Guia Literário da Bíblia

by Robert Alter (Editor), Frank Kermode (Editor), Raul Fiker (Translator)

A proposta deste guia é abordar o aspecto literário do texto bíblico. Os ensaios que o compõem situam os diversos livros bíblicos em seu contexto, avaliam suas implicações e precedentes histórico-sociais, além de expor suas características e estruturas temático-formais. Dessa forma, o texto bíblico é apresentado em toda sua riqueza literária.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Theology, Reference, Literature, Christianity

728 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

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

[Daniel Chaikin · Rating 4 out of 5]

5. The Literary Guide to the Bible edited by Robert Alter & Frank Kermode
published: 1987
format: 672 page Hardcover
acquired: 2012
read: Jan 2012 – Nov 2015, June 2, 2018 - Jan 23, 2019
time reading: ~50 hr ~4.5 min/page
rating: 4

Contributors: J. P. Fokkelman, David Damrosch, James S. Ackerman, Robert Polzin, David M. Gunn, Joel Rosenberg, George Savran, Luis Alonso Schökel, Herbert Marks, James G. Williams, Moshe Greenberg, Francis Landy, Jack M. Sasson, Shemaryahu Talmon, John Drury, James Robinson, Michael Goulder, Gabriel Josipovici, Bernard McGinn, Jonas C. Greenfield, Helen Elsom, Edmund Leach, Gerald L. Bruns, Gerald Hammond

-- Read OT chapters from January 2012 to November 2015
-- Read NT chapters and other essays from June 2018 to January 2019

"The faithful maintain that the whole of the bible is true; for this to be possible, the truth has to be aesthetic rather than literal."

I should have more appreciation of the scholarship contained within these pages, and all I got out of them. Some essays were terrific. But, goodness, this was tough reading.

That was my entry into Litsy and I think it pretty much captures this collection of literary criticism essays, one for each book of the canonical old and new testament, with a wink at the midrash and translations. It does feel like a statement for this kind of perspective on the bible, although it's not a good statement for the entertainment value of literary criticism essays in general.

[Lee Harmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve had this book for quite a while, but used it only as an occasional reference. I finally decided to read it all the way through, and I’m glad I did, though it definitely took a while. Perhaps two dozen authors provide coverage of nearly every book of the Bible, plus a collection of general essays thrown in at the end for good measure.

This collection­ isn’t meant as a ministerial aid. It’s a book-by-book journey into the richness of the Bible’s presentation. The Old Testament coverage focuses heavily on the poetic structure and literary qualities of the writing. As a result, books you may consider dry—like Isaiah—become stunning in their literary beauty, while other books that contain fascinating stories and theological depth—like Genesis—can appear ugly and boring by comparison.

While the Old Testament focuses more intently on literary style and presentation, the tone shifts when the topic moves from the Hebrew Old Testament to the Greek New Testament. Here, the emphasis is more on historical-critical exegesis, and what the New Testament writers were trying to tell us about the Christian movement in their own day. While Christian writings do build heavily on an Old Testament foundation, they derive not from the poetic Hebrew but from the ghetto-Greek of the Septuagint. Thus, cadence gives way to content, but the coverage is no less interesting.

I toyed with the idea of doing two book reviews: one for the Hebrew Bible and one for the Christian writings. They are that different. My favorite topics, for four entirely different reasons, were:

Isaiah, by Luis Alsonso Schokel, which is a exquisite collection of poetry by three or more authors.
Jonah, by James S. Ackerman, is exposed as a literary masterpiece.
The Gospel of Mark, by John Drury, is an interesting portrayal of a human Jesus hardly devoid of emotion.
The Pauline Epistles, by Michael Goulder, provides a glimpse into the mind of a fascinating and influential apostle.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good idea generally, but the individual chapters are so narrowly focused that they feel like they miss the forest of particular books, for very small trees. Some interesting literary ideas, but not a complete guide, not by a long shot.

