From there he departed to Gaza, but the men of Gaza shut him out: The Philistine city of Gaza lay on the Mediterranean coast about 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) south of Ascalon, so departed to Gaza may be rendered “went south to Gaza.” Gaza was close enough to Egypt that its inhabitants probably hesitated to welcome anyone representing Seleucid power. Shut him out means refused to let him enter. Good News Bible has “barred their gates against him,” and Contemporary English Version says “refused to let them [Jonathan and his soldiers] enter.”

So he besieged it and burned its suburbs with fire and plundered them: For besieged see the comments on 6.19-20. Its suburbs refers to villages surrounding the city of Ascalon. When under attack, the people who lived there would have sought safety behind the walls of the city. Plundered them may be rendered “took everything of value from the inhabitants there” (see the comments on 1Macc 1.3). Jonathan’s soldiers would have looted the villages before burning them.

The following model of this verse is based on Contemporary English Version‘s rendering:

• He led his troops to the town of Gaza, but its people refused to let them enter. Then they surrounded the town. They took everything of value from the villages nearby and then burned the villages.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.