ewoodrow23's review
5.0
i had to read it all for search and tbh i think it’s just funny to include it in here
aawahrman's review
5.0
Saying I read this is a lie. I got 1% through it and absorbed as much as I could. Very well written and encouraging in a lot of respects, but also worth noting that it is a very big book.
stevesaroff's review
5.0
The bible is perhaps the most influential and important book ever printed, and yet the historical translators made many, many subjective and varying choices in meaning. This translation is both easy to read, with fantastic commentary, and beautifully printed. A true-life work achievement by a great writer and scholar.
omareduardo's review
1/5/2019
First off, why am I reading this?
I read this NYT article about Robert Alter's translation at the same time I had been curious to explore religious texts in more depth. The Bible is one of the most influential books of all times. Although I've read or listened to meaningful parts of it by attending church in my child & teenage years, I haven't read it as an adult with the intent to learn from it. My resentment with religion from my teenage years made me label the book as irrelevant and put it away. In contrast, I learn valuable lessons from many other books, both fiction and non-fiction, which I read for pleasure with the intent to learn. I can do this despite disagreeing with parts of it.
My goal now is to come back to read the Bible with fresh eyes, and to be as generous with it as I am with other texts. I will let the content simmer as I read it and let the valuable lessons sink in, while graciously rejecting what may not serve me well. I decided to start with the Hebrew Bible, or as I used to call it the Old Testament, with this version and will later on read the New Testament from the King James Version.
INTRODUCTION TO THE HEBREW BIBLE
I'm in page xxxiii, or really page 18, of an introduction to the Hebrew bible in which Robert Alter diligently explains why existing versions of the Bible don't do justice to the original text. He cites a combination of stylistic problems, how the translations in trying to keep with English writing norms did a disservice. For example, by always varying a word to avoid it being repetitive, as it's common practice in English, where in the original text the repeated usage of the same word served an important purpose.
Alter also cites examples of where other versions went beyond translating into interpreting the text and the translated text doesn't truly reflect the original.
I must admit that a part of me just wants to skip to the Genesis, yet a bigger part of me is curious to continue reading this, and so I will.
----
First off, why am I reading this?
I read this NYT article about Robert Alter's translation at the same time I had been curious to explore religious texts in more depth. The Bible is one of the most influential books of all times. Although I've read or listened to meaningful parts of it by attending church in my child & teenage years, I haven't read it as an adult with the intent to learn from it. My resentment with religion from my teenage years made me label the book as irrelevant and put it away. In contrast, I learn valuable lessons from many other books, both fiction and non-fiction, which I read for pleasure with the intent to learn. I can do this despite disagreeing with parts of it.
My goal now is to come back to read the Bible with fresh eyes, and to be as generous with it as I am with other texts. I will let the content simmer as I read it and let the valuable lessons sink in, while graciously rejecting what may not serve me well. I decided to start with the Hebrew Bible, or as I used to call it the Old Testament, with this version and will later on read the New Testament from the King James Version.
INTRODUCTION TO THE HEBREW BIBLE
I'm in page xxxiii, or really page 18, of an introduction to the Hebrew bible in which Robert Alter diligently explains why existing versions of the Bible don't do justice to the original text. He cites a combination of stylistic problems, how the translations in trying to keep with English writing norms did a disservice. For example, by always varying a word to avoid it being repetitive, as it's common practice in English, where in the original text the repeated usage of the same word served an important purpose.
Alter also cites examples of where other versions went beyond translating into interpreting the text and the translated text doesn't truly reflect the original.
I must admit that a part of me just wants to skip to the Genesis, yet a bigger part of me is curious to continue reading this, and so I will.
----
alexisrt's review
5.0
Reviewing the Bible itself is somewhat superfluous, so this is really a review of the translation.
I've always been interested in Bible translation and the differences between translations. I can read the Bible in Hebrew, but I'm not fluent, so if I want detail and nuance, I need the English. That's aside from the historical and literary importance of various translations. My go-to for years has been the JPS translation. (The KJV has literary value for its influence on the English language, but not as a working translation for understanding source text.) I prefer it to the Artscroll, which is prone to ideological bias.
Alter's translation makes use of the Septuagint as well as the Masoretic text and he uses historical evidence outside of traditional Jewish sources to determine meaning, which will be controversial for some Jews. However, his commentary is extremely informative regarding his choices and his reasoning, and was enlightening. He does consider himself to be *the* expert--there's a touch of arrogance--but his opinions are interesting.
His style strikes a good balance. It has an appropriate feel of formality, unlike some contemporary Christian translations, but is not archaic, and he seeks to preserve a sense of the Hebrew--for example, by preserving the conjunctions and long sequences of verbs that are used for narrative flow.
I've read the Bible before, though I don't think I've ever managed to read it all in order rather than one book at a time, but I enjoyed the re-read. I would have liked to have seen it paired with the Hebrew source for easy comparison, but given the length of the text as is, that would be quite the set.
I've always been interested in Bible translation and the differences between translations. I can read the Bible in Hebrew, but I'm not fluent, so if I want detail and nuance, I need the English. That's aside from the historical and literary importance of various translations. My go-to for years has been the JPS translation. (The KJV has literary value for its influence on the English language, but not as a working translation for understanding source text.) I prefer it to the Artscroll, which is prone to ideological bias.
Alter's translation makes use of the Septuagint as well as the Masoretic text and he uses historical evidence outside of traditional Jewish sources to determine meaning, which will be controversial for some Jews. However, his commentary is extremely informative regarding his choices and his reasoning, and was enlightening. He does consider himself to be *the* expert--there's a touch of arrogance--but his opinions are interesting.
His style strikes a good balance. It has an appropriate feel of formality, unlike some contemporary Christian translations, but is not archaic, and he seeks to preserve a sense of the Hebrew--for example, by preserving the conjunctions and long sequences of verbs that are used for narrative flow.
I've read the Bible before, though I don't think I've ever managed to read it all in order rather than one book at a time, but I enjoyed the re-read. I would have liked to have seen it paired with the Hebrew source for easy comparison, but given the length of the text as is, that would be quite the set.