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The Art of Biblical Narrative

By Robert Alter

(9)

| Others | 9780465022557

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Book Description

Renowned critic and translator Robert Alter presents the Hebrew Bible as a cohesive literary work, one whose many authors used innovative devices such as ...

2 Reviews

1 person find this helpful

remarkable!
higly recommended for Bible lover!

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I believe therefore I am said on Sep 25, 2006 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Alter reads the OT with new eyes -- the eyes of a literary critic... taking the bold yet simple step of reading the Bible as a literary creation.
Alter, who is Jewish, takes the position of looking at the OT as though it were "prose fiction." He attributes this narrative format to the writers thems ... (continue)

Alter reads the OT with new eyes -- the eyes of a literary critic... taking the bold yet simple step of reading the Bible as a literary creation.
Alter, who is Jewish, takes the position of looking at the OT as though it were "prose fiction." He attributes this narrative format to the writers themselves, "inventing vivid characters with their own quirks and speech habits... the comic frustration of a failed seduction, the slow diplomatic bargaining over a burial site, the wrangling of brothers, the foolishness of kings.." (156). However, through Alter's expertise in looking through the literary lens, it is possible for those whose eyes have been enlightened to the truth of Biblical revelation to see clearly the divine pen of the Holy Spirit tracing in human lives and events -- and yes, in the selective recounting of the narrative -- the divine revelation that transcends both actors and tellers.

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Storyteller123 said on Oct 29, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback