He answered me and said: It will be helpful at the beginning of this section to identify the pronoun He as “The angel Uriel.” Answered me and said may be rendered simply “answered me” (see the comments on verses 1-2).

If you are alive, you will see, and if you live long, you will often marvel: These two conditional sentences mean essentially the same thing, so Good News Bible combines them, saying “If you live long enough, you will be surprised at what you will see.” Another possible model that combines them is “If you live until the end of time, you will see marvels.” Events to happen just before the end time are often described as wonders or marvels. The Revised Standard Version footnote here may be ignored since the implied meaning in the Latin text is “live long.”

Because the age is hastening swiftly to its end: The Latin word translated age (saeculum) can also mean “world”. In this context the age refers to the world in which we now live (see the comments on 2 Esd 2.34). The meaning of this clause is that the end of this world is coming very soon, not that it “will come suddenly” (Contemporary English Version).

The idea of this verse is not that Ezra will see the wonders because the end of this world is coming very soon; but rather its end time is coming soon, and if Ezra lives that long he will see many wonders. A model that makes this clear is:

• The angel Uriel answered me, “The end of this world is coming very soon, and if you live until the end, you will see many wonders.

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.