Yet it is better to come into these things, though incurring peril, than to pass from the world like a cloud …: The textual problems pointed out by the two Revised Standard Version footnotes here can be handled as simple translational matters, so these footnotes are not needed. In this verse Ezra voices his belief that of the two groups, those who die before the end times and those who live through them, those who are living at the end are better off. In spite of the dangers, it would be better to live then than never to observe what happens at the end of time. It is better to come into these things, though incurring peril may be rendered “it is better to be living at the end, in spite of the danger.” Contemporary English Version has “I still think that those who survive these troubles will be better off.” Than to pass from the world like a cloud may be translated “than those who disappear from this world as quickly as a cloud” (Contemporary English Version).

And not to see what shall happen in the last days: The verb see here means to observe firsthand, not simply to know about the events at the end, since verse 18 says the unfortunate ones do know what will happen.

An alternative model for the first half of this verse is:

• Still, it would be better to be living at the end, in spite of all the danger, than to pass from the world like a cloud, and never see the events at the end of time.”

He answered me and said: See the comments on 2 Esd 8.37 and 12.10. This quote frame introduces verses 21-50, which give the response to Ezra’s prayer. It is not clear who the speaker is in these verses; for example, in verse 23 the speaker is clearly the angel Uriel, but in verse 32 it is God. Once again the writer makes no distinction between God and the angel who delivers God’s message. We recommend that translators follow Revised Standard Version by using the pronoun He, but it would not be incorrect to say “The angel Uriel” (Contemporary English Version). Answered me and said may be rendered simply “answered” (Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version).

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.