[Frederick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very helpful in understanding the literary superiority of the King James Bible, also known as the Authorized Version. However, these scholars do not believe the Bible and the pages are filled with the errors of the Enlightenment, German Theology, and the so-called Science of Textual Criticism. The best essay is the last one, entitled, “English Translations of the Bible.” The clear, unparalleled superiority of the KJV from a purely literary point of view is extolled in this collection of essays in no uncertain terms. I do believe that it is helpful for studying the Bible to also have a basic knowledge of the accepted literary qualities of it and this will work as a reference book for research purposes much as E.W. Bullinger’s Figures of Speech in the Bible and Phelp’s Human Nature and the Bible. They do not confirm its truth, verify its nature as God’s word given by inspiration, or validate its superiority as a translation by any means but do declare its magnificence as a literary work, a masterpiece of early modern English, and a work of fundamental importance in the history of the English language. This book is well worth reading and keeping.

[Nara · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Nenhum crítico, pois, é um guia inquestionavelmente digno de confiança, mas muitos podem ser úteis de diversas maneiras, mostrando-nos como analisar a linguagem da Bíblia."

Definitivamente não era algo que eu esperava. Me senti lendo um livro de análise morfológica, cai no meio de explicações da Bíblia onde falava sobre prosa, poesia, corpo da prosa, verso etc.
Extremamente técnico!
Eu queria um livro para entender melhor a Bíblia e acabei precisando de outro livro para entender o livro que era pra eu entender a Bíblia 🤣
Realmente não é uma leitura para leigos! Ou para alguém que não queira se esforçar e estudar realmente o que o livro se propõe!
Comigo não rolou!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Literary Guide to the Bible – Robert Alter and Frank Kermode

There are a few minor spoilers here, but don't worry, the book is over 600 pages and this review is short.

In the course of my studies these past few years, I have been exposed to several ways to approach texts. One of these approaches to studying biblical texts is commonly referred to as the "literary" approach. This approach seeks to engage with the works contained in the Bible using methods and techniques akin to those employed in the analysis of other forms of literature. In contrast to earlier and some contemporary biblical research, which often began by deconstructing texts into hypothetical sources (such as J,E,D, and P- the “Documentary Hypothesis) or aimed to unearth these sources, the literary approach primarily starts with the observable biblical text as a whole. This approach raises novel inquiries that previous generations of scholars seldom addressed: What aesthetic principles underpin the text? How does the text maintain its coherence as a literary composition? What literary devices does the author employ to achieve success or lack thereof in their work? Initially, this method focused on dissecting small segments of biblical poetry, such as individual Psalms, where the aesthetic dimension is more readily apparent. Gradually, scholars also extended their scrutiny to encompass biblical prose narratives.

Throughout this process of approaching the Hebrew Bible this way, the prevailing trends in broader literary theory and criticism have also tended to exert their influence on the once self-contained realm of biblical scholarship. Literary theory encompasses a diverse range of methodologies, and the Bible, akin to other esteemed literary works in mankind’s history, has been subjected to analyses by structuralists, post-structuralists, deconstructionists, and the no longer novel New Critics. Furthermore, literary criticism has been applied by Marxists and feminists, each employing their distinctive analytical frameworks to examine the method and meaning inherent in the Bible. The expansive bibliography centered on "The Bible as Literature," however subjectively defined, is both extensive and continually expanding.

In the introductory section of this massive book (666 pages), the editors aptly acknowledge that this endeavor aims to provide a fresh perspective on the Bible, catering to a broad readership that includes individuals not specialized in biblical studies. The intent is to present the Bible as a work of significant literary impact and authority—one that has feasibly shaped the thoughts and lives of intelligent individuals for over two millennia (p. 2). While this work deviates from traditional historical scholarship objectives, the editors emphasize that their focus does not neglect the religious essence of the material being explored, even though their intentions are not theological in nature. In fact, the editors assert that both readers approaching the Bible from a standpoint of religious faith and those seeking to comprehend its role in a secularized culture can find enlightening insights within these pages (ibid.).

