Robert Alter's new book on Bible translation

ROBERT ALTER has spent the last couple of decades publishing a remarkable, respected, and popular translation of the Hebrew Bible. Not content with that achievement, he has just published another book on the art of translating the Bible. I noted this earlier in passing, but it deserves more attention. Jonathan Kirsch introduces the new book in two articles in the Jewish Journal:

A Masterful Primer on Bible Translation.

Now Alter has crowned his life’s work with “The Art of Bible Translation” (Princeton University Press), which serves as an essential companion volume to his own translations. And it can be seen as the completion of a trilogy that started with “The Art of Biblical Narrative” (1981) and continued with “The Art of Biblical Poetry” (1985), which contributed importantly to the teaching of “the Bible as literature” as distinguished from its use in religious belief and practice.

Author and Scholar Talks About the Importance of Words and Meaning. An interview with Professor Alter and a brief excerpt from the new book.

For more on the now-complete Alter translation of the Bible, start here and follow the many links.

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