6:31. And they went through Idumea, and approached to Bethsura, and fought many days, and they made engines: but they sallied forth, and burnt them with fire, and fought manfully.
But they sallied forth. . .That is, the citizens of Bethsura sallied forth and burnt them, that is, burnt the engines of the besiegers.
6:32. And Judas departed from the castle, and removed the camp to Bethzacharam, over against the king's camp.
6:33. And the king rose before it was light, and made his troops march on fiercely towards the way of Bethzacharam: and the armies made themselves ready for the battle, and they sounded the trumpets:
6:34. And they shewed the elephants the blood of grapes, and mulberries, to provoke them to fight.
6:35. And they distributed the beasts by the legions: and there stood by every elephant a thousand men in coats of mail, and with helmets of brass on their heads: and five hundred horsemen set in order were chosen for every beast.
6:36. These before the time wheresoever the beast was they were there: and whithersoever it went, they went, and they departed not from it.
These before the time. . .That is, these were ready for every occasion.
6:37. And upon the beast, there were strong wooden towers which covered every one of them: and engines upon them, and upon every one thirty-two valiant men, who fought from above: and an Indian to rule the beast.
6:38. And the rest of the horsemen he placed on this side and on that side, at the two wings, with trumpets to stir up the army, and to hasten them forward that stood thick together in the legions thereof.