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The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary First Edition

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 452 ratings

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One of Newsweek’s Best Books of the Year and winner of the Robert Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement.

A cornerstone of the scriptural canon, the Book of Psalms has been a source of solace and joy for countless readers over millennia. This timeless poetry is beautifully wrought by a scholar whose translation of the Five Books of Moses was hailed as a “godsend” by Seamus Heaney and a “masterpiece” by Robert Fagles. Alter’s The Book of Psalms captures the simplicity, the physicality, and the coiled rhythmic power of the Hebrew, restoring the remarkable eloquence of these ancient poems. His learned and insightful commentary illuminates the obscurities of the text.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"You think you know these texts . . . until you read Alter, who reignites their beauty in bracing and unexpected ways."
Malcolm Jones, Newsweek

"Alter is musically and poetically sensitive.... [He] takes us back to the essence of the meaning."
James Wood, The New Yorker

"Extraordinary.... We never forget, with Alter's Psalms, that the text we are reading is the work of human hands―not Holy Writ, but something at once less and more than that, great poetry."
Adam Kirsch, New Republic

"A considerable achievement.... Alter holds me to his darkly economical texts."
Harold Bloom, New York Review of Books

"It is impossible to overstate the depth, the versatility, and the value of Alter's contribution."
Barbara Berman, San Francisco Chronicle

"One of the best outcomes of Alter's translation is a sense of an abrupt, muscular intensity; he restores to the Psalms a kind of strangeness that emanates from an encounter with a culture we recognize yet is distinctly alien to us, far removed in time and frame of mind."
Mark Doty, Los Angeles Times

"Every reader of this translation will be led towards fresh thoughts and will discover favorites that inspire the imagination in new, rich ways."
Walter Brueggemann, Christian Century

"In his compelling and swiftly moving translations, Alter has thrust the reader back to the place where the monotheistic religions were born out of even more ancient beginnings."
Jewish Book World

"The achievement of this new translation is to present the Book of Psalms as a wonder of ancient literature."
The Tablet

About the Author

Robert Alter's translation of the Hebrew Bible, the magnificent capstone to a lifetime of distinguished scholarly work, has won the PEN Center Literary Award for Translation. His immense achievements in scholarship ranging from the eighteenth-century European novel to contemporary Hebrew and American literature earned Alter the Robert Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Los Angeles Times. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition (October 19, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 560 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393337049
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393337044
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.6 x 1 x 8.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 452 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
452 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the translation clear and capturing poetic nuances. The textual notes are insightful and help them understand Hebrew words and meanings. The introduction is fascinating and artistically engaging. Readers consider the book worth the purchase price. However, some customers have issues with formatting in the Kindle edition, particularly verse numbers and Hebrew letters not being at the correct places.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

62 customers mention "Translation quality"54 positive8 negative

Customers appreciate the translation quality. They find the text articulately expressed, capturing the poetic nuances of the original Hebrew. The textual notes are enlightening, particularly when bringing to light the thoughts of the author. Readers describe the book as clear and readable, with valuable insights that bring clarity to the scripture.

"...Not only poetic but thought-provoking. The commentary is wonderful and has the right amount of information to feed you. Im so happy I purchased it." Read more

"...during my times of prayer and study and he has done a great job of keeping the poetic features of the Psalms as closely as possible...." Read more

"...is Lubavitcher and a rabbi; his comment was interesting, excellent translation, but Alter denies that David wrote all the psalms so my friend lost..." Read more

"...Aside from the beauty of the words and the images they conjure, the notes were equally valuable and interesting...." Read more

45 customers mention "Insight"40 positive5 negative

Customers appreciate the book's insights and helpful understanding of Hebrew words and meanings. They find the commentary scholarly but not dry, with a fascinating introduction to the psalms. The book provides the right amount of information to feed them about the Psalms, including their underlying significance and intention.

"...The commentary is wonderful and has the right amount of information to feed you. Im so happy I purchased it." Read more

"...His commentary is well worth taking into account. It has added another dimension to my Bible study." Read more

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

"...and the images they conjure, the notes were equally valuable and interesting...." Read more

15 customers mention "Beauty"15 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and visually appealing. They appreciate the nice layout with single-column and verse formatting, generous margins, and the words that conjure images. The author's precise and concise comments are praised.

"...and commentary are, not surprisingly, fascinating and artistically engaging...." Read more

"...Aside from the beauty of the words and the images they conjure, the notes were equally valuable and interesting...." Read more

"...The generous margins make the book look nice (and gives room for personal notes if you're so inclined) but also makes it a physically large book." Read more

"...His style is lucid and pleasant to read. If you want know what the Hebrew really says, this is the book for you...." Read more

5 customers mention "Value for money"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book worth the purchase price. The footnotes are a good addition.

"...I like his translation from the Hebrew as well. Certainly worth the cost of the book." Read more

"...The footnotes alone make it worth the purchase price." Read more

"Ordered this book as a supplement to my Bible. Great price and the author was terrific." Read more

"Not to bad. A pretty good buy. Decent job on translation." Read more

4 customers mention "Book formatting"0 positive4 negative

Customers have issues with the book formatting. They mention that the Kindle edition is poorly formatted, and verse numbers are not in the correct place.

