And when the materials of the sacrifice were consumed: See the comments on “the materials for the sacrifices” in verse 21. Here the word sacrifice is singular, but this word in Greek can refer to sacrifice as an occasion as well as to the sacrifice of an animal. Good News Bible uses the plural here for consistency. Translators may choose either option, but if sacrifice is used as a singular, care should be taken that there is not a conflict with verse 21. Were consumed refers to the fire completely burning the animals as well as the wood. For this clause Contemporary English Version has “Soon the fire burned up the offerings,” but it would be better to say “Soon the fire burned up the wood and the animals for the offering.” To understand the rest of the story we must assume that the fire continued to burn after this.

Nehemiah ordered that the liquid that was left should be poured upon large stones: Some of the liquid found by the priests (verse 20) was used in preparing the sacrifice (verse 21). The reference here is to that which was left over. Should be poured upon may be translated “they [or, the priests] should pour it over.” The Greek of the clause rendered that the liquid that was left should be poured upon large stones is difficult, and as would be expected, there is a textual problem. Some Greek manuscripts read “that great stones should enclose what remained of the liquid” (New English Bible footnote). There are two grammatical problems: (1) The word large is literally “larger,” but there is no indication of what they are larger than. Perhaps “larger stones than those of the altar” are meant. (2) The word upon is not in the text, so the words “larger stones” are not connected to anything. It is possible, as Goldstein supposes, that something has dropped out of the text, but even he does not attempt to restore the text in translation. Most scholars agree that the interpretation taken by Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible is the best that can be made here, and we suggest that translators follow it. In any case, the stones do not appear to be the stones of the altar. For whatever reason, Nehemiah wanted the leftover liquid poured on some different, and probably larger, stones.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• After the fire burned up the wood and the animals, Nehemiah ordered them [or, the priests] to take the rest of the thick black liquid and pour it over some large stones.

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.