And burned the gate and shed innocent blood is literally “and they burned the gate and they shed….” It is not said who did this. The gate refers to the large wooden gates leading into the Temple area. In 1Macc 4.38 we read that the Temple gates had been burned, and in 2Macc 8.33 the burning of the gates is described, but it is not attributed to Jason. Jason is certainly charged with shedding innocent blood in 2Macc 5.6. In Greek the third person plural of the active voice can be used in an impersonal sense, the equivalent of a passive, and it is probably best to take it in this way here. We suggest moving “in those years” from verse 7 to this point. An alternative rendering for the beginning of this verse is “In those years the Temple gates were burned and innocent people were slaughtered.” Translators who cannot use the passive voice may make Jason and his men the subject of the verbs here (so Good News Bible). A model that does this is “They [or, Jason and his men] had burned the Temple gates and slaughtered innocent people.”

We besought the Lord and we were heard: The Greek word for Lord (kurios) is the equivalent of the Hebrew word ʾadonay, which means “one who rules” or “master.” In some languages the word for Lord is also the word used to translate “chief” and so the word “God” is added to make it clear who is being referred to; for example, “the Chief God.” We besought the Lord may be rendered “We prayed to the Lord” (similarly Good News Bible). We were heard means that the Lord granted what they prayed for (see the comments on verse 5), which of course was deliverance from persecution. Good News Bible says “he answered our prayers,” which is a good model.

And we offered sacrifice and cereal offering: The rest of the verse describes the rededication of the Temple in 164 b.c., which is described in more detail in 1Macc 4.36-61 and 2Macc 10.1-8. The Greek word for sacrifice does not specify a particular kind of sacrifice. Whole burnt offerings may be in view here (see 1Macc 4.53, 56). Good News Bible reasonably translates we offered sacrifice as “we sacrificed animals.” Cereal offering refers to the “offerings of grain” (Good News Bible) referred to in Lev 2. We are not sure what grain was used, but since Lev 2.1 refers to “fine flour,” we may suppose that wheat, the best grain available, was used. Flour is grain that has been ground to a powder for use in cooking and baking. An alternative model for this whole clause is “We then sacrificed animals, and brought offerings of fine flour [to the Lord].”

And we lighted the lamps and we set out the loaves: See 1Macc 4.50-51 and the comments there; see also 2Macc 10.3. Good News Bible provides a helpful model here, saying “lit the lamps in the Temple, and set out the sacred loaves.”

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.