And they burned the house of the Lord may be rendered “The Babylonians also burned down the Lord’s Temple.”

And broke down the walls of Jerusalem may be translated “and tore down the walls around Jerusalem.” The city walls were destroyed so that Jerusalem was no longer protected.

And burned their towers with fire: The pronoun their refers to the walls of Jerusalem. The towers were places where the wall around the city was built taller and stronger than the rest of the wall. They gave soldiers stationed there a wider view of the surrounding territory, as well as an advantage in battle. Towers were captured with more difficulty than the rest of the wall. Some languages will express towers as “high strong points on the wall.” Most translators will find the phrase with fire unnecessary since the verb burned in most languages includes the idea of fire.

Contemporary English Version gives a more logical order for the events in this verse by saying:

• The Babylonians burned down the temple and the towers in the city walls, and then they broke down those walls.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.