The eagle which you saw coming up from the sea is the fourth kingdom which appeared in a vision to your brother Daniel: For The eagle which you saw coming up from the sea, see 2 Esd 11.1. The fourth kingdom which appeared in a vision to your brother Daniel refers to Dan 7.7, 19, 23. In the book of Daniel the “fourth beast” represents the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great, but our author reinterprets it to refer to the Roman Empire. It was Daniel who called it the fourth kingdom (Dan 7.23). Brother is not a kinship term here, but means that Ezra and Daniel belonged in the same category of writers telling of the end of time. An alternative model for this verse is:

• The eagle that you saw coming up from the sea is what Daniel, who had visions like yours, called the fourth kingdom.

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.