Yet those who received it perished, because they did not keep what had been sown in them: The imagery of planting seed continues. The author is saying that those who received the Law were destroyed or did not gain eternal life, because they did not keep the Law (the good seed that had been sown in them). An alternative model for this verse is:

• Those who received the Law perished, because they disregarded the Law, the good seed that had been planted in them.

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.