The Relevance of the Old Latin Version for the Septuagint, with Special Emphasis on the Book of Esther

Abstract

For certain books or parts of books of the Old Testament the Old Latin is the witness to a Greek model which differs from the one given in the major critical editions of the Septuagint. This is the case in particular for the book of Esther. The sources for our knowledge of the Old Latin to Esther are presented and analysed (manuscripts, patristic quotations, and editions in antiquity); the place of the Old Latin within the Greek tradition of Esther is then situated logically and chronologically. The Greek model of the Old Latin (La-GrIII) represents the first Greek translation of the book, and the other two forms, the L text (GrII) and the LXX text (GrI), are later. This first translation is to be dated at the latest between 120 and 100 bc.