The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary

Robert Alter has achieved well-earned fame for unpacking the Hebrew Bible as literature, with the same unsentimental eye we would dedicate to Thomas Hardy or Lady Murasaki. And this new translation of the book of Psalms is no exception. Whether you are interested in the Psalms as literary works or theological statements, Professor Alter's work will help you better understand the many levels at which these poems exist.

The translations build on the poetic principles Professor Alter expounded in his The Art Of Biblical Poetry, the highlights of which are covered in the introduction. To summarize: it's a mistake to look for English linguistic conventions in Hebrew poetry, which is built on different concepts. Hebrew is a very compact language, and the poetry is built around the rhythm of ideas rather than the rhythm of sounds.

This may lead to some confusion in certain translations. For instance, many scholars debate whether the term "valley of the shadow of death" is an accurate translation in Psalm 23:4. In a lengthy note, Dr. Alter explains that the solution to that debate is "maybe." The Hebrew term "begey tsalmawet" is so packed with ideas that English can only approximate its poetic beauty--though I'll leave it to Dr. Alter to tell you why.

To give you an idea of how this all works, consider one of the most widely quoted lines from the Psalms, 121:1. The King James (Authorised) Version renders it in this way:

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help."

This seems straightforward, until you consider the differences found in another popular translation, the New International Version:

"I lift up my eyes to the hills--
where does my help come from?"

The change in the first half, from future to present tense, appears subtle, but the issue of whether the second half is a statement or a question can have important ramifications for literary or religious study. And that's to say nothing of the issue of the poetic line division. Which is correct? Dr. Alter goes back to the original for the answer:

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains:
from where will my help come?"

The pleading tone is made all the more powerful by the inclusion of the explanatory note about the debate over whether these mountains are the highlands around Jerusalem. Professor Alter not only makes his translation useful and explanatory, he also restores the rough-hewn emotion of the poetry which is often smoothed over by more pious and lily-white exigetical translators.

Like Dr. Alter's other translations of the Hebrew Bible, his Psalms is not just for scholars; it is eminently readable, engaging, and educational. No matter the reason you have chosen to study the Psalms, this translation may very well be as close as you can get to the original without learning Hebrew on your own.

Alter's translations and commentary are, not surprisingly, fascinating and artistically engaging. In this review, however, I just want to focus on the format of the Kindle edition.

The Kindle format is problematic. First, the (translated) texts of the psalms themselves are reproduced as images rather than type. What this means is that you can't use the Kindle's type-size option to make the texts of the psalms any larger or smaller (although I can't imagine anyone wanting to make them smaller, since they're quite small as it is). Second, the comments on each psalm break up the psalm itself, so that you'll have, say, four lines of a particular psalm, followed by several Kindle "pages" of comments, followed by four more lines of the same psalm, followed by more pages of comments, and so on. This probably reflects the fact that the comments (I imagine) appear as footnotes on the printed page. But it really doesn't work on the Kindle, unless you're using the book purely for study purposes and not with the goal of appreciating the psalms as poetry.

Third, the typeface used for the comments and introductory matter is not the standard blunt-serifed face used in Kindle books. Instead, they used a face that becomes so thin on the curves that it disappears in places, making a lot of letters (especially the lower-case "e") look like they were printed with broken type. Finally (and most bothersome, in my opinion), the free sample that is available for the Kindle doesn't contain any of the actual psalms; all it contains is the introductory essay. This is not good, since a primary benefit of getting samples is that you can see whether the book has any glaring formatting quirks before you order it.

That being said, this is a terrific work, and I'm glad that it's available as a Kindle ebook, however imperfect.

Alter's translations and commentary are, not surprisingly, fascinating and artistically engaging. In this review, however, I just want to focus on the format of the Kindle edition.

The Kindle format is problematic. First, the (translated) texts of the psalms themselves are reproduced as images rather than type. What this means is that you can't use the Kindle's type-size option to make the texts of the psalms any larger or smaller (although I can't imagine anyone wanting to make them smaller, since they're quite small as it is). Second, the comments on each psalm break up the psalm itself, so that you'll have, say, four lines of a particular psalm, followed by several Kindle "pages" of comments, followed by four more lines of the same psalm, followed by more pages of comments, and so on. This probably reflects the fact that the comments (I imagine) appear as footnotes on the printed page. But it really doesn't work on the Kindle, unless you're using the book purely for study purposes and not with the goal of appreciating the psalms as poetry.

Third, the typeface used for the comments and introductory matter is not the standard blunt-serifed face used in Kindle books. Instead, they used a face that becomes so thin on the curves that it disappears in places, making a lot of letters (especially the lower-case "e") look like they were printed with broken type. Finally (and most bothersome, in my opinion), the free sample that is available for the Kindle doesn't contain any of the actual psalms; all it contains is the introductory essay. This is not good, since a primary benefit of getting samples is that you can see whether the book has any glaring formatting quirks before you order it.

That being said, this is a terrific work, and I'm glad that it's available as a Kindle ebook, however imperfect.

I read this over the course of almost a year, one psalm a night just before bed. I found it illuminating and inspiring. Much has already been written about how Alter's translation of the Hebrew word "nefesh" or "nafesh" as "life's force" instead of the traditional "soul" changes the whole perspective. Ditto for "l'Hoshua" -- to rescue instead of to "save or redeem." Simply by doing this, Alter reorientates us away from a later Christian world view back to the original. The writers of these poems did not have a concept of an immortal soul. As the Psalms themselves repeatedly say, the dead cannot praise God. That is the job of the livimg.
I also am fascinated by his insights into Temple worship -- the musical instruments we can no longer identify -- the "ayalet hashachar" or morning star. What kind of music did that make? The "almut laben" -- another lost instrument. When Alter doesn't know what something means he says so. When the text was jumbled through scribal mistakes many centuries ago, he unjumbles it and points out the mistake.
This is an intellectual and spiritual feast, good for the mind and the soul. Take your time, savor it and appreciate anew the genius that went into creating it.
For more on me and my bookThe Nazi Hunter: A Novel go to www.alanelsner.com.

The Psalms, often described as the Prayer Book of the Bible,has been translated by a scholar of Biblical texts, to produce not only, probably, the most accurate translation of the Hebrew Text, with detailed notes, but more importantly from a layman's point of view, the most beautiful poetically up-lifting hebrew poetry, and indeed,truly prayerful at that. Highly recmmended.