"...So the kindle edition was poorly formatted; you are not here reviewing the quality of e-books, you are here reviewing the book, not the delivery..." Read more

"...The Kindle format is problematic. First, the (translated) texts of the psalms themselves are reproduced as images rather than type...." Read more

"...But similar to the formatting problem with the verse numbers, the Hebrew letters aren't at the start of the section; they just seem to randomly land..." Read more

"Wonderful Book but Problem with Formatting in Kindle Edition..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2024
    This translation of the Psalms is exquisite. Not only poetic but thought-provoking. The commentary is wonderful and has the right amount of information to feed you. Im so happy I purchased it.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2024
    First of all, anything written by this author is worth ready. I wanted something to use during my times of prayer and study and he has done a great job of keeping the poetic features of the Psalms as closely as possible. His commentary is well worth taking into account. It has added another dimension to my Bible study.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2014
    As with all of Alters translations and exegesis his translations are exceptional, as is his commentary. I have an entire shelf of Alter's work. That said, Alter is not where I go to uplifted spirituality. One reviewer claimed that the translations were done from the head and not the heart. So what? There other places to go where the translations are more spiritual. One person complained that they were too Jewish, she was looking for a Christian translation, obviously she buys before she thinks.
    So the kindle edition was poorly formatted; you are not here reviewing the quality of e-books, you are here reviewing the book, not the delivery system. Some people gave Kindle one star and the book five stars.
    A friend is Lubavitcher and a rabbi; his comment was interesting, excellent translation, but Alter denies that David wrote all the psalms so my friend lost interest. I get that, Fundamentalism shows up in all religions.
    With that same friend i pointed out that Alter translates translates a word in Hebrew in Psalm 23 differently than is the usual usage. He did not; according to Alter the word in the 23rd Psalm does not mean anointed , as in He anointed my head with oil. First Alter points out that the word used used in Samuel when Samuel anoints first Saul and then David is a different word and that the word in the 23rd Psalm means something along the lines of luxurious rubbed olive oil into my hair. It is after all a Psalm of abundance.
    Because I can read and understand a lot of the Hebrew I must say to the person who complained that Alter compressed the English in order to make it more like the Hebrew. It is a book of examination, not a get closer to your G-d book.
    In Alters translation while some of the poetry is lost, the cadence is much closer to the Hebrew. Yea though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death in Hebrew is only two words, lech tsalmovit. In poetry cadence counts. Alter has also written two books on understanding the bible, one is about understanding narrative and the other is about uderstanding the poetry.
    42 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2008
    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.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2017
    It's been nothing short of a joy to read these translations by Robert Alter, and this translation of Psalms just might be the best of them all. Aside from the beauty of the words and the images they conjure, the notes were equally valuable and interesting. I learned about the different genres of psalms as well as clues to when they might have been written. Fascinating stuff, really. Alter tends to dismiss a lot of scholarly speculation as to particular uses of or specific events which may have led to the composition of certain psalms, differing in this respect from Robert Price, but that doesn't take away from the pleasure of reading. I will say that reading this book straight through probably wasn't the best idea, due to some repetitiveness, but that is in no way a bad reflection on the actual content or translation. As with the last few Alter translations, there aren't any links to footnotes. Not great, but I'm used to it by now. Of course, as with the others, I heartily recommend this to students of religious texts, or people who like good poetry. This is certainly one of the ultimate collections and is high-quality in every respect.
    21 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Javier
    4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, unfortunately with poor quality paper
    Reviewed in Mexico on August 2, 2022
    This translation of the Psalms is amazing, I highly recommend this book if you’re into Bible studies. Alter’s translation is an excellent way to approach the text and truly savor the Hebrew poetry. It also comes with many many insightful notes.

    Unfortunately, the quality of this edition isn’t as good as the text it presents. The publishing house used a very poor quality of paper. One must take great care of the book, its pages, and the covers, because they can break easily.
  • Unfiltered
    5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2022
    Really beautiful production. Sadly it was slightly damaged on delivery but other than that, very happy with this purchase.
  • Zelagay
    1.0 out of 5 stars Sorry I spent the money.
    Reviewed in Australia on January 26, 2023
    Thought this book would be a great read but the interpretations are anti Christ. Don’t spend your money here.
  • Jacques Ollier
    5.0 out of 5 stars très bien
    Reviewed in France on June 15, 2017
    Le livre se présente comme annoncé. Donc pas de commentaire spécial à faire. Merci.
    je recommande donc l'annonceur.
    bonne journée
  • Chris
    5.0 out of 5 stars High quality cover, paper and binding
    Reviewed in Canada on March 30, 2016
    No need for me to offer another review of this excellent translation. Instead, I only want to say a few things about the quality of the book itself. The cover and paper are high quality. I was pleasantly surprised that although it is a paperback, it will lay open on a desk.