Strong as Death is Love: The Song of Songs / Ruth / Esther / Jonah / Daniel

by Robert Alter (Translator)

The Song of Songs: Ruth, Esther, Jonah, and Daniel offer readers a range of pleasures not usually associated with the Bible. As distant in time from the Five Books of Moses as Updike is from Shakespeare, these Late Biblical books are innovative, entertaining literary works. Women often stand center stage. The Song of Songs is a celebration of young love, frankly sensuous, with no reference to God or covenant. It offers some of the most beautiful love poems of the ancient world. The story of Queen Esther’s shrewd triumph is also a secular entertainment, with clear traces of farce and sly sexual comedy. The character of Ruth embodies the virtues of loyalty, love, and charity in a harmonious world. Enigma replaces harmony in Daniel’s feverish night dreams. The apocalyptic strangeness of Daniel echoes in works from the New Testament’s Book of Revelations to the lyrics of Bob Dylan. And Jonah, the tale of a giant fish who, on God’s command, swallows the prophet and imprisons him in his dark wet innards for three days, ends with a question that lingers, unanswered, leaving the reader to ponder the many limitations of humankind.

Genres: Religion, Poetry, Judaism, Jewish, Theology, Christianity, Biblical Studies

256 pages, Hardcover

First published March 2, 2015

About the author

Robert Bernard Alter is an American professor of Hebrew and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967, and has published many acclaimed works on the Bible, literary modernism, and contemporary Hebrew literature.

Reviews

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

The five stars are for Robert Alter's wonderful footnotes; I can't exactly give a rating to the Bible.....Since childhood I loved these stories in the carefully redacted Disney versions that I was taught. Reading the originals, even as a now cynical adult, I still find them quite shocking. What were they thinking? After averting genocide against the Hebrews, beautiful wise Queen Esther not only gets revenge on her enemy Haman, she has all ten of his sons, all gleefully listed by their exotic names, impaled on stakes. Time to party. Then the text explains that after they killed off the entire Haman clan, the Hebrews were too ethical to loot the family's goods....is that supposed to be noble or is it some kind of ancient humor? (Like the country western song: I shot the sheriff, but I didn't kill his deputy...) Robert Alter carefully explains that none of this is at all historical. The Persian empire was famously tolerant of different religions, the threatened genocide would not have been possible, and neither was the revenge. The biblical authors just needed a story to justify a little carnival celebration at the Purim time of year since other biblical texts didn't already provide a pretext for partying. That's a relief. Alter is quite comfortable with the expansive eroticism of the Song of Songs, and provides a wonderful gloss. His take on Ruth is interesting: The only book in the Old Testament where all the characters are well-intentioned, and the most radical book in the Old Testament for his approval of intermarriage, and even with a happy ending, and no one gets impaled on a stake. Of course the poetry of Ruth and Naomi is genuinely noble, my favorite still. But it probably did not sit well with traditionalists who opposed what Alter antiseptically calls "exogamy." Like other scholars, Alter places late works Jonah and Daniel as transitional between the ancient world of the Old Testament and the world of New Testament Christianity. Jonah anticipates a monotheistic god that should work for all ethnic groups, also anticipates the idea of eternal life, not a commonly accepted notion in the older books, and Daniel comes up with an eternal kingdom and resurrection from the dead. All handy concepts for the Christian era. Alter carefully and succinctly identifies the wild mythological characters in Daniel's visions with the corresponding historical names, like Alexander the Great and Antiochus. Just enough information so the curious can go to Google and get some traction. He really gets the role of footnotes as guideposts. He clues you into each genre as the reader encounters them: what is vaguely historical, what is wish fulfillment, what is fairy tale, what is folk lore. For those with an interest, there are quick references to the previous scholarship, without getting too technical. I still find the Old Testament shocking, but with Alter's guide, I can better appreciate "what they were thinking," and see it as a remarkable human document, a letter washed up in a bottle from the distant human past.

