Esther

The book of Esther is set at the Persian court of King Ahasuerus, usually identified with Xerxes I, in the city of Susa. Jerome translated the Hebrew text in the late fourth century; the Greek version had additional passages not in the Hebrew, and he placed these together at the end, as chapters 10 to 16 of the Vulgate, with notes explaining where they came from.

Queen Vashti refuses to appear at the king's banquet and is deposed. Among the young women brought to the palace is Esther, a Jewish orphan raised by her cousin Mordecai, and she is made queen without revealing her people. Mordecai uncovers a plot against the king but refuses to bow to the chief minister Haman, who in revenge obtains a decree that all the Jews of the empire be destroyed on a day chosen by lot. Mordecai urges Esther to act, and she risks death by going unsummoned before the king and inviting him and Haman to banquets. On a sleepless night the king learns that Mordecai saved his life and orders Haman to honour him publicly. At Esther's second banquet she exposes Haman, who is hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. A new decree allows the Jews to defend themselves, and the festival of Purim is founded. The additions follow: Mordecai's dream and its interpretation, the texts of the king's decrees, and the prayers of Mordecai and Esther.

The story is tightly plotted and full of irony, and the Latin is clear.