I recently acquired a complete Tanakh commentary by Robert Alter which brings together all of his writings on the Hebrew Bible. He seems to not be satisfied with how modern translations have translated the Bible into English, he believes that in what they present as good English is in fact a butchering of the flow and nuance of the original Hebrew. His translation is supposed to capture more of the movement and cadence of the Hebrew (you learn a surprising amount about grammar by reading his comments. Hypotaxis, parataxis, conjugation, jussives, hendiadys, synecdoche, oh my.
Has anyone else looked at his work? Do you agree with his findings or is this a case of literary fussiness? In some sense all translation is treachery, it can never be perfect.
I’ve been a huge fan of Robert Alter for years. It’s true that no translation can ever be complete or definitive but this work will do me for a while. You’re right his notes alone are worth the price of admission. At any rate he’s got me reading the Hebrew Bible more deeply than I have in years. His introduction to Ezekiel, aside from being a luminous piece of English prose, is as clear an exposition of a very difficult text as I’ve read.
For those who want to sample Alter’s work but don’t want the investment in the complete edition, try his standalone volume THE DAVID STORIES, availble as an inexpensive paperback on Amazon.
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