And leaving them (Good News Translation “Jesus left them”) translates a participial construction in Greek which is dependent upon the main verb went out. Good News Bible‘s restructuring is purely stylistic.

If the pronoun them must be translated more explicitly, one can say “the people in the Temple.” At least one commentator notes that the action of Jesus is both solemn and symbolic; when he leaves the Temple, God himself departs from the Jewish system of worship.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .