And they went in by the narrow passages of the Euphrates river: It is not clear whether the narrow passages refers to natural narrow passages or to narrow passages opened up miraculously for the people to cross the Euphrates River (see verse 44). Good News Bible‘s translation of this verse accepts the first interpretation, which makes good sense to us, as does the way it joins this verse to verse 44. Contemporary English Version also follows this interpretation, and we will provide that model at the end of the discussion on verse 44.

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.