Let there be light
Robert Alter, "Genesis: a translation and commentary"
Like so many things in this fallen world, most modern translations of the bible are done by committees.
In producing the first "literary" translation of the Hebrew Bible since the King James Version, Robert Alter, Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature, seeks to combat the poor English and poor Hebrew he sees in modern translations of the bible by conveying into English the extraordinary power of the imagery, repetition and word plays of the Hebrew text.
An extensive commentary illuminates every nuance, allusion and elision of the text.
Detail of Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden of Eden in the Haywain Triptych, Hieronymus Bosch or workshop, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
