The Five Books of Moses A Translation With Commentary

1086 Pages·2008·5.54 MB·English

More praise for Robert Alter’s
The Five Books of Moses
“[An] astonishing translation. Out of Mr. Alter’s close reading and translation,
something grander really does take shape, along with a conviction that the Bible
is not just incidentally mysterious, posing challenges because of its antique
references and sources. It is essentially mysterious.”
—Edward Rothstein, New York Times
“[A] remarkable new translation of the Pentateuch, a monument of
scholarship…. The result greatly refreshes, sometimes productively estranges,
words that may now be too familiar to those who grew up with the King James
Bible…. Alter’s translation brings delight because it follows the precepts of the
committee of King James, but is founded on a greatly deeper conversance with
Hebrew than the great 17th-century scholars could summon. And Alter…brings
to his own English a scholarly comprehension of the capacities of literary usage.
…Especially fine is the way Alter seems to dig into the earth of the Hebrew to
recover, in English, its fearless tactility.”
—James Wood, London Review of Books
“In the ancient Hebrew, Alter discovers a profound music. He can raise an
already beloved text to new heights of resonance and reality…. Alter’s
combination of a freshly minted text and splendidly concise commentaries
makes the biblical words resonate.”
—Thomas D’Evelyn, Christian Science Monitor “This is a masterpiece of
clarity, erudition, and synthesis. Alter uses his talent as a literary critic to inspire
in the reader a passion for studying the text…. This work abounds in stimulating
thinking and eloquent writing. He honors those he invites not just to follow him
but to accompany him.”
—Elie Wiesel, Bible Review
“The arrival of this new translation of The Five Books of Moses—a heroic and
literary achievement that captures in almost standard English the rhythms,
repetition, and beauty of the Hebrew original—is cause for celebration….[This
translation] well might become the definitive text for readers and scholars alike.”
—Pearl Abraham, The Forward
“Alter has admirably—one could say miraculously—succeeded.”
—Earl L. Dachslager, Houston Chronicle
“The renowned scholar Robert Alter has produced a fresh translation [and]
backed it up with an enlightening commentary. The result offers Old Testament
newcomers, long-term absentees, and veterans a compelling reading
experience.”
—Matt Love, Sunday Oregonian
“The Five Books of Moses is a fine work that deserves admiration for its sheer
scale and literary power. The commentary is at least as important as the
translation, and the two together make up a unique contribution both to biblical
studies and to the understanding and appreciation of a text that is central to
Western culture.”
—John Barton, Times Literary Supplement
“Magisterial…an extraordinary achievement by any measure. Alter is indeed a
magician with words.”
—Diana Lipton, Booklog
“Alter has succeeded admirably in conveying to English readers something of
the flair, mystery, majesty, and power of the original Hebrew.”
—John W. Rogerson, Church Times
“Has a story ever been at once so comprehensive, so intricate, and so integral as
the one Alter gives us here? One is tempted to call it inspired.”
—Alan Jacobs, First Things
“Alter demonstrates a general reverence for literature that is complete, and his
reverence for the power of the original text is compelling as well. The thrill of
discovery occurs often.”
—David M. Levine, Congress Monthly
“Alter’s accomplishment is immense. He has produced a translation of the
Pentateuch that respects and captures the beauty and majesty of the original.”
