Robert Bernard Alter (born 1935) is an American professor of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and comparative literature at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

, where he has taught since 1967. He published his translation of the Hebrew Bible in 2018.

Biography

Robert Alter earned his bachelor's degree in English (

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, 1957), and his master's degree (1958) and doctorate (1962) from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in comparative literature. He started his career as a writer at '' Commentary'', where he was for many years a contributing editor. He has written twenty-three books, and is noted most recently for his translation of the entire Hebrew Bible. He lectures on topics varying from Biblical episodes to Kafka's modernism and

Hebrew literature Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews. Hebrew literature was p ...

Biblical studies

One of Alter's important contributions is the introduction of the

type scene A type scene is a literary convention employed by a narrator across a set of scenes, or related to scenes (place, action) already familiar to the audience. The similarities with, and differences from, the established type are used to illuminate deve ...

into contemporary scholarly

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

and once in

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * E ...

, and, according to Alter, distortedly in

1 Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books ( Jo ...

and in the

Book of Ruth The Book of Ruth ( he, מגילת רות, ''Megilath Ruth'', "the Scroll of Ruth", one of the Five Megillot) is included in the third division, or the Writings (Ketuvim), of the Hebrew Bible. In most Christian canons it is treated as one of th ...

Honors

Alter has served as an active member of the Council of Scholars of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

, and as the president of the

Association of Literary Scholars and Critics The Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW) was organized in 1994 as the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics by a group of over 400 scholars troubled by what they saw as an over reliance on post-modern theory in the a ...

. He was a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in 1966 and 1978. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 1986. In 2001, he was elected a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

. He was a Senior Fellow of the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and Old Dominion Fellow at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Jewish Review of Books.

Awards

His book '' The Art of Biblical Narrative'' won the

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.Robert Kirsch Award Since 1980, the '' Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the ...

(''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'') for lifetime contribution to American letters. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree by

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

in 2010. He is a Doctor Honoris Causa of

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public university, public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein ...

(2015). * Berkeley Citation (2010)

Selected works

;Translations of the Hebrew Bible * ''The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel'', 1999,

W.W. Norton W. W. Norton & Company is an American publishing company based in New York City. Established in 1923, it has been owned wholly by its employees since the early 1960s. The company is known for its Norton Anthologies (particularly ''The Norton An ...

, * ''The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary'', 2004, W.W. Norton, * ''The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary'', 2007, W.W. Norton, * ''The Book of Genesis'', translation by Robert Alter, illustrated by R. Crumb, 2009, W.W. Norton (first edition, 1996), * ''The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes: A Translation with Commentary'', 2010, W.W. Norton, * ''Ancient Israel: The Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings: A Translation with Commentary'', 2013, W.W. Norton, * ''Strong As Death Is Love: Song of Songs Ruth Esther Jonah And Daniel: A Translation with Commentary'', 2015, W.W. Norton, * '' The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary'', 2018, W.W. Norton, ;Other works * ''Rogue's Progress: Studies in the Picaresque Novel'', 1965, Harvard University Press *
Partial Magic: The Novel as a Self-Conscious Genre
', 1975, University of California Press,
''A Lion for Love: A Critical Biography of Stendhal''
in collaboration with Carol Cosman, 1979, Basic Books, * '' The Art of Biblical Narrative'', 1981,

Basic Books Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1950 and located in New York, now an imprint of Hachette Book Group. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and history. H ...

,
''Motives for Fiction''
1984,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...

, * ''The Art of Biblical Poetry'', 1985, Basic Books,
''The Literary Guide to the Bible''
Edited by Alter and

Frank Kermode Sir John Frank Kermode, FBA (29 November 1919 – 17 August 2010) was a British literary critic best known for his 1967 work '' The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction'' and for his extensive book-reviewing and editing. He was ...

, 1987, Harvard University Press, * ''The Invention of Hebrew Prose: Modern Fiction and the Language Revolution'', 1988, University of Washington Press. * ''Pleasures of Reading in an Ideological Age'', 1990, W.W. Norton,
''Necessary Angels: Tradition and Modernity in Kafka, Benjamin, and Scholem''
1991, Harvard University Press, * ''Imagined Cities: Urban Experience and the Novel'', 2005, Yale University Press, * ''Pen of Iron: American Prose and the King James Bible'', 2010,

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

, * ''The Art of Bible Translation'', 2019, Princeton University Press, * ''Nabokov and the Real World: Between Appreciation and Defense'', 2021, Princeton University Press,

References

External links

CV on UCBerkeley's website''The Five Books of Moses'' review at ''The New Yorker''
* ttp://www.firstthings.com/article/2007/01/robert-alter8217s-fidelity-6 ''The Five Books of Moses'' reviewby Alan Jacobs in ''First Things'' (Aug/Sept. 2005)
''The Book of Psalms'' review at ''The New Yorker''Audio interview with Robert AlterRobert Alter's articles in the ''London Review of Books''
*''The Hebrew Bible'', 3 vols.
reviewed
by Gary A. Rendsburg at Moment Magazine
Sample chapter
of Alter's translation of Genesis {{DEFAULTSORT:Alter, Robert 1935 births Living people Columbia College (New York) alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences American biblical scholars Jewish American academics Translators of the Bible into English Jewish translators of the Bible Translators from Hebrew Translators to English American literary critics Bible commentators Old Testament scholars 21st-century American Jews Members of the American Philosophical Society