The Art of Biblical Narrative

Feb 19, 2013 Taylor Rollo rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: narrative, interpretation, exegesis, kindle

In this short but dense work, Alter presents his case for the Bible, particularly the Old Testament (OT), as a piece of literature that can and should be examined with literary techniques. We found this book both very helpful and incredibly frustrating at times. It is helpful because Alter lays out useful techniques that help one examine the Bible as a piece of literature by paying attention to words, actions, dialogue, and narration. It is, however, frustrating because Alter is apparently unawa...more In this short but dense work, Alter presents his case for the Bible, particularly the Old Testament (OT), as a piece of literature that can and should be examined with literary techniques. We found this book both very helpful and incredibly frustrating at times. It is helpful because Alter lays out useful techniques that help one examine the Bible as a piece of literature by paying attention to words, actions, dialogue, and narration. It is, however, frustrating because Alter is apparently unaware of how his so-called higher-critical assumptions flatly contradict his goal to show the literary themes and connections that weave throughout the OT. This should become clear as we look at the first two chapters of this work.

In chapter one, Alter lays the groundwork for approaching the Bible as a literary work. He states at the beginning of this chapter that the literary art shaping the Biblical narrative is “finely modulated from moment to moment, determining in most cases the minute choice of words and reported details, the pace of narration, the small movements of dialogue, and a whole network of ramified interconnections in the text.” He, however, does little in this chapter to actually prove his assertion that the Bible should be treated as a literary work. He cites examples in Scripture and other scholarly opinion that is moving his direction, but he does not actually argue that it is literature. Furthermore, he flatly states that the conservative view of the Bible as the “unitary source of divinely revealed truth” is one “obvious reason” that scholars did not look at the Bible as literature sooner. He, again, does not argue this point but assumes that it is axiomatic. It is not at all obvious to us that this is the case, especially considering as far back as Augustine the Bible has been viewed by many Christians as a literary work. In this chapter, his contradictory assumptions are evident. He holds to the higher-critical assumption that the OT is a “patchwork” text put together by redactors and that one cannot assume the redactors are “consummate literary artists,” but, at the same time, he argues for a unity of words, themes, repetitions, and type-scenes through large portions of the OT, like the Torah! One cannot say, on the one hand, that the Torah is a “patchwork” with seams showing evidence of JEDP sources and redactors and, on the other hand, that it shows great literary unity. If it is shows literary unity, then where is the evidence for the four sources of the Torah and redactors? If there are sources and redactors that are not “consummate literary artists,” then how can one assume unifying literary aspects?

In chapter two, Alter addresses the question of what the narrative of the Bible is. Is it history? Is it prose fiction? He boldly asserts that Bible does not characterize its narrative as history and that treating it as such will rule out the ability to use the tools of literary analysis. He basically argues that since the OT shows literary artistry and since the writers would not have had any documentation for the stories they recorded, then it must not be history. However, he neither gives a cogent argument, evidence for this assertion, nor does he tell the reader why literary artistry and history should be seen as mutually exclusive. He then classifies the Bible as “historicized fiction,” which he does not really define but it appears that he believes there to be some kernel of historical fact or folklore behind most of the stories but all details and dialogue are completely “imagined” by the writers. He gives the reader examples of what he believes to be straight fiction and what he believes might have some historical basis. Again, he gives no evidence for why he gives a small amount of historical status to some and none to others. He just says that it is “obvious” and makes a few pejorative remarks about any who disagree with him. He concludes that, since “all fiction, including the Bible, is in some sense a form of play,” then while the Bible may have been written primarily to inform and instruct, rather than delight and entertain, it accomplishes this through a literary medium of story.

If one can get through the higher-critical assumptions that contradict his entire thesis, his de jure statements about the fictional character of the OT, and the various subtle insults leveled at anyone who would hold an orthodox view of Scripture, then from chapter three on (with the exception of chapter seven) he gives some valuable insights into biblical interpretation. Contrary to Alter’s assumptions, one does not need to adopt his presuppositions in order to use his literary techniques. The Bible as history and a piece of literary masterpiece are not mutually exclusive qualities.

