Surely it was I who brought you through the sea: Myers translates the Latin adverb for Surely as “As everybody knows.” Another possible rendering is “There is no doubt about these things.” Good News Bible and Contemporary English Version identify the sea as “the Red Sea,” which is acceptable. In the Old Testament the Hebrew expression for the “Red Sea” crossed by the Israelites is literally “Reed Sea” (see, for example, Exo 13.18). Many scholars think that the “Reed Sea” refers to the marsh area between the Gulf of Suez and the Mediterranean Sea. Many versions follow the Septuagint and the Greek of the New Testament and refer to this body of water as the “Red Sea.” Others call it the “Sea of Reeds.” A sea is a very large body of water that may be described as a “great lake.” Translators should use the same term here as in Exo 13.18.

And made safe highways for you where there was no road: In this context the word highways is better rendered “roads” or “paths.”

I gave you Moses as leader and Aaron as priest: For priest see the comments on 1 Esd 1.2.

An alternative model for this verse is:

• There is no doubt about these things [You must not doubt these things]. I brought you through the Red Sea, and I made roads for you to travel on in places where there were no roads. I appointed Moses as your leader and Aaron as your priest.

Verses 13-23 refer to God’s guidance of the Israelites in the wilderness after their departure from Egypt. In these verses God addresses the Israelites as though they themselves and not their ancestors long ago experienced all these things. Some translators may wish to consider making that clear to the reader by saying “your ancestors” instead of “you.” In our judgment this will become so wordy that it will wipe out any gain. So in our alternative models we simply use “you,” trusting the reader to understand that it is a historical reference.

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.