But go into a field of flowers where no house has been built: The importance of the field where no house has been built will be made clear in 2 Esd 10.53-54.

And eat only of the flowers of the field, and taste no meat and drink no wine, but eat only flowers: For wine see 1 Esd 3.10. The Latin text speaks literally of eating flowers, but we can tell that this is not the author’s real intent. Compare verse 26, where Ezra sits among the flowers but eats plants. Compare also 2 Esd 12.51 and 2 Macc 5.27. We suggest translating this verse in such a way that it does not conflict with verse 26; for example, New English Bible says:

• but go to a flowery field where no house stands, and eat only what grows there—no meat or wine….

Another possible model is:

• Go to a field of wild flowers, where no house has ever been built [or, no one has ever built a house]. Do not eat meat or drink wine. Eat only what grows in the field.

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.