In chapter three, Alter gives his first literary category for interpreting large sections of Scripture—the biblical “type-scene.” To his credit, he does not accept all of the higher-critical assumptions, as shown here by his rejection of the conclusion that repetitious stories are recreations of a single, initial story (though this is hardly helpful since he believes they are mostly imagined anyway). The type-scene is one in a “series of recurrent narrative episodes attached to the descriptions of biblical heroes… that… are dependent on the manipulation of a fixed constellation of predetermined motifs.” They occur at crucial junctures in the lives of heroes. He then goes on to list the type-scenes he sees in the OT and give an example of how to track one through the OT and use it as an interpretive tool. His example, “the betrothal,” contradicts, again, his view of a “patchwork” OT because it is a thread that runs from Genesis through the historical books. If the redactors were not “consummate literary artists,” how can he explain the presence of these threaded “type-scenes”? Contradiction aside, the technique is valid and fits nicely into a conservative, orthodox view of Scripture.

In chapter four, Alter discusses the relationship between biblical narrative and dialogue. He shows that dialogue is the most important segment for communication because narrative is generally only a bridge between blocks of dialogue (though narrative sometimes gives helpful “omniscient” information). Character traits, thought, plot, etc. are all almost always rendered as direct speech, which is something unique to Hebrew narrative in its time. He uses a number of examples to show the variety of literary purposes for dialogue and what dialogue can express—importance (generally more important events are rendered with dialogue), critical junctures in the story, delineation of character qualities, contrast between characters, moral stance, social stance, political stance, plot, etc.

In chapter five, Alter takes on the subject of repetition. In this chapter, like in three, Alter does not accept the higher-critical assumption that repetition is excessive. It looks most “primitive” to the modern reader but is actually “quite purposeful.” He believes it to be a literary technique: “In biblical prose, the reiteration… formalized into a prominent convention that is made to play a much more central role in the development of thematic argument than does the repetition of such key words in other narrative traditions.” He categorizes several types of repetition that authors used to make connections and theological points: leitwort, motif, theme, sequence of actions, and type-scene. Then he gives a number of examples of how to follow repetition and use it as another literary tool.

In chapter six, Alter examines the topic of characterization. The key to a good story that draws readers in emotionally is characterization. One might think that giving as much description as possible would be ideal, but Alter argues that the key to good characterization is often the wise use of ambiguity with a character that leaves a reader seeking to know more about the person. Here, as in other chapters, his view of the Bible as “historicized fiction” comes out and can be a little frustrating to one who holds an orthodox view of Scripture, but his characterization techniques fit well within orthodox presuppositions. As with the other chapters, most of his teaching regarding characterize is by using examples.

In chapter seven, Alter returns to his higher-critical assumptions and attempts to give an explanation for the contradiction of viewing the Bible as “patchwork” and as a literary unity. Since it would be “naive” to think the Bible is not a “patchwork” of sources, he has to attempt to give an explanation for his presupposition that the Bible has literary unity. His explanation is what he calls “composite artistry.” Basically, he posits that the writers and redactors had certain notions of unity that are different from ours which led “them at times to violate what a later age and culture would be disposed to think of as canons of unity and logical coherence,” so we cannot force our notions on them. While I agree that they may not have had the same notions of unity that we have, this is hardly a solution. If it is true, he is trying to argue for unity from diversity that makes his evidence for diversity moot. If they did have notions of unity as distinct from ours as his examples try to present, then why are the seams between sources even considered seams? On this assumption, the texts could just have easily been written that way as redacted to that form. It is our opinion that he still has not satisfactorily resolved his contradictions. Perhaps if one accepted his higher-criticism presuppositions this would seem reasonable, but we do not and see it as contradicting them.

In chapter eight, Alter turns to the subject of the narrator. Since he acknowledges the theological purpose of the writers, he points out that in narrative the only way to write good dialogue and give the reader theological insights is to have the narrator be omniscient and able to give insight where necessary. This narrator omniscience is the forerunner of third-person omniscience in Western literature. He, of course, sees revelation as impossible de jure, so the narrator omniscience is his own imagination and opinion. Despite this, he gives some good examples of how to use attention to the details of the narrator’s omniscience to gain further insights into the story. We would, however, say that the narrator's omniscience comes from the revelation given by God's omniscient perspective.

In the final chapter, Alter boils his points of literary study down to four things the Bible reader must pay attention to: words, actions, dialogue, and narration. By noticing continuity and discontinuities in these areas the reader can get deeper insight into the stories. This chapter is a good summary of the techniques he puts forward and is actually the best part of the book. We would recommend the reader read chapter nine first, then move back to one and forward. This will help the reader, at least readers that do not agree with his presuppositions, get a grasp on what he is trying to do without being bogged down by his higher-critical banter and assumptions.

In the final analysis, we believe this book can be very helpful to the biblical exegete. Despite disagreeing with his presuppositions in many areas and his contradictory assumptions, we believe his general thesis that the Bible can be studied through literary techniques is correct and his techniques are helpful. As stated above, it is difficult for someone with an orthodox view of Scripture to get past the higher-critical presuppositions and the derogatory remarks he makes about those who disagree with what is “obvious” from them. It is only “obvious” because he has first ruled out revelation de jure and then attempted to interpret the Bible. However, if one can get past those frustrations, one can gain several helpful techniques and insights that will give him literary tools to use in biblical interpretation. We would not recommend this book to a reader who is not at least familiar with higher-criticism, documentary hypothesis, and their failings, otherwise Alter’s view of the orthodox view of Scripture as “naïve” may damage their confidence in God’s Word. If, however, one is set firmly in the authority of Scripture and can mentally debate Alter’s critical presuppositions, then one can gain insight into biblical interpretation from this book.(less)

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Dec 30, 2010 Mary Overton added it

"The biblical tale, through the most rigorous economy of means, leads us again and again to ponder complexities of motive and ambiguities of character because these are essential aspects of its vision of man, created by God, enjoying or suffering all the consequences of human freedom.... Almost the whole range of biblical narrative ... embodies the basic perception that man must live before God, in the transforming medium of time, incessantly and perplexingly in relation with others." loc 473

"It...more

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May 26, 2011 B. Hawk rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biblical-studies

Overall, Alter aims to demonstrate that the Bible should be considered from a literary perspective, and that the Bible fundamentally depicts the same "literary art" that is ascribed to (to use Alter's examples) "the poetry of Dante, the plays of Shakespeare, the novels of Tolstoy" (13). He does so through discussion of both the "literary" characteristics throughout the biblical text as well as providing examples of how these play out in specific narratives. What is most central to this welcome s...more Overall, Alter aims to demonstrate that the Bible should be considered from a literary perspective, and that the Bible fundamentally depicts the same "literary art" that is ascribed to (to use Alter's examples) "the poetry of Dante, the plays of Shakespeare, the novels of Tolstoy" (13). He does so through discussion of both the "literary" characteristics throughout the biblical text as well as providing examples of how these play out in specific narratives. What is most central to this welcome study is the essential juxtaposition that Alter establishes between his own work and that of historical criticism that he deems "excavative" (13).

In each of his chapters, Alter's main procedure is to pose a question that has remained either unanswered or unsatisfactorily explained by historical-critical methods, then to propose a plausible explanation from a literary viewpoint. Thus, he offers: a broad introduction to his notions of a "literary" approach to the Bible and an overview of previous scholarship fitting into this framework (ch. 1); a definitional analysis of the Hebrew Bible as essentially "historicized prose fiction" (24; ch. 2); a literary reason for conventions through type-scene analysis (ch. 3); an examination of the interplay of narrative and dialogue (ch. 4); a defense of repetition (on a micro- and macro-level) in the Bible (ch. 5); an argument for innovation in biblical characterization (ch. 6); a justification of composite narratives as unified despite seeming contradictions (ch. 7); and a reconciliation between the theological character and the literary play he has proposed throughout his examinations (ch. 8). Through all of these, there is a sense of working from the assumption (although it only becomes clear after reading the arguments of the chapters themselves) that Hebrew biblical narrative is directly correlated to what Alter continually deems the "monotheistic revolution" that set Israel apart from its neighbors--and it is this situation that led to the conscious "literary" "artistry" for which Alter consistently argues.

As a groundbreaking work in literary studies of the Bible, it is curious that Alter rarely explicitly defines his own critical methodologies--although he is quick to criticize previous scholars for this same lack (e.g. p. 15). He comes closest to expounding his own critical approaches in a definition offered in his first chapter: "By literary analysis I mean the manifold varieties of minutely discriminating attention to the artful use of language, to the shifting play of ideas, conventions, tone, sound, imagery, syntax, narrative viewpoint, compositional units, and much else" (12). Such concerns are again spelled out more explicitly in the conclusion, where Alter establishes a general rubric of four elements of reading biblical narrative: words, actions, dialogue, and narration. Further revelations about Alter's methodologies, however, must be inferred from the discussions and examples offered. For example, perhaps one of the most telling moments (again, in his first chapter) is his insistence that "to understand a narrative art so bare of embellishment and explicit commentary, one must be constantly aware of two features: the repeated use of narrative analogy... and the richly expressive function of syntax" (21). From this and the various ensuing discussions, it becomes clear that Alter's basic approach is that of formalist, philological critique (he does, several times, clearly deny the usefulness of contemporary theory).

