They also possessed greater prestige among their enemies, being held in honor and awe: They also possessed greater prestige among their enemies is literally “And greater prestige than before among the enemies.” Revised Standard Version does not translate part of the meaning here. Since King Ptolemy Philopator had shown such favorable treatment of the Jews, people elsewhere in the world came to have a higher respect for them. Honor and awe may be taken as having the same meaning. We may render this whole sentence as “From then on, the enemies of the Jews had a greater respect for them than they had ever had before, and actually gave them honor.”

And they were not subject at all to confiscation of their belongings by any one: The king’s previous order that Jewish belongings could be seized was taken back (3 Macc 3.28). The next verse clarifies this. This clause may be expressed as “None of their enemies were able to take any of their belongings anymore.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• From then on the enemies of the Jews had a greater respect for them than they had ever had before, and actually gave them honor. No one was able to take any of their belongings anymore.

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.