New Revised Standard Version puts a section break at the beginning of verse 6, where it places a section heading for the remainder of the chapter. New Revised Standard Version calls it “Foreign Wives and Their Children Rejected.” Revised Standard Version places paragraph divisions at verses 6, 9, and 16, and begins each one with the temporal marker Then. Good News Translation divides the section into paragraphs in relation to speeches and messages at verses 5, 7, 10, 12, and 16. The paragraphing of Good News Translation is recommended to translators.
Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God: The Hebrew verb for withdrew is the same that was translated “arose” at the beginning of the preceding verse, but here it is followed by the preposition from and a locative phrase. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translates fairly literally with “Ezra arose from where he was, in front of the House of God.” In English it is preferable to use a verb of motion with direction, as Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation have done. Bible en français courant renders it “Then Ezra left the court of the temple of God.”
And went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: Ezra then went to a chamber, a room for priests in the Temple, to continue his fast and mourning in preparation for the assembly three days later. This room was associated with a person named Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. Revised English Bible says “Jehohanan grandson of Eliashib” (based on Neh 12.22), but it is not known which Jehohanan is referred to here. Both names were very common names that occur several times in Ezra and Nehemiah. Good News Translation makes it explicit that the chamber was the “living quarters” of Jehohanan. The translator should not give the impression that this room was inside the Temple sanctuary itself (see Ezra 8.29; Neh 3.30).
Where he spent the night is from 1 Esdras 9.2. This is given a B rating by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project and is the preferred text for translation. The Hebrew has “where he went.” The phrase “he went” occurs twice in this verse. The first refers to going to the room, but this second occurrence may be related to the next part of the verse as follows: “He went there without eating bread….” New International Version translates “While he was there, he ate no food….”
Neither eating bread nor drinking water is literally “bread he did not eat and water he did not drink.” This word order puts emphasis on the “bread” and “water.” Ezra refrains from taking food and drink as a sign of his sorrow and distress over what had been reported to him. Good News Translation translates clearly here, and Contemporary English Version states it even more simply: “and he did not eat or drink a thing.” However, in many literary traditions it will be appropriate to use a pattern of repetition similar to the Hebrew original. See Ezra 8.21 for comments on fasting.
He was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles: More appropriately in this context, the meaning of the word mourning is “grieving” as Good News Translation renders it. The verb describes the attitude of a person in sorrow, in lamentation, or in mourning. Although there is no death over which Ezra is mourning, his sorrow is equal to that of a mourner as he grieves over the unfaithfulness of the people. For faithlessness see the comments at Ezra 9.2; for exiles see Ezra 1.11. A possible model here is “he was mourning because the people who had come back from exile had not been faithful to God” or “… had not obeyed the commands of God.”
Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Ezra. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .