Gentlemen, is not wine the strongest, since it forces men to do these things?: This question sums up the first guard’s argument. Since wine effectively removes a person’s ability to think clearly, it is surely the strongest thing in the world. The question is rhetorical, not expecting an answer. So it may be expressed as a statement (so Good News Bible). For Gentlemen see the comments on verse 18.

When he had said this, he stopped speaking: Good News Bible has simply “he concluded.”

Alternative models for this verse are:

• Honorable sirs, since wine makes people do things like this, it is surely the most powerful force in the world.” That was how the first speaker argued.

• … That is what the first speaker said.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.