He answered me and said: The verb answered is not a good choice of words in this context; nothing has been asked. This quote frame is better rendered “He replied” (Good News Bible) or “He said.”

Weigh within yourself what you have thought: As the Revised Standard Version footnote indicates, the Latin manuscripts have rather different readings here, but they all point in the same direction. The idea is that Ezra is asked to consider the implications of what he has just said. In our judgment translators do not need to include a textual footnote here. This clause may be translated “Think about what you have just said.”

For he who has what is hard to get rejoices more than he who has what is plentiful: Good News Bible has a good model here, and so does Contemporary English Version with “Whoever has something that is rare is happier than someone who has something that is plentiful.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• He replied, “Think, then, about what you have just said. People are happier to have something that is hard to get rather something that can be found anywhere.

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.