After the party had been going on for some time may be rendered “When they had all been eating and drinking [wine] for some time [or, quite a long time],” “When the party was well underway,” or even “Some time later” (Contemporary English Version).

The king summoned Hermon and with sharp threats demanded to know why the Jews had been allowed to remain alive through the present day: When Philopator first woke up, he was told what had happened, but by this time he was probably drunk enough not to remember, so he called Hermon and demanded to know why the Jews were still alive. The phrase with sharp threats may be placed at the end of the verse by rendering it “and he threatened him [Hermon] sharply.” In some languages it will be necessary to say what the threats were as follows: “He said to Hermon, ‘I am going to punish you severely for disobeying me.’ ”

Here are alternative models for this verse:

• When the party was well under way, the king called Hermon. He demanded to know why the Jews had not been killed that day, and threatened the man sharply.

• When everyone had drunk a lot of wine, the king called Hermon, and said to him “Why haven’t you killed all the Jews today? [or, Why are all the Jews still alive today?] I am going to punish you severely for disobeying me!”

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.