And he is called giver may be rendered “We also call God the giver” or “People also say that God is the one who gives [or, pardons].”

Because if he did not give out of his goodness so that those who have committed iniquities might be relieved of them may be translated “because if he were not good enough to allow sinners to repent.” The idea here is that God grants people the ability to repent (compare Acts 5.31; 11.18; 2 Tim 2.25).

Not one ten-thousandth of mankind could have life: Here Uriel is stressing that very few people would gain eternal life if God did not allow them to repent. Not one ten-thousandth of mankind may be expressed as “hardly anyone at all.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• We also call God the giver, because if he were not good enough to allow sinners to repent, hardly anyone at all could have eternal life.

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.