The Five Books of Moses

A Translation with Commentary

Browse Return to Previous Page       Related Subjects All Subjects Biblical studies - Old Testament Jewish studies Religious studies

Translated by Robert Alter

W. W. Norton and Co.

Due/Published October 2004, 800 pages, cloth

ISBN 0393019551

Alter's 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.