There is, however, another element of Alter's methodology that is perhaps one of the most problematic aspects of his work: a deep reverence for the text that borders on its own type of religiosity. At times, the sense that Alter wishes to impart to readers is overwhelmingly in favor of viewing the biblical author (he does prefer to discuss only one author, rarely acknowledging more than one hand at work--a direct opposition to historical criticism, of course) as genius. So much does this pervade the study that the concerns are exaggerated a bit far. One example is in his discussion of "composite artistry" (ch. 7), which does well to provide an alternative to the simplistic redaction hunting of the Documentary Hypothesis, but may also push too far in the opposite extreme. The moment when this is most obvious is when Alter states, "All this [examination of seeming disunity] leads one to suspect that the Hebrew writer may have known what he was doing but that we do not" (136). Such outright claims to artistry flow throughout the text, not always subtly, and sometimes distract in problematic ways. There are ways, of course, in which Alter could allow the text to push back, to create complications, but even when it does, Alter continues to give the sense that these issues are explainable through a basic acknowledgement of the essential genius of the biblical narrative.

Nonetheless, there is still much to be gained from Alter's implied methodologies, and much in his work that allows for both appreciation and further study of the Bible through the lens of literary scholarship. For any student of "the Bible as literature," this book remains an invaluable introduction to the subject.(less)

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Jan 14, 2009 James rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: old-testament

I really enjoyed this book. Alter walks through the literary features of the Hebrew Bible (within the narrative accounts). There are so many great insights in this book.

While Alter identifies the historical impulse behind the biblical text, he doesn't hold up the historicity of everything in the biblical account which I would. However his attention to the literary artistry and examination of the Hebrew idiom and literary conventions (i.e. repetition of key words, variations in repeated words, ec...more

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Nov 19, 2012 RK-ique rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: criticism-reading-writing

The Art of Biblical Narrative is the best critical work I have read. It does more than just explain. It teaches. It encourages. It makes the reader want to read the [Hebrew] Bible for the pure pleasure of practicing what has been learned, to discover the literary secrets of the Bible and to enjoy anew the art of reading.

I read the Bible, not as revelation nor as history, although I suppose that there is some history there. I read the Bible as literature and as a literary source of Western cultur...more The Art of Biblical Narrative is the best critical work I have read. It does more than just explain. It teaches. It encourages. It makes the reader want to read the [Hebrew] Bible for the pure pleasure of practicing what has been learned, to discover the literary secrets of the Bible and to enjoy anew the art of reading.

I read the Bible, not as revelation nor as history, although I suppose that there is some history there. I read the Bible as literature and as a literary source of Western culture. Robert Alter, with an obvious passion for language, literature and the Hebrew Bible, takes the reader through a number of steps to recognize the literary richness of the text(s). Impressively, he takes us through uses of convention, repetition, narrative vs dialogue, characterization and more. Each topic is superbly exemplified, often with various examples to show different ways of doing the same thing. The reader cannot help but learn how to read with greater understanding and clarity. Indeed, this is not just learning how to read the Bible. These skills will assist the reader to better understand how to read with depth and understanding.

The only weakness I found in the book was in the chapter called “Composite Artistry”. Here he attempts to explain those parts of the Bible where the same story is told twice but with different developments. Examples include: the creation of man and woman simultaneously in Genesis 1 by god simply with the power of his words while in Genesis 2 Adam is created from the soil and god blows life into him and then later creates woman from Adam’s rib. The two stories of creation are very different in many ways. Alter wants to give a literary gloss to such inconsistencies and, indeed, I would agree with him that these are not just slip ups on the part of the priestly redactors who brought the various stories together. Alter’s explanations remain weak here and he admits to it. I expect that these types of inconsistencies are more likely the result of editorial disputes that were resolved by keeping both stories. Woman was created twice (thus opening the door for Lilith); David was working as a shepherd for his father while moonlighting as court musician for the stressed out Saul who just didn't recognize David as his musician when David slew Goliath. These types of things occur with committees where some form of concession is needed to bring about agreement.

