Robert Alter - The Hebrew Bible - A Translation with Commentary
(Copyrighted material)
[MS: Perhaps the better title would be: The Hebrew Bible - A Translation with Commentary - and with 28 essays called Introductions.]
MS: Robert Alter: Essays: Written as "Introductions" - 28 in All
If you find it difficult to understand Alter's way of thinking - beyond for example, the mechanics of "type-scenes" or "close reading" of the Biblical text for translation errors - then his 28 "essay-Introductions" are really helpful, as I have discovered.
The 28 essay-Introductions are rarely quoted and not well known.
Alter has written over 24 books and is the author of the greatest translation of the Hebrew Bible by one person since the King James Bible of Shakespeare's times. Alter's perspective, as a scholar and public intellectual, on the big picture issues, ancient and modern, should be of pressing interest.
Compared to his well-known Art of Biblical Translation, and his twenty other books, the 28 essay-Introductions are a resource waiting to be discovered. They generally reveal Alter's perspective or point of view, on important themes, for example: What does Alter think about Tanakh as a whole? How do the "Five Books of Moses" come together as unified work? Are the religious messages about Divine Will verses human fate stated differently depending on the literary context? Is Deuteronomy connected to the Prophets?
Of course the 28 essay-Introductions also provide a context for each work/book - in addition to the line by line translation and the rich Notes on selected verses.
Concerning the important distinction between knowing what the Biblical text says verses Alter’s own personal views, see the last part of the MS Sefaria sheet “The Robert Alter Version” in the MS Robert Alter Sefaria Sheet Collection, in the link below.
Several of these essay-Introductions are described in the linked: MS Robert Alter Sefaria Sheet Collection. See the Introduction to Genesis and Introduction to Exodus (with references to the Introduction to the Five Books of Moses.)
Alter's 28 essay-Introductions are:
1- Introduction to the Hebrew Bible p.55
2- Introduction to the Five Books of Moses p.113
3- Introductions (5) for each of the Five Books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy
4- Introduction to The Prophets
5- Introductions to each of the eight Prophets (including one for the so-called Twelve Minor Prophets).
5 -Introduction to Ketuvim (The Writings)
6- Introductions on each of the eleven works in Ketuvim.
To see these 28 essay-Introductions, see the links in:
(Copyrighted material)
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