The Art of Biblical Poetry - by Robert Alter (Paperback)

About the Book

Originally published: 1985. With new pref.

Book Synopsis

From a renowned literary scholar, the definitive guide to the poetry of the Hebrew Bible

"Intelligent, precise and exciting" (Peter Levi, The New York Times Book Review)

Renowned literary expert Robert Alter's translation of the Hebrew Bible has electrified readers worldwide. In his classic The Art of Biblical Poetry, Alter radically expands the horizons of biblical scholarship by recasting the Bible as not only a human creation but a work of literary art deserving studied criticism. In The Art of Biblical Poetry, his companion to the seminal The Art of Biblical Narrative, Alter investigates the use of Hebrew poetry in the Bible. He analyzes the compact, complex, and exciting rhythms of Hebrew and the larger poetic form and poetic achievement of the Hebrew Bible.

Including passages from Alter's own critically acclaimed biblical translations, The Art of Biblical Poetry is an indispensable tool for understanding the Bible and its poetry.

About the Author

Robert Alter is Professor in the Graduate School and Emeritus Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the Council of Scholars of the Library of Congress, and is past president of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics. His award-winning translation of The Hebrew Bible was twenty-four years in the making. Alter completed it in 2018. He is the author of fifteen other books on the Bible and the modern novel.