually taken for a meal—lying down. If this posture is too strange, translators can follow Contemporary English Version by saying “to sit down.”

A possible model for this verse is:

• The king thought this over, then started drinking again. He told his guests to come in and join him.

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.