(copyright material)
Revised March, 2023
[MS: Note: One of Alter's earliest book has a close title: The Art of Biblical Narrative. Originally published in 1981, it was revised in 2011. (The most recent 2020 book is the Art of Biblical TRANSLATION, not narrative.)
The Art of Biblical TRANSLATION is Alter's grand look back on a career that started in 1965. He considers the progress and the many obstacles that still limit and diminish the translations of the Hebrew Bible. For an overview, it seems quite useful to get the big picture Alter has created around the Hebrew Bible. It puts in context Biblical narrative, poetry, structure, literary style etc - and, of course, how these elements make for translations true to the text and to Jewish civilization. It's quite readable; Alter's work can be complex and academic; this recent work is useful to break into his thought.
As of March 2023, this page is under repair. The original text explaining the Art of Biblical Translation was lost in a computer glitch.]
