And Nehemiah and Attharias told them not to share in the holy things: Good News Bible is almost certainly correct by rendering the Greek phrase for and Attharias as “the governor.” Attharias is a misunderstanding of the title “Tirshatha” in Ezra 2.63 and Neh 7.65. Elsewhere this term is applied to Nehemiah (Neh 8.9; 10.1), and in Neh 5.14 we read that Nehemiah was appointed governor (where a more common Hebrew word is used) by the Emperor Artaxerxes. The holy things clearly refers to “the food offered to God” (Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version; see Ezra 2.63; Neh 7.65). Those who could not prove their priestly lineage were forbidden to eat food from the offerings allotted to the priests (Lev 2.3; 7.1-6, 32-36). Only priests could eat it.

Until a high priest should appear wearing Urim and Thummim: Those who could not prove their priestly lineage could not eat the sacred food until God told a High Priest they could do so. The high priest was the leader of the priests. The Urim and Thummim were two cultic objects (possibly stones or carved objects like dice) that yielded yes-or-no responses when the High Priest needed to ascertain the will of God. They were the sacred lots that the High Priest had in his breastpiece (see Exo 28.30; Lev 8.8). However, the Hebrew terms Urim and Thummim found in Ezra 2.63 and Neh 7.65 are not used here. The Greek clause here is literally “until a High Priest should arise clothed in revelation and truth.” It is legitimate for translators to use the indirect reference of the Greek text (so Good News Bible, King James Version, Revised English Bible, An American Translation), or to follow Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version in using the Hebrew terms. Good News Bible has “until there was a High Priest who could use the Revelation and Truth.” Good News Bible also adds an explanatory footnote. Another possible rendering for Urim and Thummim is “the sacred lots” or “the lots of God.” Translators should consult what they have done earlier (for example, at Num 27.21; Deut 33.8; 1 Sam 14.41; 28.6).

An alternative model for this verse is:

• The governor Nehemiah* would not allow them to eat the food offered to God until a High Priest could decide, using the sacred lots [or, stones called Urim and Thummim].
* The governor Nehemiah is the probable meaning; Greek Nehemiah and Attharias.

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.