And from all the multitude of peoples thou hast gotten for thyself one people: This clause refers to the constant theme in the Old Testament of Israel as God’s chosen people. It may be rendered “From all the many nations that exist, you chose only one to be your own” or “You have chosen only one nation to be your own out of the multitude [or, many, many] nations in the world.” Since one people refers to Israel, we may also say “You have chosen us to be your people from all the many nations on earth.”

And to this people, whom thou hast loved, thou hast given the law which is approved by all: This people, whom thou hast loved is not quite what the Latin says. A more accurate model is “this people, whom it was your will to select” or “this people, your specially chosen people.” The law is the Law of Moses, the Torah. Latin does not have articles, whether definite or indefinite, and the law may be better translated “a law,” meaning “a code of law.” The word all refers to all humanity, although it is hard to find parallels to the idea of all peoples giving their approval to the Law of Moses. Deut 4.8 is close, but even there it is Israel who claims her Law to be superior, not other nations recognizing it as such. But this clause is the climax of the series of images for Israel in verses 23-27. God has always been favoring the small, the inconspicuous, but in the end, he honors this smallest of peoples with the greatest of all gifts: his Law.

Here are alternative models for this verse:

• From all the many, many nations that exist, you chose only one to be your own, and to this people, your specially chosen people, you gave a code [or, system] of law which all the other nations respect.

• You chose only us to be your special people from all the nations that exist in the world. And to us you gave….

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.