Say to her, ‘You produce gold and silver and brass, and also iron and lead and clay; but silver is more abundant than gold, and brass than silver, and iron than brass, and lead than iron, and clay than lead’: These verses make it clear that the earth produces less gold than any other mineral mentioned here (compare 2 Esd 8.2). For gold and silver, see the comments on 1 Esd 2.6-7. The Latin word for brass, which is a mixture of copper and zinc, can also refer to “copper” (Good News Bible) and “bronze” (New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version), which is a mixture of copper and tin. In this context it may best to refer to copper. For lead and clay, see verse 52. The earth does not respond here. Following through with the model of verse 54, in which we do not actually have someone speaking to the earth, we suggest this model for verses 55-56:

• 55 The earth produces gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and clay. 56 But there is more silver than there is gold. There is more copper than silver, more iron than copper, more lead than iron, and more clay than lead.

If translators prefer to address the earth, the following model is possible:

• Say to her, ‘You produce gold, silver….’

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.