[Scriptor Ignotus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This latest installment in Alter's translation and commentary on the Hebrew Bible doesn't pack quite the same punch as the others; but this is no fault of his. The five books translated here are not literary masterpieces of the caliber of Genesis, Exodus, 1-2 Samuel, or Job. These are late biblical books, written in a form of Hebrew (and Aramaic, in the case of Daniel) that is as remote from early biblical Hebrew as John Updike is from Shakespeare, as Alter intriguingly puts it. Despite their late composition, each of these books with the exception of the Song of Songs harkens to the days of the Babylonian exile, and the authors of these texts evidently tried to use an archaic writing style that would make their work fit in better with the earlier books of the canon; but their slip-ups give them away. The writers of these texts were politically conscious in a way that the writers of the Pentateuch and the wisdom literature were not--and it shows.

The Song of Songs needs no introduction. The erotic poetry has always made Jewish and Christian interpreters slightly uncomfortable, and this discomfort has lent itself to a tendency to render what is clearly a sensuous love poem as an abstract theological metaphor. For Jews, the two lovers are said to represent God and the people of Israel; for Christians, they represent Christ and the church--but not really. I don't think Christ would have compared the church's hair to a flock of goats, or its neck to a tower, and I don't think God would compare the breasts of the Israelites to clusters of fruit. I think the book should be enjoyed for what it is: endearing love poetry from a culture of Iron-Age pastoralists.

Ruth is also a love story, but one with a bit more of a political bite. Alter notes that this is the only book in the entire biblical canon in which every character is a decent person who is just trying to do the right thing. The widowed Ruth wants to be redeemed so that she can be at home among the Hebrews, while Boaz wants to observe the customary procedures before he lays claim to her. The political gem in this happy little story lies in the fact that Ruth is a Moabite woman. The Moabites were foreigners who were widely mistrusted among the Hebrews, much like the Samaritans were. The author of Ruth turned this prejudice on its head by making a Moabite woman the progenitrix of the line of King David.

Esther is conspicuous for being a purely political tale, and for not mentioning God even once. An all-too-impressionable king is persuaded to propagate an edict condemning the Jews to eradication, and it's up to his new wife, Esther, who is herself Jewish, and her cousin Mordecai, to save their people. The idea that the famously tolerant Persians would attempt to commit wholesale genocide against one of their subject peoples is entirely contrary to the historical record, but the author of the book probably didn't really intend for it to be about the Persians anyway, but rather the Seleucids, who ruled the region at the time in which the book was probably written. Nonetheless, the story works as a kind of fable for how providence can subtly work its will in the realm of political power. Plus, it gave the Jewish people the holiday of Purim, and now I can impress people with my knowledge of how the holiday got its name.

For as well-known as Jonah is, it's a remarkably short book. Everyone knows the story of Jonah, the prophet who was cast into the sea, swallowed by a whale, and who survived in the belly of the whale for three days. The Hebrew doesn't specifically say that it was a whale; only that it was a large sea creature. But how long is the list of suspects, really?

Less well-known than the whale story is what happens before and after it. At the beginning of the book, God instructs Jonah to go to Nineveh and tell the people there to repent of their wicked ways. As Alter says, this would be a bit like God sending a Rabbi to Berlin in the 1930s to tell them about the perils of antisemitism. Jonah says "fuck that", and books it in the other direction, which is why he ends up on a ship in the Mediterranean.

After the whale episode, he comes to his senses and travels to Nineveh, where, to his disappointment, the people actually listen to him and avoid God's wrath. When he complains to God about this, God delivers one of the best sick burns of the Bible: "Are you good and angry?" Or, to use a more contemporary rendition, "U mad?" By the period of Jonah's composition, the God of Israel is now beginning to be understood as the God of all mankind; and his universal compassion is frustrating for Jonah's Israelite nationalism.

Daniel is the latest-written book in the Hebrew Bible, and just as the Book of Revelation does for the New Testament, Daniel ends the canon on a note of apocalyptic mystery. Though the author draws parallels between Daniel and Joseph, Daniel is not the literary character that Joseph is. He is rather a vessel for the author's apocalyptic imagination. A statue with clay feet toppled by a stone; the two-horned ram of Persia shattered by Alexander; number sequences that have spawned innumerable interpretations by people who think they can pencil in the Day of Judgment on the calendar. The book is striking for its dualities: the alternating Hebrew and Aramaic in which the book was originally written, the narrative of the first half of the book and the prophecy of the second half, the fabulous and polemical tones that seem to be competing for control over the same text. It's quite a way to end things.

