And as for her telling you that she was barren for thirty years may be rendered “When she told you that for thirty years she had no children” (Good News Bible) or simply “She told you that for thirty years she was not able to have a child.”

It is because there were three thousand years in the world before any offering was offered in it: Instead of three thousand years, the Latin text has “three years” (see the Good News Bible footnote). Clearly the reading of “three thousand years” in the ancient versions is better. Scholars are not agreed on the significance of the three thousand years. The idea of this clause seems to be that the world was in existence for 3,000 years before the Temple in Jerusalem was built, where the people offered sacrifices to God (see Stone, pages 336-337, for more discussion on this). Before any offering was offered in it may be rendered “before they offered any sacrifices in Jerusalem.” Instead of the pronoun it, the Latin text has “her” (Revised Standard Version footnote), which refers to Jerusalem, not the world.

We recommend Good News Bible as a model here, but translators may want to consider saying “in Jerusalem [or, Zion]” instead of “there” at the end of the verse.

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.