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The Five Books of Moses

A Translation with Commentary

Robert Alter (University of California, Berkeley)

$49.95

Paperback

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English
Norton
08 January 2010
Through a distinguished career of critical scholarship and translation, Robert Alter has equipped us to read the Hebrew Bible as a powerful, cohesive work of literature. The culmination of this work, Alter's masterly new translation and probing commentary combine to give contemporary readers the definitive edition of The Five Books. Alter's majestic translation recovers the mesmerizing effect of these ancient stories?the profound and haunting enigmas, the ambiguities of motive and image, and the distinctive cadences and lovely precision of the Hebrew text. Other modern translations either recast these features for contemporary clarity, thereby losing the character of the original, or fail to give readers a suitably fluid English as a point of contact. Alter's translation conveys the music and the meaning of the Hebrew text in a lyrical, lucid English. His accompanying commentary illuminates the text with learned insight and reflection on its literary and historical dimensions.

By:  
Imprint:   Norton
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 234mm,  Width: 157mm,  Spine: 48mm
Weight:   1.352kg
ISBN:   9780393333930
ISBN 10:   0393333930
Pages:   1120
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Reviews for The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary

Robert Alter's translation with commentary of The Five Books of Moses can be fairly described as a godsend. Seamus Heaney, Books of the Year, The Times Literary Supplement In this remarkable translation... a monument of scholarship... Alter brings a kind of sensitivity to bear on moment after moment of his translation... James Wood, London Review of Books The commentary is at least as important as the translation, and the two together make up a unique contribution both to biblical studies and to the understanding and appreciation of a text that is central to Western culture. John Barton, The Times Literary Supplement ...a new translation with fascinating annotations... Robert Crumb, Summer Books, The Guardian


  • Winner of New York Times Notable Selection 2004
  • Winner of PEN Center USA Literary Award for Translation 2005

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