This compendium constitutes a collection of scholarly essays contributed by various experts, encompassing a comprehensive examination of both the books within the Hebrew Bible and select essays dedicated to New Testament texts. While the anthology offers insights across both testaments, it is evident that the primary focus lies on the Hebrew Bible, with a substantial portion of the volume dedicated to its exploration. The initial section of the book, spanning approximately 375 pages, is dedicated to rigorous analyses of Hebrew Bible essays, while a subsequent segment of around 150 pages delves into New Testament texts. A notable essay by Michael Goulder, spanning 23 pages, pertains to the Pauline epistles, and another, composed by Gabriel Josipovici, delves into the intricacies of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Concluding the work's 120 final pages are essays of a broader nature, encompassing subjects such as canonical considerations, midrashic and allegorical interpretation, and the sociohistorical context that frames the Hebrew Bible and Christian literature.

The eleventh chapter dedicated to "The Twelve Prophets" serves as a prime exemplar of the challenges inherent in crafting a "Guide" of this nature. By necessity, the chapter had to assume a broad approach, preventing an in-depth examination of each individual unit without encroaching on the space allocated for others. Because of this, the endeavor to encompass all these units within a single chapter faced inherent limitations even under optimal circumstances. Herbert Marks' sporadic observations occasionally yield intriguing insights, yet fail to convey an overarching cohesion to the work, perhaps because such cohesion is absent. The relatively extensive independent treatment of Jonah can be attributed to its narrative character, its accessible "literary" nature, and James Ackerman's earlier scholarly engagement with the book. Among the Guide's contributions, his essay on Jonah emerges as one of the more noteworthy pieces.

In the chapter focused on Psalms, Robert Alter is the author, offering diverse literary insights about the this collection. It remains vital to acknowledge, however, that comprehensively addressing all 150 Psalms in the space provided is an impossible task. Baker and Ricks took 700 pages and just touched a few of the Psalms dealing with sacral kingship and the Fall festival. Additionally, conducting thorough literary analysis of poetry sans access to the original text verges on being an exercise in futility. One of the most substantial contributions of the literary approaches applied to biblical poetry is their capacity to foster an appreciation for its aesthetic dimension. However, such an appreciation can only be fully realized by engaging with the original sounds and composition of the text, which we do not (and may never) have.

Within a succinct span of 18 pages, Robert Polzin undertakes the formidable task of navigating the intricacies of the book of Deuteronomy. The brevity of this endeavor proves to be inherently challenging given the multifaceted nature of the text and its profound impact on the broader landscape of the Hebrew Bible. Despite the constraints imposed by limited space, Polzin adeptly encapsulates the endeavor of the Deuteronomist that shapes the textual fabric of Deuteronomy. He states:

What Deuteronomy shows, therefore, as a prelude to the entire Deuteronomic History, is a God continually mindful of the promise he made to the fathers-so much so that, by the end of the history, the fall of Jerusalem becomes a climax that is the story's greatest paradox: why, after all the centuries of lsrael's disobedience and God's partiality, does God at last forget the promise he made to the fathers and finally do what Moses had told them he would do? A convincing account of how brilliantly the Deuteronomist works up to this climactic mystery in 2 Kings has yet to be written. (p. 100)

In just 19 pages David Gunn analyzes Joshua and Judges, summarizing its main plot points and working to provide a series of themes:

Viewed simply, Joshua is an account of the Israelites' entry into the Promised Land, Judges an account of their initial period of occupation. As we have already seen, however, such a description allows little glimpse of what enlivens these books, little clue to their singular complexities and it is in the complexities that we often discover thematic significance. One major source of complication is a question that begins to arise in Joshua and is focused sharply in Judges 1-2, namely, did the lsraelites wholly succeed in possessing the Land? (p. 107)

By reading the text we can understand the complexity. Other scholars have analyzed what is being said here (see Walton, The Lost World of the Israelite Conquest), but what Gunn brings in his analysis is a literary connection between Joshua 23-24 and Judges 1.22-36 and 2.1-10, which he shows on page 111. He lays out some connections regarding kingship in Judges 3-21, but in my opinion, there are much better treatments of Judges (see Kugel, How to Read the Bible).
Jesuit scholar Luis Alonso Schökel tackles (in just 18 pages!) Isaiah, beginning with the approach that Isaiah is written by multiple authors:

Today few scholars regard Isaiah as the work of a single poet. Even a substantial part of chapters 1-39 has been attributed to other authors, and, of the remaining oracles, numerous verses may be considered as layers of later sedimentation. No one today attributes to lsaiah chapters 24-27, most of 13-14, a good part of 3 1-33, or the second half of 11. From chapter 10 we must exclude at least verses 10-12. But if we also eliminate the doubtful or disputed verses, such as 2:2-5 and 11:1-9, where shall we encounter sufficiently important poems? A compromise solution consists in moving through the book, stopping to take note of the most important poems, regardless of authorship (p. 165-166).

