Perhaps you would have said to me may be rendered simply “You would probably say.” This quote frame introduces another quote within a quote. Some languages may prefer to use indirect speech for this embedded quote; for example, Contemporary English Version begins this verse with “Ezra, if I had asked such questions, you would have told me that you had never….”

I never went down into the deep: The deep is better rendered “the bottom of the ocean” (Contemporary English Version; see the comments on 2Esdras 4.7).

Nor as yet into hell: Hell probably refers to the world of the dead (see 2Esdras 4.7).

Neither did I ever ascend into heaven: Heaven refers to the place where the righteous live with God (see 2Esdras 4.7).

Here are possible models for verses 7-8:

• 7 He said, “Suppose I asked you how many dwelling places there are in the depths of the ocean, or how many undersea streams fill the ocean, or how many paths there are in the sky for the stars to follow, or asked you where the exits from hell or the entrances into paradise are. 8 You would probably say, ‘I’ve never been to the bottom of the ocean, I haven’t been to the world of the dead, and I have never gone up to heaven.’

• 7 The angel said to me, “Suppose I asked you how many things live at the bottom of the ocean, or how many streams flow into the water beneath the earth, or how many streams flow in the waters above the sky. Or suppose I asked you where the exits from the world of the dead or the entrances into paradise [or, heaven] are. 8 You would probably say, ‘I’ve never been to the bottom of the ocean….’

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.