The Old Latin version of Esther is witness to a lost Greek Vorlage. It differs significantly from other ancient (Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic) Esther stories as it includes, for instance, a prayer of the Jewish community as well as several additional cases of divine intervention; it also omits any mention of the ‘massacre episode’. Previous research on the Old Latin Esther has largely focused on text-historical questions. This article intends to broaden the discussion by examining the theological character of the text. A close comparison with the extant Hebrew and Greek Esther versions reveals that the Old Latin emphasizes the importance of the Jewish community and presents Mordecai as its prototypical leader in both religious and political matters. In addition, the Vetus Latina emphasizes the crucial role of divine action, induced by acts of religious observance and petitionary prayer.

中文翻译：

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以斯帖记旧拉丁版本的神学特征

以斯帖的旧拉丁语版本见证了希腊遗忘的遗失。它与其他古代（希伯来语，希腊语和亚拉姆语）以斯帖记故事有很大不同，例如，它包括犹太社区的祈祷以及其他一些神圣干预的案例。它也忽略了“大屠杀事件”的任何提及。以前对“旧拉丁以斯帖记”的研究主要集中在文本历史问题上。本文旨在通过研究文本的神学特征来扩大讨论范围。与现存的希伯来语和希腊语以斯帖语版本进行仔细比较后发现，旧拉丁语强调了犹太人社区的重要性，并提出了末底改为宗教和政治事务的原型领导者。此外，拉丁经文（Ventus Latina）强调了神圣行动的关键作用，