And she said to me may be rendered “She answered” (Good News Bible), since the woman answers Ezra’s question.

Your servant was barren and had no child, though I lived with my husband thirty years: Your servant is a respectful way of referring to herself in Ezra’s presence, the presence of someone whom she addressed as “my lord” (verse 41). But again some respectful kinship term may be used. Was barren means in itself that she had no child. This idea does not have to be repeated (so Good News Bible). The time of thirty years recalls that the Israelites had spent thirty years in Babylonian exile (see 2 Esd 3.1).

An alternative model for this verse is:

• She said, “Sir, I lived with my husband for thirty years, but I was never able to have a child.

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.