The Hebrew Bible: The Writings

by Robert Alter

A masterpiece of deep learning and fine sensibility, Robert Alter’s translation of the Hebrew Bible, now complete, reanimates one of the formative works of our culture. Capturing its brilliantly compact poetry and finely wrought, purposeful prose, Alter renews the Old Testament as a source of literary power and spiritual inspiration. From the family frictions of Genesis and King David’s flawed humanity to the serene wisdom of Psalms and Job’s incendiary questioning of God’s ways, these magnificent works of world literature resonate with a startling immediacy. Featuring Alter’s generous commentary, which quietly alerts readers to the literary and historical dimensions of the text, this is the definitive edition of the Hebrew Bible.

Genres: Classics

994 pages, Hardcover

Published December 1, 2018

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

[Russell Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, after 18 months, I've completed the Ketuvim, or The Writings, the final portion of the Hebrew Bible, and thus have finished working my way through the complete Old Testament for the second time. This time through took less than a year and a half, as compared to my 30+ month journey years ago; that's probably due to my simply reading Robert Alter's translations as my sole text, rather than using Alter as a supplement to the Revised English Bible. Will I do it a third time? Perhaps someday. For now, the thing that sticks most clearly in my mind is Alter's descriptions of the Writings he translated: Psalms is an "urgent" book; Job is a "mysterious" book; the Song of Songs is a "distinctive" book; Lamentations is a "unique" book; and Ruth and Esther and Qohelet and Daniel? Just plain "peculiar." Peculiar or not, there is millennia of wisdom and drama and weirdness in these writings; on a whole, not as important to my thinking or faith as The Five Books of Moses or The Prophets, but I wouldn't want to go without any of these either, all the same.

[Erik Rostad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the final of 3 books containing the Old Testament / Hebrew Bible. The Writings consists of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, The Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Qohelet (Ecclesiastes), Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles. Two things stood out - the use of poetry or prose in each of these books and Robert Alter's wondering how some of these books made it into the canon. Alter also referenced some works I read last year - Gilgamesh and Hesiod - and it was neat how references from those works may have made their way into the Bible. Alter also points out differences in these writings compared to the Torah and the Prophets as many of these were compiled after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. This concludes the Robert Alter translation & commentary of the Hebrew Bible. It was a very interesting process to use this version and I'm glad I did so.

[wrader2001 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This translation of the Hebrew Bible is an incredible work for one person to have undertaken. Alter provides painstaking notes pointing out literary tropes, wordplay, possible alternative translations, historical context, and his reasoning for tough calls. I have never read a more transparent translation of the Hebrew Bible, and it was wonderful.

Be aware that Alter's footnotes and his translations are undertaken from a completely secular perspective. The Bible, to him, is a fascinating and beautiful cultural artifact completely devoid of any divine intervention or inspiration. "Prophecy" is the product of fits and hallucinations. Prophetic predictions are either educated guesses or are produced after the fact and backdated. Temple rituals are ancient "cultic" practices mimicking those of surrounding Canaanite religions, having no actual relationship to God. If you are a believer, as I am, this may rub you the wrong way from time to time.

Additionally, some of his footnotes do a better job than others at providing the reasoning behind his translations. Sometimes he lays it out very well. Other times he does nothing more than say, in essence, "other translators are wrong, and I'm right" without providing any reasoning. When he does this, it is disappointing. When he offers his reasoning, it is often very helpful and insightful.

The good and bad of this translation are, I think, reflective of the costs and benefits of having an entire Hebrew Bible translated solo, rather than by committee. Translations by committee tend to do a better job of outlining differing points of view, but are also pretty conservative and less likely to offer interesting insights that go too far out on a limb. Solo translations, like this one, will be more likely to go out on a limb, but less likely be fair to other points of view.

A final, unfortunate thing with this translation is that it at times does not have very good copyediting in the footnotes. Many odd errors in grammar, missing words and lines, etc.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alter's translation is a valuable resource, but one that should be used with great care. On the positive side, he does a great job capturing more of the intended poetic feel, especially in the Psalms and helps explain nuance that an Ancient Near East reader would have picked up but goes over the modern head. On the negative side, Alter approaches the Bible from an atheist, materialist worldview. He appears to view the entire Bible as post-exilic historical fiction at best, so one must be exceedingly careful with his "translation" as he freely changes the text to fit his personal ideas, including burying references that point to Jesus Christ (his work on Psalm 2 is especially egregious). This work cannot be trusted as a primary Bible study translation, but for those already very familiar with one of the major translation, it can serve as a helpful commentary at many points.

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This year (2022) my Church is studying the Old Testament, and I decided to read Robert Alter's translation of the Hebrew Bible for my own personal study. I cannot recommend this translation enough. It is eminently readable, occasionally challenging, and deeply insightful. The footnotes do a good job of both detailing various translation choices and yet are comprehensive enough to also qualify as a low-level commentary. A wonderful translation to read, whatever your religious persuasion or literary bent.

[Diana Kullman · Rating 5 out of 5]

994 pages layer, I finally finished it. The footnotes were probably longer than the text as he shared the Hebrew in his explanations.

[Steve Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful translation, bringing us closer to the Hebrew sentence structure and vocabulary. Wonderful notes as well. An illuminating pleasure to read the writings in this form.

[TheRabbidCow]

We are very fortunate to have Alter's work and translation.

[Vanjr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible work. Worth the effort for anyone to read, no matter your religious beliefs or lack there of. Some books covered are more insightful than others. Chronicles is definitely on the less useful side in terms of the commentary.