And some joined them from the other peoples of the land may be rendered “Some non-Jewish people from the land of Judah assisted them.” The other peoples of the land refers to foreign people living alongside the Jews in the land of Judah.

And they erected the altar in its place: Here the Greek text clearly says they rebuilt the altar on its original site, which was in front of the Temple. In our model below we move this clause to the beginning of the verse.

For all the peoples of the land were hostile to them and were stronger than they: The key to understanding this verse is the Greek verb translated were stronger. Here were stronger than they is best translated “supported them [in the undertaking]” (so Myers). This verb has the same sense in 1 Esd 7.15. In the first clause the author tells us that some of the other inhabitants of Judah, other than the newly returned Jews, assisted them. But this statement calls for explanation, so the writer tells us that the Jews succeeded in rebuilding the altar because the non-Jewish population gave them their support, in spite of the fact that they were hostile to them.

And they offered sacrifices at the proper times and burnt offerings to the Lord morning and evening: The conjunction and may be rendered “Then” (Good News Bible). After the altar was rebuilt, the burnt offerings and other sacrifices were made at their proper times in the morning and evening (see Exo 29.38-46; Num 28.3-8).

Here are possible models for this verse:

• They were able to rebuild the altar in the same place as the original [or, first] altar, because they had the support of the non-Jewish population of the land, even though the two groups were hostile to one another. Some even helped. The Jews then began making the regular [or, proper] morning and evening sacrifices.

• They were able to rebuild the altar in the same place as the first altar, because non-Jewish people in the land of Judah supported them. Some of these people even helped the Jews building the altar, even though the two groups were hostile to each other. The Jews then….

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.