He said to me may be rendered simply “He replied.”

Ask a woman’s womb, and say to it, ‘If you bear ten children, why one after another?’: In many languages it will be more natural to have Ezra asking this question to a woman, not her womb; for example, Revised English Bible renders this whole sentence as “Think of a woman’s womb: say to a woman, ‘If you give birth to ten children, why do you do so at intervals?’ ”

Request it therefore to produce ten at one time: In the Latin text it is not clear whether this sentence is part of what Ezra should say to the woman (so Good News Bible), or whether it is a command to Ezra (so Revised Standard Version). We think the former understanding is better, which Revised English Bible follows by saying “Why not give birth to ten at one and the same time?”

Good News Bible uses indirect discourse for the second level of speech in this verse, which many languages will find helpful. However, in languages that require direct speech for both levels translators may revise Good News Bible‘s model as follows:

• He replied, “That would be like saying to a woman who had given birth to ten children one after the other, ‘Why didn’t you give birth to them all at exactly the same time?’ ”

We believe Revised Standard Version is on good grounds in its textual decisions in verses 45 and 46, but suggest the following footnote at the end of this verse: “The Latin text of verses 45-46 is not entirely clear.”

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.