And he said, “Call the young men, and they shall explain their statements”: The pronoun he of course refers to the king. The young men are the three bodyguards. They shall explain their statements is the king’s way of saying that the young men will be given a chance to explain their choices. The king is not threatening the young men in any way.

So they were summoned, and came in: In languages that do not have a passive voice, translators may indicate here that the king’s servants called the three young men into the throne room, as in the following model for this verse:

• The king then said, “Call the young men in. I will ask each of them to explain his choice [or, what he wrote].” So the officials [or, servants] called the young men, and they entered [the throne room].

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.