They shall dash against one another: The pronoun They refers to the clouds. This clause may be rendered “They will collide head-on” (Good News Bible) or “They will crash into each other” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

And shall pour out a heavy tempest upon the earth, and their own tempest: Tempest renders the Latin word for “star” (sidus; see the comments on verse 13). Here we understand the Latin phrase for a heavy tempest to mean “a group of stars,” since the word for heavy is literally “copious.” Myers translates “a host of stars.” To be sure, it is a strange picture for a host of stars to fall from the sky, but that is normal in this type of literature (compare Rev 6.13). We may render this clause as “and a heavy rain of stars will fall to the earth, including the greatest of their stars” or “and a large numbers of stars will fall to the earth….” The “host of stars” probably refers to military leaders, and “their own star” (their own tempest) to one leader in particular.

And there shall be blood from the sword as high as a horse’s belly and a man’s thigh and a camel’s hock: Compare Rev 14.20. Here the word sword is an image for “war” (Good News Bible), as in 2Esdras 15.5 (see the comments there). For a discussion on horse and camel, see the comments on 1 Esd 5.41-43. The hock of an animal, such as a camel, a horse, or a dog, is not really the “knee” (Good News Bible), but the ankle of the hind legs. The ankle of such animals is about halfway between the body and the ground, like a human knee, but it bends in the opposite direction—backward. The animal’s real knee is higher up, under the belly. The animal actually walks on its toes. However, since the camel’s knee (on the front legs) is at about the same height as the hock (on the hind legs), we can translate “knees” here with no problem. This clause may be translated “Blood from the war that follows will be as deep as a horse’s belly, or a person’s thigh, or a camel’s knee.”

An alternative model for verses 35-36 is:

• 35 They will collide head-on [or, with each other], and a heavy rain of stars will fall to earth [or, a huge number of stars will fall to the earth], including the greatest of their stars. Blood from the war that follows will be as deep as a horse’s belly [or, reach up to a horse’s stomach], 36 or a person’s thigh, or a camel’s knee.

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.