And from the beginning all have been born of her, and others will come: All human beings in the past have lived on earth, and there will be others before the end. Good News Bible has a helpful model for this sentence, and so does Contemporary English Version, which says “Many people have been born on this earth, and many more will be born.”

And behold, almost all go to perdition: The word behold places focus on the words that follow (see the comments on 2 Esd 6.18). Go to perdition may be rendered “go straight to destruction” (Good News Bible) or “will be destroyed.”

And a multitude of them are destined for destruction repeats the same information as the previous clause. Good News Bible provides a good model here.

The point of verses 8-10 is that the earth mourns over the death of millions, while the woman mourns over the death of one young man.

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.