Genesis
Genesis
begins with the making of heaven and earth and all life, and ends with
the image of a mummy--Joseph's--in a coffin. In between come many of the
primal stories in Western culture: Adam and Eve's expulsion from the
garden of Eden, Cain's murder of Abel, Noah and the Flood, the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham's binding of Isaac, the
covenant of God and Abraham, Isaac's blessing of Jacob in place of Esau,
the saga of Joseph and his brothers.
In Robert Alter's brilliant translation, these stories cohere in a powerful narrative of the tortuous relations between fathers and sons, husbands and wives, eldest and younger brothers, God and his chosen people, the people of Israel and their neighbors. Alter's translation honors the meanings and literary strategies of the ancient Hebrew and conveys them in fluent English prose. It recovers a Genesis with the continuity of theme and motif of a wholly conceived and fully realized book. His insightful, fully informed commentary illuminates the book in all its dimensions.
In Robert Alter's brilliant translation, these stories cohere in a powerful narrative of the tortuous relations between fathers and sons, husbands and wives, eldest and younger brothers, God and his chosen people, the people of Israel and their neighbors. Alter's translation honors the meanings and literary strategies of the ancient Hebrew and conveys them in fluent English prose. It recovers a Genesis with the continuity of theme and motif of a wholly conceived and fully realized book. His insightful, fully informed commentary illuminates the book in all its dimensions.
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