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The Alpha-Text (AT) is a Greek version of Esther that is significantly different from both the Septuagint and Hebrew versions of the text. This work investigates the origin and development of the AT and its relationship to the other two versions. Pursuant to a thoroughgoing statistical analysis, Jobes argues that the AT translation was made from a Semitic source that was similar to a Masoretic text of Esther and that the AT holds the older form of five of the six Additions. An appendix includes the complete parallel texts of the Greek and Hebrew versions of Esther and an excursus comparing the AT to the Old Greek version of Daniel. Besides being the most thorough analysis of the AT of Esther to date, the statistical methodology employed in this study will find application to other Septuagint studies that directly compare the syntactical profiles of Greek texts.

“an exceptionally clear presentation … merits careful reading and rereading by a host of specialists in a myriad of fields.”
—Religious Studies Review