Numbers : A Translation with Commentary

by Robert Alter

Genres: Judaism

139 pages, Unknown Binding

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

[Jamie Huston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a weird amalgamation of disparate things. We get tedious census results at the start and tedious legal codes at the end, and the middle is filled with cautionary tales of hubris and rebellion, plus episodes of odd incidents like Balaam and his talking donkey. It's a widely variegated composition, that's for sure. Some parts work better as literature (and as spiritual inspiration) than others, but overall, the sheer odd audacity of the book makes for a compelling read.

Alter's notes continue to delight with their breadth, depth, honesty, and their own quirky variety--sometimes lexicographical in nature, sometimes interpretative, often synthetical, and always interesting.