They have seen no prophets, yet will recall their former state: For prophets see 2Esdras 1.1. Recall their former state is literally “recall their antiquity.” Revised Standard Version‘s textual footnote here may be ignored. It is not clear whether the pronoun their refers to the people still to come or to the prophets. If this pronoun refers to the coming people, this verse means these people have not had the benefit of hearing the prophets, but they have learned from their own history. If it refers to the prophets, the meaning is that even though this coming people never had prophets, they will still obey what the prophets long ago taught. We prefer the former meaning (so first model below), but translators may choose the latter one (so second model). Here are two models for this verse:

• They will learn from their own history, even though they never saw one of my prophets.

• They never heard any of the prophets, but they will live by the teachings of the prophets who lived long ago.

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.