The book is otherwise excellent and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to understand with greater depth the meaning of the biblical stories or just wanting to read better. I would also recommend it to would be writers. As I have noted elsewhere in Goodreads, I see the influence of the Hebrew Bible in the works of Hemingway and McCarthy. I am certain to be seeing much more in the future. There is much to be learned here. Five big stars…and now on to reading Alter’s translation of “The Five Books of Moses” in order to try out all of these new skills.
(less)

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Oct 29, 2011 Peter rated it 5 of 5 stars

"The monotheistic revolution of biblical Israel was a continuing and disquieting one. It left little margin for neat and confident views about God, the created world, history, and man as a political animal or moral agent, for it repeatedly had to make sense of the intersection of incompatibles--the relative and the absolute, human imperfection and divine perfection, the brawling chaos of historical experience and God's promise to fulfill a design in history. The biblical outlook is informed, I t...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Brice Bigham rated it 2 of 5 stars

Alter contributes some excellent insights into the techniques and patterns of the Biblical authors which are quite helpful to the modern reader in getting at the intended meaning of the text. However, Alter subscribes to views of higher criticism, even going so far as to label Biblical narratives as "prose fiction." In his view these narratives were contrived to convey true principles about God and man but can hardly be called history. While Alter's observations about techniques of repetition, t...more

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Jan 02, 2011 Andy Oram rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: religion, literature

Alter turns the gem we've inherited in the form of the Jewish Bible to a new facet and shows that the unknown authors of these texts used considerable skill--perhaps inventing a narrative style that never before existed--to leave the reader with philosophical and moral complexities as sophisticated as anything we'll find in modern literature. I don't believe that reading this book is enough to turn the average American into a literary analyst of the Bible, because a sense of narrative has to be...more

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Sep 05, 2011 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars

So why are there two separate creation myths in Genesis? The story of God creating Adam and Eve simultaneously and the story of God creating Eve out of Adam’s rib? Source criticism would have us believe that the redactor was simply stitching together stories from two distinct oral traditions. Robert Alter would have us look at the Bible through the lens of literary criticism, to recognize and consider how and why the author (s) employed such literary devices as narration, dialogue, characterizat...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Jon Sedlak rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is incredible in two ways: First, it's incredible that a man of such talent and repute can be so liberal in his views of Scripture (for instance, Alter ascribes to the JEDP hypothesis). But secondarily, it's incredible that a liberal of such repute can provide so many helpful insights about the way a given Biblical narrative may (or very likely will) be crafted.

This book is too liberal in it's views for me to recommend to a "new" or immature Christian. But I highly recommend this book...more

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Jul 06, 2012 BHodges rated it 5 of 5 stars

A "must-read" for those interested in bettering their understanding of the Hebrew scriptures. Alter's work is geared to help readers readjust their reading glasses, to put on the perspective of ancient readers, to learn how to detect the way biblical writers crafted their stories with subtlety. The scriptures are more tragic, more funny, more ambiguous, more challenging, than a superficial reading suggests, and Alter helps provide tools whereby these elements of the scriptures can be drawn out....more

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Oct 30, 2011 slaveofone rated it 4 of 5 stars

Amazing book. Wonderful to read (if somewhat over-flowery at points). This does what any great book should do: causes you to think of something in a whole new way, sheds further light on the text, and creates new pathways of meaning from which to take extensive journeys. I particularly liked its discussions of contrastive dialogue, narrative analogy, word-choice, Leitworter, and ambiguity. I particularly agree with him when it comes to the "historical" process (trying to peer back behind the tex...more Amazing book. Wonderful to read (if somewhat over-flowery at points). This does what any great book should do: causes you to think of something in a whole new way, sheds further light on the text, and creates new pathways of meaning from which to take extensive journeys. I particularly liked its discussions of contrastive dialogue, narrative analogy, word-choice, Leitworter, and ambiguity. I particularly agree with him when it comes to the "historical" process (trying to peer back behind the text to reconstruct its history) that we are on far more stable and certain ground when we are dealing with questions of the text before us instead of the hypothetical elements of a past we have no direct access to.

I do have some serious issues with it, however. I will limit these observations to three (though there are many more).

First, if Alter was reacting against a sort of "tyranny" of "excavative" work on the text, he has done what many others do who are taking an opposing stance - he takes it too far. As one example, he ends up saying that Esther "demonstrates God's providential power in history with a schematic neatness" despite the fact that God is entirely absent in the text and contributes nothing to the story, which is why all the Greek versions added "providential power" into it and probably why not one scrap of it was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (it has nothing to say about God). It is only through Alter's harmonizing narratology that something so specifically about what happens when God is ABSENT can be made to speak about God's presence.

