He plundered the city: For plundered see verse 3. This clause may be rendered “His army took all the valuable possessions from the people in the city.”

Burned it with fire: Good News Bible says “set it on fire,” which is more idiomatic English, but the reader should understand that the city was not only set on fire, it actually burned. The fire did considerable damage. In some languages translators may say “used fire to burn down the city” or simply “burned it.”

And tore down its houses and its surrounding walls: Its houses and its surrounding walls refers to Jerusalem’s buildings and the walls that surrounded it.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• The general’s army took all the valuable possessions of the people and set the city on fire [or, used fire to burn it down]. They tore down its buildings [or, houses] and also the walls surrounding the city.

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.