The people of Israel who came from the captivity kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month: Since this Passover celebration took place after the return from exile, we prefer to render The people of Israel as “The Jews.” For kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, see the comments on 1 Esd 1.1. Good News Bible says “celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month of the following year.” This model helps the reader associate this ceremony with the dedication of the Temple that took place one month earlier (see 1 Esdras 7.5).

After the priests and the Levites were purified together: The verb purified refers to a ritual washing of the body and clothing (Num 8.7, 21), a procedure to make a person qualified for a holy responsibility, not simply to get clean of dirt. Together indicates that the priests and Levites did this at the same time. This clause may be rendered “The priests and the Levites had gone through a cleansing ceremony together to make themselves acceptable to God.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• The Jews who returned from the exile celebrated the Passover a few weeks later, on the fourteenth day of the first month of the year. The priests and the Levites had purified themselves together for the occasion [or, had gone together through a cleansing ceremony to make themselves acceptable to God].

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.