Summary
Date: 1st Century B.C.E.

The Septuagint translation of Esther has survived in two distinct forms. There is much debate about the relationship between the two, and both have additions not found in the Masoretic text. It has distinctive elements including, some have thought, the playing-down of the anti-Gentile sentiments that appear in some of the additions. Among other interesting features, the additions mention God, famously not named in the Masoretic text of Esther. It is not clear whether they have been translated from lost Semitic originals or composed directly in Greek.