The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary

Not being a scholar, I cannot review this book appropriately. But I can tell you why I am enjoying it and why I recommend that you read it and use it for reference (or reverence) Alter writes, "What I have aimed at in this translation - inevitably, with imperfect success - is to represent Psalms in a kind of English verse that is readable as poetry yet sounds something like the Hebrew - emulating its rhythms wherever feasible, reproducing many of the effects of its expressive poetic syntax, seeking equivalents for the combination of homespun directness and archaizing in the original, hewing to the lexical concreteness of the Hebrew, and making more palpable the force of parallelism that is at the heart of biblical poetry." Now ... with regard to two Psalms you may know by heart...: Psalm 23: "The Lord is my shepherd...", in this translation is rendered: The Lord is my shepherd / I shall not want. / In grass meadows He makes me lie down, / By quiet waters guide me. / My life He brings back. / He leads me on pathways of justice / For His name's sake. / Though I walk in the vale of death's shadow, / I fear no harm. /For you are with me. But what i truly enjoy are Alter's commentaries. Alter's commentary states, "Although the likening of God or a ruler to a shepherd is a commonplace in this pastoral culture, this psalm is justly famous for the affecting simplicity and concreteness with which it realizes the metaphor. Thus, in the next line the shepherd leads his sheep to meadows where there is abundant grass and riverbanks and where quiet waters run that the sheep can drink... [he makes me lie down] The verb used here, HIRBITS, is a specialized one for making animals lie down...... [My life he brings back] Though "he restoreth my soul" is time-honored, the Hebrew NEFESH does not mean "soul" but "life breath" or "life." The image is of someone who has almost stopped breathing and is revived, brought back to life... ...[in the vale of death's shadow] The intent of the translation is not to avoid the proverbial "in the shadow of the valley of death" but rather to cut through the proliferation of syllables in the King James Version, however eloquent, and better approximate the compactness of the Hebrew - BEGEY TSALMAWET. Though philologists assume that the Masoretic TSALMAWET is actually a misleading vocalization of TSALMUT - probably a poetic word for "darkness" with the UT ending simply a suffix of abstraction - the traditional vocalization reflects something like an orthographic pun or a folk etymology (TSEL means "shadow" MAWET means "DEATH"), so there is justification in retaining the death component... ... ... [You moisten my head with oil] The verb here, DISHEN, is not the one that is used for anointment, and its associations are sensual rather than sacramental... And so.. you get a more in-depth understanding of the Psalm and its intentions in the original Hebrew. Or, take Psalm 137, you may recall it as, "By the rivers of Babylon,

I've been going through a patch of bad health lately. To help ease my way, some friends were kind enough to give me Robert Alter's translations of the Psalms. They didn't know that I'm a fan of Alter's earlier Five Books of Moses translation. I was delighted to receive their gift. I've been reading the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) translations of the psalms for so long that they've become second nature to me. But Alter's renderings have an immediacy that really does bring a sense of vitality, of expectancy, of being-there-in-the-moment, that awakens both the senses and the heart. Take the well known Quemadimodum, Psalm 42. The BCP's translation of the beginning is this: As the deer longs for the water brooks, so longs my soul for you, O God. My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God; when shall I come to appear before the presence of God? Here's Alter's translation: As a deer yearns for streams of water, so I yearn for You, O God. My whole being thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and see the presence of God? The BCP version has a lovely, contemplative rhythm. But Alter's version has an edge that expresses not just longing but almost a demand. It's an interesting change of pace, and one that invites a different set of responses and prayers. Alter's commentary to his translations is graceful and informative, and not--thank God!--heavy-handed and pedantic. I generally distrust commentary attached to translated poetry. But Alter's usually enhances rather than distracts. This translation is a wonderful gift that Alter has given us all. And my copy of his translation is a wonderful gift from my friends. Thank you!

