The king then, admitting and approving the truth of what they said: The king was persuaded by the argument of the faithful Jews. The verbs admitting and approving have the same meaning, so they may be combined. A model that does this is “The king agreed that everything they said was true.”

Granted them a general license so that freely and without royal authority or supervision they might destroy those everywhere in his kingdom who had transgressed the law of God: He gave the Jews complete authority to kill any Jew in Egypt who had violated Jewish law, the Law of God. They could do this without any legal formalities or interference of any kind from the government. A general license means permission to do as they liked. So that freely and without royal authority or supervision may be rendered “without going through any legal procedures.” They might destroy those everywhere in his kingdom who had transgressed the law of God may be translated “they could kill any Jew in Egypt who had violated [or, transgressed] God’s Law.”

Here is an alternative model for this verse:

• King Philopator agreed that everything they said was true, and gave them permission to do as they liked. They could kill any Jew in Egypt who had violated God’s Law, and do so without going through any further legal procedures.

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.