How an Attempt to Convey the Hebrew Bible’s Beauty Spoke to People of Faith

As a professor of comparative literature who had written books on biblical stylistics, Robert Alter set out to translate the Tanakh with any eye toward conveying in English what he saw as its immense power as a work of literature. He thus did not expect to receive praise from Orthodox Jews, Episcopalian nuns, Scottish ministers, and many other believers. In conversation with J.J. Kimche, Alter explores why his book was thus received, the ways his approach to the text has more in common with that of classical and medieval rabbis than with modern academics, and the Bible’s unique literary devices. (Audio, 77 minutes.)