My reading all year has been framed by Robert Alter’s magisterial new(ish) translation of (and commentary on) the entire Old Testament, which I’ve been crawling through between reading other books. It’s the product of decades of work, some of it published along the way, and it is just an amazing accomplishment. My favorite rabbi was a little less impressed with some of Alter’s rendering of crucial Hebrew terms than I’ve been, though I do agree with him that Alter’s take on King David in his commentary is at times bizarre and ultimately unpersuasive. But on the whole, I’ve been enormously impressed with Alter’s translation, and have found that he not only reliably renders beautiful Hebrew into beautiful English but also sheds light on the meaning of some (to me) quite bewildering Hebrew passages in lovely ways. His rendering of Job alone is worth the price of admission. This really belongs in your library.
