It is shut off and given up to be consumed by fire: The image of the field overgrown with underbrush continues here. In order to use the field again, the farmer will burn it to remove the unwanted growth. Before setting the fire, though, he must do something to isolate it, so that the fire will not spread beyond where he wants it. The imagery here extends only so far. The writer is thinking only of the fire that destroys the dense growth, not of any future reuse of the field. Sinners will be destroyed like such a field. An alternative model for this verse is:

• Such a field is marked off and set on fire [or, A farmer will mark off such a field and set it on fire]. In the same way sinners are doomed [or, In the same way God will destroy sinners].”

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.