By the mighty hand of our Lord refers to God’s help in finding the Temple staff that Ezra and his group needed. The mighty hand of our Lord is an idiomatic expression referring to God’s power. The pronoun our refers to Ezra and his group. This whole phrase may be rendered “Our Lord’s mighty power was with us [or, them]” or “God was helping us with his mighty power” (Contemporary English Version).

They brought us competent men …: It will be good to begin a new sentence here beginning with a connector such as “So.” The pronoun they refers to the ten men sent by Ezra (verses 43-44), and the pronoun us refers to Ezra and his group. Competent men renders the same Greek adjective translated “men of understanding” in verse 44 (see the comments there).

Of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, eighteen; also Hashabiah and Annunus and Jeshaiah his brother, of the sons of Hananiah, and their sons, twenty men: Four of the competent men they brought were Levites named Sherebiah, Hashabiah, Annunus, and Jeshaiah. Sherebiah had 18 of his sons and other relatives come with him. The other three had 17 sons come with them, making their total twenty men. Namely is a translation of the Greek connective conjunction to indicate that the name Sherebiah goes with the preceding description and is not a reference to another person. Sherebiah was from the Mahli family. Mahli was the son of Merari and grandson of Levi (Num 3.17, 20). Son of Levi here means “descended from Levi,” thus a Levite and qualified for Temple duty. Levi is identified as son of Israel, that is, a literal son of Jacob, an ancestor of all the Israelites. Israel and “Jacob” are two names for the same man (see Gen 32.28). We prefer the name “Jacob” here. Hashabiah, Annunus, and Jeshaiah were from the Hananiah family (compare the parallel passage of Ezra 8.19, which refers to the “Merari” family). The pronoun his in the phrase his brother refers to Annunus. The Revised Standard Version footnote indicates that the form of the name Sherebiah in the Greek text is “Asebebias.” We prefer the Hebrew forms of the names used in the Old Testament, so this footnote is unnecessary.

Here is an alternative model for verses 47-48:

• 47 Our Lord’s mighty power was with us [or, them]. So they brought back to us sensible [or, competent/skillful] men from the Mahli family, who were descended from Levi, the son of Jacob. These men were Sherebiah and 18 of his sons and other [male] relatives. 48 There were also Hashabiah and Annunus along with his brother Jeshaiah from the Hananiah family. These three brought all their sons, making 20 more men.

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.