[Jeffrey (Akiva) Savett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like all of Alter's translations and commentaries, this was absolutely riveting and exquisite. My Hebrew is not nearly good enough to know whether Alter's translation is "good" in the sense of it mirroring the original's text's sound and sense. What I can argue, however, is that Alter's translation is GOOD in the sense that I found it more compelling, moving, and challenging than any I've read in more canonical texts.

Alter's commentary as well is indispensable. What I love about his series of award winning translations is that, unlike say the JPS Study Torah, one can use Alter's book and it's commentary to deepen and enrich one's practice in real time. I've brought a copy of Alter to shul with me many times and found his literary commentary quite a nice compliment to Giants like Rashi, Ibn Ezra etc.

Another great installment in Alter's series of Tanach translations. Don't hesitate to pick this up. Song of Songs stands out especially.

[Cheyanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deeper dive into five books of the Bible that don't fit into the rest of the canon as smoothly - and for good reason. As always, I greatly enjoyed reading Alter's literal translations and commentary on word usage and literary devices. Ancient authors were just as talented as modern writers and I would suggest everyone read a translation by Alter to help realize that.

I swear I'm not trying to find evidence against the Bible, but the more I read about what the Biblical texts actually say, when they were written, who wrote them, their intended audience, and the historical records surrounding them, the more I realize the Bible is mostly fiction. Beautiful fiction, but still fiction.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend Alter’s translation of these Hebrew Bible books. They feel fresh and freed from ideologically-driven choices. The footnotes are extremely interesting and helpful.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the latest installment of Robert Alter’s excellent translations of the Hebrew (and Aramaic) Bible, this time covering what he calls the Late Biblical Books. This is a bit of a miscellany, including the sensual Song of Songs as well as a love story, a fable, a fish tale and an apocalyptic vision.

Some of these works are unusual among the Biblical canon for their portrayal/perspective of women and their secular focus. Several of the books don't even mention god and one seems to have been written for entertainment purposes only.

This collection is not as strong as Alter’s other translations, but not because of anything Alter has done. Other than The Song of Songs, these stories are only mildly interesting. If you are looking for a translation of these particular works or have an interest in reading the books of the Bible, I highly recommend this book. But if you are simply looking for a good read, I’d suggest looking somewhere else.

The Song of Songs **** – This a lyrically beautiful poem (or collection of poems). Much has been said and written about this wonderful work that manages to be intensely sensual without being graphic or bawdy.

Alter, as usual, provides his concise translation and informative notes. What his translation lacks in the sweeping lyricism of the King James Version, he makes up for in balanced presentation, copious notes on context and interpretation, and a duplication of the terse Hebrew original.

Alter’s version – perhaps because he tries to keep as closer to the original – lacks some of the sparkle and verve of other translations. If you are looking for a beautiful translation, I highly recommend the Ariel and Chana Bloch version. (You can see my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). They provide even more copious notes, but take a bolder (more radical?) interpretation of the poem as a unified cycle. But Alter’s translation remains excellent and informative.

The Book of Ruth *** – This is a rather slight love story (I guess you could call it that). The brief story tells of Ruth’s dedication to her mother-in-law after the death of her (Ruth’s) husband, and her subsequent marriage to Boaz. It has some charm, but the dating/marriage rituals of 1000 BC are not the stuff of modern romance.

The Book of Esther *** – This story, which Alter says has been described as a fable, a farce, a fairy tale and a satire, is about the planned extermination of the Jewish people in Persia and Esther’s saving of them. It reminds me of a tale from the Arabian Nights. The name of god does not appear, there is no divine intervention, nor even a discussion of Biblical commandments. It’s mildly entertaining.

The Book of Jonah *** – The absurd debate over the the literalness of Jonah being swallowed by the fish overshadows the more important (and, in the Hebrew Bible, unusual) universalist message about the mercy of god. That’s too bad.

The Book of Daniel *** – Of all the Old Testament books I’ve read (so far), this one is most redolent of the New Testament because of the miracles and the apocryphal prophecies. Daniel’s vision of the end time clearly influenced Jesus’ views. And it is not hard to see that the Book of Revelation was influenced by the Book of Daniel.

In reading the visions at the end of the book, it helps to know the history of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Greek king of the Seleucid Empire, as much of the vision are allegories for his empire’s downfall. (As Revelation is largely an allegory for the fall of Rome.) Without this knowledge, the visions are just a bunch of magical animals destroying each other.

