ESTHER, ADDITIONS TO. The apocryphal book, Additions to Esther, consists of six passages (107 vv), inserted into the Gr. text in various places. It is generally assumed that the Heb. was tr. into Gr. by an Egypt. Jew, living in Jerusalem, no later than 114 B.C. Whether all the additions were present in the text at the time of the tr. is a matter of debate. All the Gr. recensions and the Old Lat. text contain the additions in their proper place. When Jerome made his Vul. tr., he removed these passages because they did not appear in the Heb., and he placed them at the end of the book with explanatory notes indicating where they should be inserted. Subsequent editors removed the notes. Finally, when Stephen Langton (d. 1228) divided the Lat. Bible into chapters., he numbered the additions, which had been placed at the end of the book, in consecutive order. This practice was followed by Luther and the Eng. VSS. In The Jerusalem Bible these additions are in the text, but are printed in italicized type.