By whose order are you building this house and this roof and finishing all the other things?: The royal officials doubt that the Jews have permission to rebuild the Temple, and suspect that it is against the interest of the empire to allow it. The governor must not have received his copy of the letter mentioned in 1 Esd 4.47-48. This roof refers to the roof of the Temple. Good News Bible provides a good model for this question, saying “Who gave you orders to build this Temple and complete this roof and everything else?”

And who are the builders that are finishing these things?: In verse 12, in a letter to the king, these officials report that they asked for the names of the leaders responsible for building the Temple. Contemporary English Version renders this question as a strong command, saying “Give us the names of the workers!” This is an acceptable model, and some translators may wish to follow it.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• “Who gave you permission to rebuild this Temple? Who gave you permission to put a roof on it, and finish the work? Who are the people responsible for this work?”

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.