Schökel, seeing the problems, notes that he will just “deal with the book rather than its author,” while trying to also swim in the complexities of what is and isn’t Isaiah. He discusses Hebrew poetry, onomatopoeia, the arrangement of phonemes that imitate in sound the meaning they seek convey. This is difficult to translate (p. 170). He gives some excellent examples of this on p. 171. He then gives what he considers the “most interesting literary aspect of Isaiah”:

The most interesting literary aspect of Isaiah, as with many other biblical poets, is the transformation of an experienced reality into a new, coherent, poetic universe. Although we do not have the facts to reconstruct the genesis of particular poems because the prophet did not leave us the requisite information, the evidence of the text allows us the following heuristic maneuver. The poet contemplates an actual pilgrimage of the tribes to a liturgical festival at the central sanctuary of Zion (Passover, Pentecost). A variety of tribes, perhaps with an array of different accents and garments, converge or assemble, ascending the mountain in response to the allure of the sanctuary where the Torah is read and the word of God proclaimed; peace and harmony mingle within diversity. This view transforms itself into a vision: the hill recedes into the temporal distance of the future, then grows and stands out in a landscape of mountains; nations and peoples converge, flowing together like rivers, the children of the house of Jacob (fraternal tribes born of the same father) ascend; peace reigns, not imposed by arms but by sheer force of attraction to the Law and to the Word. Such is the vision brought together in 2:2-5 (with a variant in Micah 4:1-4), the famous evocation of a future when the peoples will "go up to the mountain of the Lord" and learn how "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." (p. 172)
Schökel then spends some time discussing deutero-Isaiah and the message there:

Deutero-Isaiah sees the future as a new creation because, in effect, the future does not yet exist. A free and glorious future seems impossible. For God, however, nothing is impossible. The creator of the universe will transform nature, renew her and recreate her. The God of history will create a new era in historical time. This God, creator of the world, and of a people, is the ultimate guarantee of hope. This is the meaning of the hymnlike fragments scattered and seemingly floating through this great and torrential poem. Singing praises is both the foundation and the actualization of hope. (p. 178)

Robert Alter, as discussed previously, tackles the Psalms. Alter acknowledges that borrowing took place between cultures, and that the Hebrew authors of the Psalms borrowed from their neighbors and that there is even evidence that Psalm 20 may have been recontextualized by a second century BC Egyptian author, composing the text in Aramaic but written in Egyptian demotic characters (p. 244). He then says:

As these two widely separated instances of borrowing in different directions may suggest, psalms were a popular poetic form in the ancient Near East for a very long stretch of time. The biblical collection is composed of poems probably written over a period of at least five centuries. A few late poems, such as Psalm 137 ("By the waters of Babylon ... "), refer explicitly to historical conditions after the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E. Other psalms may well go back to the early generations of the Davidic dynasty, that is, the tenth and ninth centuries B.C.E. (p. 244)
Alter discusses genre, authorship, theme, structure, and the cultic use of the Psalms. On this subject he writes:

Now, it is obvious enough that some of the Psalms were designed for very specific liturgical or cultic occasions. A particularly clear instance is the pilgrim songs, which appear to have been framed to be chanted by, or perhaps to, worshipers as they ascended the Temple Mount and entered the sacred precincts (Ps. 24) or as they marched around the looming ramparts of Zion (Ps. 48). But there is surely a good deal of misplaced concreteness in the energy expended by scholars to discover in psalm after psalm the libretto to some unknown cultic music-drama. The result in some instances has been to weave around these poems a kind of historical romance under the guise of scholarship, using the tenuous threads of comparative anthropology, as in the persistent conjecture that the psalms referring to God's kingship were used for an annual enthronement ceremony in which the Lord was reinvested as king. In fact it is by no means self-evident that all the psalms were used liturgically, just as it is far from certain that they were all actually sung, though of course some obviously were, as the indications in the text of musical instruments, antiphonal responses, and the like make clear. Though some of these poems were surely "performed" in various Temple rites, we need to bear in mind that the psalmists, like other kinds of poets, often expressed a strong vision of reality through the imaginative leap of metaphor, and it is surely unwise to seek to reduce all these metaphors to literal cultic facts. (p. 247)