It should be noted that the prophecies are remarkably accurate – because they were written after the incidents happened. The predictions of events after the writing of the book were, uh, not so accurate. It’s funny how that happens.

The Book of Daniel is interesting for a number of reasons. It speaks of immortality and resurrection with an afterlife that rewards the good and punishes the wicked (12:2), the Ancient of Days (7:9) and the coming of the Kingdom of God (7:13-14). The Book of Daniel also introduced us to the expressions “feet of clay” (2:31-33) and “writing on the wall” (5:5 and 5:25).

It’s also interesting that the book is written in Hebrew and in Aramaic. Alter doesn’t say so, but I suspect the prophecies at the end were written in Hebrew to make them seem old (and thus remarkable for their accuracy). Aramaic was by that time the common language of the Middle East, and Hebrew would have been associated with earlier, much older books of the Bible.

Interestingly, Alter’s translation does not use the well-known phrase Son of Man (7:13). He uses “one like a human being,” arguing that the text is talking about an angel that has the appearance or attributes of a human being.

[Longhare Content · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been on an ancient works odyssey, ba-da-dum-that began with Dante. Yes, I know. But that's where it started because after reading the Hollander Inferno, I went back to my ancient Fitzgerald for a dose of Dante in terza rima, which sent me forward to Milton because, well, that's a natural progression, isn't it. From Paradise Lost/Regained I went to Job because that's where all the morning star action originates.

Getting a handle on biblical texts is tricky. I have read that Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible. I have read that it is one of the later texts. Scholars. What are you going to do. I couldn't find a consensus date for Job (there may be one, but the Internet is, let's say, murky on the subject), but I did re-read the Iliad and the Odyssey and the Aeniad and the Theban plays and did a lot of Greeking geeking on Edx. Consider, the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian worlds. They both begin with M and many of the extant writings from both were contemporaneous with one another.

I also made Northrup Frye my dishwashing buddy, listening to his lectures on the Bible as well as some miscellaneous lectures by Robert Alter and David Rosenberg. I get instantly weary when I hear/read people say the Bible is a "bad book." It is usually said in a knowing way, that it is repetitious, tedious, contradicts itself, and frequently uses -eth instead of s. Which is about as relevant as saying it needs more cowbell. Good grief. It isn't a novel.

Strong as Death Is Love is the title given by Robert Alter to his translation of The Song of Songs (from which the title comes), Ruth, Esther, Jonah, and Daniel. Ruth and Esther are strong points, Jonah is a trip, Daniel has a One-of-These-Things-Doesn't-Belong-Here feel to it. The Song of Songs is pretty exquisite. None of these little books is easy reading, but Alter's running commentary is illuminating. Reading Alter's version side by side with Rosenberg's (they both blow reverential kisses to King James' men at work, but not to the more modern attempts at making the KJV more readable for non-Jacobeans) is a lesson in translation. Here is the coy KJV on the SofS's female narrator's disastrous hesitation to get out of bed in answer to her lover's knock. (The impatient lover takes her answer for a rejection and flees before she can reach the door to call him back.)

"I have put off my coat: how shall I put in on? I have washed my feet [I have a horse, I totally get this]; how shall I defile them ['cause, you know, dirt floor]?"

Alter has:
"--I have put off my gown,
how can I don it?
I have bathed my feet,
how can I besmirch them?"

Rosenberg has:
"I was riveted with anxiety
I was as lifeless as an empty robe
I couldn't move

my feet were a statue's feet
I was lifeless clay
I was naked earth"

Rosenberg doesn't try to be faithful to the words of the text, but rather to capture the je ne sais qua of the poet. He obviously has a different take on the lazybones's reluctance to go answer the door, but it all amounts to the same thing: the boy is gone. Our gal turns to the chorus, yes, there is a chorus--the girlband Daughters of Jerusalem:

--I make you swear, O daughters of Jerusalem
should you find my lover, what shall you tell him?
that I am in a swoon of love.

which the Beatles render: "She said she loves you"

To which the chorus responds:
"What makes your lover more than another?"

Ouch!

It's a shame people get all nervous and weird around biblical texts because they are missing out on the best stuff--the stuff of early literate people who were ardently working out for themselves what it means to be human. Which brings me back to Job, which is not in this collection. Alter issued his translations of the Bible in thematic chunks more or less as the Hebrew Bible categorizes them--the books of Moses, the prophets, the wisdom books, the Psalms, the story of David. I had a hard enough time finding Strong as Death. I suppose I may have to break down and order them. Rrrr.

[Dennis Ashendorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Professor Alter matters. Whatever he writes and whatever he translates serves both as touchstone and milestone. His balance of actual, intent, and contemporary interpretations of ancient Hebrew is unmatched. He's not severe like Fox who calls an alter, the slaughter stone, but he doesn't provide a "Living Bible" either.

The Book of Esther had many interpretations that either cause it to be honored or set aside. You won't want to put it down and you'll want to share this with others.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Alter's Biblical translations are always brilliant, and this weird collection of texts that don't quite fit in any other sections of the Bible are his masterpiece. They are "late", "intertestamental" or just plain odd, but their oddness is what makes them so magical.

Esther is a truly odd book, quite clearly a smutty shaggy dog story about an impotent Persian Shah, Asahuerus, who likes getting drunk with his evil advisor Haman, rejects his noble wife Vashti, and then marries a noble Jewish virgin, Esther who, the book clearly implies, can help him get it up.

Haman, a Donal Trump in miniature, decides (because Esther's cousin Mordecai is not paying him adequate respect) to have all the Jews in the Empire massacred, but Esther manipulates Asahuerus into killing Haman and an enormous number of his family and friends instead.

I decided to re-read this book because of seeing a play which likened Asahuerus to Henry VIII: but he is anyone who has autocratic power. Kill the Jews? Fine? Kill all the people who were prepared to kill the Jews last week? Fine, too. And it has the last couple of chapters were it appears no one has learnt anything. The Jews take revenge and murder lots of other people, innocent or not. Look, we can celebrate now.

A book utterly devoid of morality, and one of the two books of the Jewish Bible with not a single mention of God in it.

This is a mule of a Bible narrative: one of those apocalyptics go back to (it's the only apocalypse in the Hebrew Bible), and one that we remember children's stories from (Daniel in the lion's den; Ashach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace; the writing on the wall), stuck together for no discernible reason.

It's also the only book of the Hebrew Bible not primarily written in Hebrew (most of it is in Aramaic), and the only book that there is a reasonably certain date to its composition: the details about events in 167-165BCE are so specific that it is clear they had happened just before, and there are no (accurate) predictions after that.

But is it any good?

I don't think you are going to be spiritually uplifted by this book and (unless you are much more end-of-the-worldy than me) the apocalyptic bits are not as much fun as the book of Revelation, and seem much more specific. The folk-tales are still quite fun.

I read Robert Alter's version. I think even he was puzzled by this one.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing his thoughtful translations of and commentaries on the books of the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible, Alter tackles a seemingly ragtag collection of shorter and he says later books. Daniel, Esther, Ruth, and Song of Songs are Ketuvim (or Writings), while Jonah is Nevi'im (or Prophets). Interestingly, the Christian Old Testament reclassifies Ruth, Esther, and Daniel away from the Wisdom section of the Bible and to the Historical or Prophetic sections. In the case of Daniel, I have heard that the reason is due to prophecy by Daniel of a future Messiah; I read this carefully in search of such prophecy, but failed to discern it. Alter also does not see prophecy of a messiah in Daniel's visions, and instead points out their being examples of an ancient Mesopotamian practice of dream interpretation. To Alter, what unifies these books is their high literary quality, and their playful exploration of various novel forms and ideas (novel relative to the rest of the Tanakh), likely reflecting their late composition in the context of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, the most cosmopolitan society ever created up to that time in the Axial Age. Esther and Song of Songs are notable in their apparent absence of divine content. Jonah is a unique prophet, because he preaches not to the Chosen People (plus he spends time inside a very big fish). Daniel's visions are spectacular. If one wants to explore the "Bible as literature", this is an excellent volume to start with.

[Billie Pritchett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Robert Alter's translation of The Song of Songs (The Song of Solomon), Ruth, Esther, Jonah, and Daniel. The beauty of a new translation like this, especially with Alter's care, is that you get to hear the text differently. It comes alive. Listen here to the Song of Songs: "A sachet of myrrh is my lover to me, / all night between my breasts. // A cluster of henna, my lover to me, in the vineyards of Ein Gedi." Hear Ruth declare her devotion to her husband and the Jewish people: "Wherever you go, I will go / and where you lodge, I will lodge. / Your people is my people, and your god is my god." Hear Esther, Jonah, and Daniel declare their devotion to their faith in the most surreal of circumstances. Some may not like this translation. That is fine. There are plenty translations to choose from, most of them free.

[Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

The commentary on Daniel alone is worth the price of the book. Not quite a 5 star for me, but that's mostly personal preference, due in part because this isn't my favorite collection of Biblical literature.

Make no mistake though, Robert Alter is one of the greatest Biblical scholars to date. And the fact that he has taken it upon himself to translate the entire Hebrew Bible - and release it in individual volumes *with* commentary - is nothing short of a gift. These books are gorgeous and well worth your investment.

[Bob Wolniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

The translation with fairly brief but insightful footnotes is valuable and easy to follow. He definitely espouses some non-conservative viewpoints--assigning several of these books as fictional dramas not truly historical for instance, so depending on your convictions about scripture or what you are used to in your church background you might find some parts downright unsettling or challenging in that regard.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alter's translation of (arguably) the most literary books of the Hebrew Bible is amazing. His notes act as more than just guides in understanding the context of each story, but as tools in understanding the problems associated with translation and its limitation. By far the most literary and poetic translation of the Hebrew Bible I've read.

[Daniel Polansky]

Alter continues his magnificent translation of the Old Testament with this scattershot selection of scripture that doesn't fit in any of the broader biblical categories – erotic poetry and fairy tale satire. It's an ongoing source of fascination what the Jews decided to keep in this book, and Song of Songs is genuinely beautiful.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alter's translations of these books of the Bible and his commentary in the footnotes provide valuable insights into these books and the techniques used to write them. The poetry of the Song of Songs is especially beautiful.

[Andrew Theobald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended for both the incredible combination of richness and accessibility in Alter's translations as well as his fascinating, erudite, and often humorous introductory essays and footnotes.

[Margie Dorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent commentary by Alter, one of his best, very helpful. Draws somewhat in interpretation from the work of John Collins, also a good scholar. I found the depth of interpretation quite useful.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely phenomenal! Alter has an incredible way of bringing a fresh lens to biblical stories. I highly recommended this book for the scholar and the Old Testament lover.

[Dana Kraft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good to read the books in this translation. More interesting than inspiring though.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insightful translation, commentary could be better.

[Corey Wozniak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually read Ruth, Esther, Jonah, and Joel— and not Song of Songs or Daniel— with Bread Loaf graduate class under Shalom Goldman.

Alter’s footnotes continue to be worth their weight in gold.

[M Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent addition to Alter's translation of the Old Testament. Sensitively translated with informative notes. I'll be using this volume and the rest often for study and preaching.

[Kingsley Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent insight into these books with Hebraic understanding.

[Scott W. Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed his fascinating and information translation choices and commentary.

[Anna · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Daniel low key made everything click for me

[Gijs Limonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bible as a literary work of art; Alter’s masterful tour de force is very accessible yet tantalizingly incisive; absolutely brilliant.

[Peter Dodds · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous translation.

[Charles Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

My intro to Alter's work was his work on Biblical Poetry, pretty soon I wanted to get my hands on anything else he'd done. This is his translation of certain OT texts, and of particular benefit are the many footnotes he includes with his work. This is a good companion piece to any "regular" Bible reading, as it helps shift our attention to alternative or additional points of view. This work includes two of my favourite Bible texts, Ruth and Jonah.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just keeps getting better (and more interesting)

Continuing my excursion through the Bible, I read this collection of Old Testament translations by Robert Alter. The title is taken from a line in the first section, Song of Songs, and that was my favorite one (boding well for the last two translations of Alter's I'll read, that are mostly poetry). As with the previous volumes, I learned a lot about the textual history of each book and the issues that come up in producing translations like these. All five (Song of Songs, Ruth, Esther, Jonah, and Daniel) were unique in many respects, yet all products of the Late Biblical period and sharing common threads of oddity compared to what came before. Song of Songs had beautiful erotic poetry, Ruth a story of devotion that Republicans would do well to take to heart, and Esther was just as satisfying, if slightly funnier than I remembered. Any person seriously interested in religious texts would do well to have this in their library. It's a book of high quality from beginning to end.