They also fled into the towers that were in the fields of Azotus, and John burned it with fire: For the towers that were in the fields, see the comments on 1Macc 5.5. (The towers of Azotus are actually pictured on an ancient map that survives.) It is not clear what John burned. Perhaps the author means Kedron; perhaps he means the towers. The pronoun it refers to Azotus, so the text literally says that he burned Azotus (which Jonathan had already burned according to 1Macc 10.84), and this is what translators must say. Good News Bible has a helpful model for the first half of this verse. So does Contemporary English Version with “Others reached the towers in the open country near the town of Azotus. But John burned the town.”

And about two thousand of them fell. And he returned to Judea safely: Good News Bible‘s combination of these two clauses into one sentence is effective, but it should say “about 2,000 enemy soldiers” rather than “2,000 enemy soldiers.”

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.