He seems here to push against the scholars that see the cultic use of the Psalms in the autumn festival. I will have to do some digging into his other writings to see what he says when he has more space (I will look into his translation and commentary on the Hebrew Bible and see what I can find there!)

Overall, this book is useful as an introduction to the Bible for those without a background in biblical studies. The chapters are short and relatively easy to read. Personally I did not find as much value in going through this book because I have been spoiled by much better treatments of the subject (see James Kugel, How to Read the Bible). I was required to read this and probably never would have read past the Isaiah and Psalms chapters if it was up to me.

[Taylor Swift Scholar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Literary Guide to the Bible is an anthology of essays by different authors on the books of the Jewish Bible and the New Testament. I found the essays to be of varying interest and quality. I was expecting a little more after reading Alter's The Art of Biblical Narrative, but this is certainly a book to which I will return. A literary approach to the Bible (rather than source criticism) will always resonate with me.

[Jackson Cyril · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an agnostic who nevertheless holds the Bible in great esteem as a work of literature, this volume was a god-send (pun intended). In both Frank Kermode and Robert Alter, this book has editors of the first caliber, whose essays on the literary merits of the Bible are very illuminating (Kermode introduces the NT and Matthew, and Alter introduces the Hebrew Bible and writes on the Psalms). I wish the rest of the essays here were as good. They are not. The two essays on Genesis and Exodus are garbage. But this book tackles an important question--how do we embark upon a rigorous study of literature separated by millennia, language, and historico-cultural context? Those mulling over Goethe's call for a Weltliteratur will be well rewarded in studying how these authors attempt to study the Bible, a work compiled over thousands of years, written in three languages very different from one another, and featuring genres as diverse as those of the lyric poem and the didactic couplet. That said, I do still think this book would have better if Alter and Kermode had just gone ahead and written the book between the two of them.

[Frank R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those who dismiss the Bible as "ancient legends from a more barbaric time" or as "outdated ethical prescriptions" cut themselves off from The Most Significant Book in Western Culture, an inexhaustible source of enjoyment and enlightenment. At the same time, those who are certain they (or their faith tradition) know what the Bible says, and that their way is the only way to read the Bible, are equally blind to the riches therein.

This book, like the BIble itself, is a collaborative effort. The result was a very uneven final product, with the commentaries on some Biblical books being much better than those for others. I very much enjoyed the chapters on Genesis, Isaiah, Jonah, Job, and the Gospels.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Regrettably, it has been a long time since I read the Bible from cover to cover. This book reminded me of a lot of the beautiful poetry and prose that are in some of the Books. The stories still excite and fascinate and the explanations given in some of the essays are quite thought provoking. I know there will be a limited audience for this particular book in the normal crew but if you can get your hands on it - give it a try. "A bad but eloquent prophet might easily be preferred to a good but blunt one."

[Michael Norwitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A worthy tome, for sure, but designed more for those with a background in literary criticism than those with general interest. There are some theological or historical illuminations of the sort I typically look for, but they are few and far between.

Trivia note: for what it's worth, excluding the glossary and index, this edition clocks in at 666 pages!

[Adrian Colesberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book as soon as it came out. There was such controversy surrounding it that it seemed important to buy it. I've never referred to it extensively, even while reading the bible, but my few forays have been rewarding.

[Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great overall view of approaching the Bible as literature. Several chapters that give insightful readings of various books of the Bible.

[Michael Joosten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like any collection, The Literary Guide to the Bible can be hit-or-miss. Lots of valuable nuggets in here--but a few duds too.