—Eric Ormsby, New Criterion
THE FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES
ALSO BY ROBERT ALTER
CANON AND CREATIVITY:
MODERN WRITING AND THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE
THE DAVID STORY
GENESIS
HEBREW AND MODERNITY
THE WORLD OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE
NECESSARY ANGELS: TRADITION AND MODERNITY IN KAFKA, BENJAMIN, AND SCHOLEM
THE PLEASURES OF READING IN AN IDEOLOGICAL AGE
THE LITERARY GUIDE TO THE BIBLE
(coeditor with Frank Kermode)
THE INVENTION OF HEBREW PROSE
THE ART OF BIBLICAL POETRY
MOTIVES FOR FICTION
THE ART OF BIBLICAL NARRATIVE
A LION FOR LOVE: A CRITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF STENDHAL
DEFENSES OF THE IMAGINATION
PARTIAL MAGIC: THE NOVEL AS SELF-CONSCIOUS GENRE
MODERN HEBREW LITERATURE
AFTER THE TRADITION
FIELDING AND THE NATURE OF THE NOVEL
ROGUE’S PROGRESS: STUDIES IN THE PICARESQUE NOVEL
THE FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES
A Translation with Commentary
ROBERT ALTER
W. W. Norton & Company NEW YORK LONDON
Copyright © 2004 by Robert Alter Portions previously published in Genesis:
Translation and Commentary
by Robert Alter copyright © 1996 by Robert Alter.
All rights reserved
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write
to Permissions,
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bible. O.T. Pentateuch.
English. Alter. 2004.
The five books of Moses: a translation with commentary / Robert Alter.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN: 978-0-39307024-8
1. Bible. O.T. Pentateuch—Commentaries. I. Alter, Robert. II. Title.
BS1223.A48 2004
222'.1077—dc22
2004014067
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110
www.wwnorton.com
W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T
3QT
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
I. APPROACHING THE FIVE BOOKS
II. THE BIBLE IN ENGLISH AND THE HERESY OF EXPLANATION
III. ON TRANSLATING THE NAMES OF GOD
IV. ABOUT THE COMMENTARY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
MAPS
GENESIS
INTRODUCTION
THE BOOK OF GENESIS
EXODUS
INTRODUCTION
THE BOOK OF EXODUS
LEVITICUS
INTRODUCTION
THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS
NUMBERS
INTRODUCTION
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS
DEUTERONOMY
INTRODUCTION
THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY
FOR FURTHER READING
INTRODUCTION
I. APPROACHING THE FIVE BOOKS
The rabbinic sage Resh Lakish once wondered why the Hebrew text in Genesis
used a seemingly superfluous definite article in the phrase “And it was evening
and it was morning, the sixth day.” (The definite article is not used for the
preceding five days.) He took this to be a hidden reference to the sixth day of the
month of Sivan, when according to tradition the Torah was given to Israel: “to
teach us that the Holy One made a condition with all created things, saying to
them, ‘If Israel accepts the Torah, you will continue to exist. If not, I shall return
you to welter and waste’” (Babylonian Talmud: Shabbat 88A). This is surely an
extraordinary notion to entertain about the cosmic status of a book, imagining
that the very existence of the world depends on it and on Israel’s embrace of it.
Jewish tradition abounds in such extravagant celebrations of the supreme
importance of this book. What is it about this text that led to such a vision of its
unique standing? Are the five literary units it comprises in fact one book or five?
How were they brought together? What are we to call them?
Let us begin with the question of the name for the whole. The fluctuations of
the title reflect something of the oscillation of the text itself between multiplicity
and unity. The Five Books of Moses does not translate any of the circulating
Hebrew titles, though it does register the traditional attribution of authorship to
Moses. The more compact English title, the Pentateuch, derives from a Greek
*
equivalent for one popular Hebrew designation, the umash. Both names
simply mean the Five Books (though the “book” element is merely implied in
the Hebrew term). “Pentateuch” was once the prevalent English title but has
come to enjoy less currency, perhaps because faintly forbidding polysyllabic
Greek terms are now less in favor. It does sound a little ponderous to the
contemporary ear, and on those grounds it has not been adopted for this volume.
The fuller Hebrew designation is amishah umshey torah, literally, the
five fifths of the Torah. More simply, these five books are very often referred to
in Hebrew and by Jews using other languages as the Torah. Torah means
“teaching,” or in biblical contexts involving specific laws, something like
“regulation” or “protocol,” i.e., that which is to be taught as proper procedure for