Where are the benefits which I bestowed on you?: The benefits are the good things God gave to his people (see verse 9). This question does not ask the location of these benefits, but rather asks “Can you give me any indication that you remember and appreciate the benefits I gave you?” It is a rhetorical question, so it does not expect an answer. It may be expressed as a strong statement by saying “You have forgotten all the ways I protected and supported you.”

When you were hungry and thirsty in the wilderness: The wilderness refers to the Sinai Wilderness. This wilderness was located in today’s Sinai Peninsula to the northeast of Egypt and south of Palestine. This wilderness was for the most part not a desert; rather, it was a remote, rather dry area, with few human inhabitants. It has some trees and other vegetation (see verse 20). (Nomads with flocks could inhabit the region, as Moses did when he first fled from Egypt [see Exo 2.15-17].) The target language term chosen should not suggest a “desert” (Good News Bible) of sand with dunes and little else.

Did you not cry out to me: This quote frame introduces what the Israelites said to God in verse 18. It is another rhetorical question, so it may be rendered as a statement by saying “you cried out to me [for help].”

Here is an alternative model for this verse:

• Have you forgotten all the ways I protected and supported you? When you were hungry and thirsty in the wilderness, you cried out to me to help you.

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.