And as for your seeing wind and fire and a storm coming out of his mouth: The phrase And as for your seeing may be rendered “You watched [or, saw].” Wind and fire and a storm coming out of his mouth refers to the man breathing fire and a storm of sparks (see verse 10). We may render this whole clause as “You saw this man breathe out fire and a storm of sparks [or, a fiery storm].”

And as for his not holding a spear or weapon of war: See the comments on 2Esdras 13.9.

Yet destroying the onrushing multitude which came to conquer him: See the comments on verses 9 and 11. This clause may be translated “but he still destroyed [or, wiped out] the crowd of people who were rushing to attack him.”

This is the interpretation may be expressed as “This is what it means.” The actual interpretation of Ezra’s dream does not begin until verse 36.

Here are possible models for verses 27-28:

• 27 You saw the man’s fiery breath and the storm [of sparks] coming from his mouth. 28 You saw that he did not have a spear or any other weapon, but still destroyed the army of people that were on their way to conquer him. Here is what that means:….

• … but he still wiped out the huge crowd of people who were rushing to attack him. Here is the meaning:….

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.