And they were servants to him and to his sons: The pronoun they refers to the Jewish captives taken into exile in Babylonia. His sons refers to the Babylonian kings who followed Nebuchadnezzar. This clause may be rendered “The Jews remained as slaves to Nebuchadnezzar and the kings after him.”

Until the Persians began to reign refers to the conquest of Babylonia by the Persians under King Cyrus in 539 B.C. The Persian Empire came to cover territory from India in the east to Greece in the west. It came into existence about 550 B.C., when King Cyrus defeated the Medes and lasted until the time of Alexander the Great (about 330 B.C.).

In fulfilment of the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah may be translated “This fulfilled what the prophet Jeremiah had said would happen, when he proclaimed the Lord’s message” or “It all happened as the prophet Jeremiah said it would, when he gave this message from the Lord.”

Here is an alternative model for this verse:

• The Jews remained as slaves to Nebuchadnezzar and the kings after him until the Persians conquered Babylonia. It all happened as the prophet Jeremiah said it would, when he gave this message from the Lord:….

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.