But Jonathan burned Azotus and the surrounding towns and plundered them; and the temple of Dagon, and those who had taken refuge in it he burned with fire: Good News Bible has rearranged this verse in order to put the events in their actual order. Jonathan would have burned the temple of Dagon while burning Azotus, and attacked the outlying towns later. However, Jonathan and his troops must have looted Azotus as well as the surrounding towns, something that Good News Bible misses. They would have looted these towns before burning them.
A possible model for this verse is:
• But Jonathan and his soldiers burned Azotus, including the temple of Dagon with everyone inside it. They also burned the surrounding towns, and looted them along with Azotus.
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.