Update: Jan. 2010 I wrote to Prof. Alter to inquire about any other biblical translations because, quite frankly, his translation (and, Prof. Everett Fox' translation) are some of the most exciting and intriguing books to be published in any genre. Here is Prof. Alter's response: Dear Mr. Lawrence, Many thanks for your enthusiastic response. The next installment of my Bible translations, the Wisdom Books (Job, Qohelet, Proverbs) will be published in October [2010]. All best, Robert Alter ***** ***** ***** I've come to expect excellence from Professor Alter, especially after first reading The NY Times review of his "The Five Books of Moses" (Sept. 2004). It was a wonderful translation. I then purchased his translations of Genesis and The David Story based on (I & II Samuel), both books read like a novel. The David Story, in particular, I found to be an exceptionally vivid portrait of David, although I don't agree with Prof. Alter's conservative supposition of David's relationship with Michal and Jonathan. Minor point, but usually Alter, the intellectual, in his annotations is known to challenge orthodoxy. The Book of Psalms, although not a biographical sketch, is written in the typical Alter style. Take for instance a troubling Psalm for translation. Psalm 2: A declaration of God's dominion. KJV Serve The Lord with fear/ and rejoice with trembling/Kiss The Son, lest he be angry... Artscroll, Tehillim (2006) Serve The Lord with awe/That you may rejoice, When there is trembling... Alter's Trns Worship the Lord in fear/ and exult in trembling/ With purity be armed... The strength of Alter's writings is, indeed, by his willingness to employ by etymology and analytical reasoning (and not by tradition) to find some satisfactory conclusion. This is what separates Alter from the bunch. All of this comes to focus when Alter stops to talk about the root meaning of words and then transposes them in familiar territory. Psalm 27:1 REB The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? JPS (1917,85) Adonai, is my light and my life. Whom shall I fear? Alter's The Lord is my light and my rescue. Whom should I fear? It is in these moments, that Alter's vision provokes deep thought when considering historical usage of words. Take for instance, the meaning of the word, "salvation." Here's Alter's comments: "Salvation is the term that the translators in 1611 chose to represent the Hebrew yeshu'ah, and it has shown more than a little persistence in the various modern versions...[and] comes to designate a global process of messianic redemption. But in Psalms, this noun and its cognate verb hoshi'a are strictly directed to the here and now. Hoshi'a means to get someone out of a tight fix, to rescue him. When the tight fix involves the threat of enemies on the battlefield, yeshu'ah can mean `victory.' More commonly, both the noun and the verb indicate `rescue.' In Hebrew, there are two words for the fam

Robert Alter the great master- critic of understanding the Bible as literary text here puts his considerable knowledge of Biblical poetics and translation techniques to use in an effort to capture the compactness, and rhythm of the Hebrew original. Alter's aim is to give us a translation closer to the source than any done before. In doing so he faced many problems one of them of course being the canonical place the 'King James Version' has in the hearts of many lovers of the Bible. Alter handles this in varying ways. In Psalm 23 he leaves the famous opening "The Lord is my Shepherd' in part because he could find no way of compacting the Hebrew original which is three words only. Later on in the other most well- known line of the poem he translates in place of "Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." ,"Though I walk in the vale of death's shadow/I fear no harm." Though Alter's translation may be here more accurate, it is difficult not to feel the impossibility of improving upon a 'line' which has in itself become part of the English tradition in Literature, and which is so deep in the hearts and minds of many readers. Alter is knowledgeable, skillful and his work has true literary power. It is a translation which definitely adds to the tradition of translations of what is arguably the greatest and most meaningful personal religious poetry ever written. His commentary is in itself a small masterwork which will deeply enrich the understanding of all who read ,love, and our strengthened by 'Tehillim'.

Robert Alter's Book of Psalms is an exeptionally rich read into the history and life of each of the Psalms. I have been using it as a comparative study with my more favorite and familiar, Grail translation. The Grail is far and away better for singing and prayer, but the insights Dr. Alter provides, almost line by line, enrich my understanding of other possible meanings, hidden meanings, and the historical background for the Psalms.This is not LIGHT reading. Even the size of the hardcover book does not allow you to tuck it into your pocket or bag for easy use. But it is a most welcome scholarly addition to Biblical study and literature. His is an enjoyable work of mature scholarship.