Second, what Alter does is really nothing more than an expanded form of Redaction Criticism, which existed long before him. And yet he makes no mention of it. I was doing Redaction Criticism before I read this and much of what he says, I was already doing.

Third--and this is perhaps the most important point of criticism--what Alter is doing (in the way that makes his method unique) is NEW. He admits this outright when he says that not even the Midrashists conceived of his narratology. Alter is reading the text in a way that NO ANCIENT JEW would have. Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that reading it in that way is flagrantly anti-scriptural. But we do need to acknowledge that if we are going to do such a thing--if we are going to look at something from the past in a way that no ancient person who produced it, who guarded it, who interpreted it, and who depended on it for their very souls would have done--that it probably isn't going to fit very easily into the Modern frame we are forcing it into.(less)

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Mar 13, 2012 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

A wonderful book for anybody who enjoys reading the Bible as a sacred text or as literature. I'm a Christian and read the Bible every day and have always avoided seeing it as literature as if that would take away from its divine nature. However, Alter's tools of analysis aided my understanding of key passages and allowed me to see the creation of the Bible in a new light: the same God who created the universe through His Word created a work of art through the words of those He inspired to write...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Nelson Chung rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: old-testament, gentleman-project

This is the first major book-length treatment of the Bible as literature, and was published in the 1980s. I especially enjoyed the chapter, "Composite Artistry." In that chapter Alter showed that contradictions in the Bible were due not to sloppiness by the unsophisticated ancients, was often assumed, but the deliberate thrust of a literary genius.

Most memorable was the section on the 2 different creation accounts in Genesis. The (P) account (Gen. 1-2:4) presents an orderly narrative of the crea...more

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Aug 26, 2012 David Clark rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, bible-commentary

This was a book I found after reading Alter's books on Biblical poetry and his translation of the Psalms. I use it frequently and have found it one of the best "helps" when reading and writing about the Bible and literature.
Well written and thoughtful.

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Oct 30, 2012 Kristina rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wish I had learned to study the Bible like this long ago. He walks you through examples that whet the appetite, but, being a Jew, he doesn't take his analysis all the way into the New Testament. This is definitely one to read again.

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May 14, 2012 Brittany Petruzzi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: re-read, theology, non-fiction

"Through the warp of all those intervening centuries, lines become blurred, contours are distorted, colors fade; for not only have we lost the precise shadings of implication of the original Hebrew words, but we have also acquired quite different habits and expectations and, as readers, have forgotten the very conventions around which the biblical tales were shaped."

This book is an eye-opener, for sure. You'll never read the Bible the same way again, and you'll be the better for it. To be sure,...more

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Nov 28, 2011 Heather Denigan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: theology, literary-criticism, philosophy

Read this for my theology class. Enjoyed it a great deal. I've long loved the style of the OT books over many of the NT ones (Excepting those written by John & the book of Hebrews) and enjoyed getting more in depth.

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Oct 25, 2011 Christopher rated it 3 of 5 stars

Definitely a mixed bag, but Alter makes his point well: the Bible is not a poorly written, sketchy book. It is, in fact, the most carefully written, well-thought out, systematic book you will ever read.

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Dec 08, 2008 Sue rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian

I did try with this. It's written from a Jewish perspective, supposedly showing how the Old Testament is written with various literary styles, and the significance of them. It sounded interesting, and was one of the required books for a theology course my son took.

Unfortunately, it was verbose and rather tedious, at least in the first couple of chapters. Worse, it spent far too long criticising many other writers who had written on similar topics. Perhaps the criticisms were valid, but they didn...more

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Aug 19, 2010 Brooke rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fantastic. A really beautiful, illuminating guide to the way narrative, description, and character work in the Hebrew Bible--and one that could also serve as a useful introduction to techniques of close-reading more generally.

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Jan 14, 2012 Kevin Christensen rated it 5 of 5 stars

After seeing how Alan Goff was using Alter in his brilliant essays for FARMS, I had to read Alter myself, and get it first hand.

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Mar 04, 2013 Sherry rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book changed the trajectory of my studies. Superb.

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Sep 02, 2011 Dwight Penas rated it 4 of 5 stars

This a really satisfying book: It takes seriously the literary character of the Bible -- although on my view it needs to be supplemented with some good discussion of how his literary analysis fits with the Bible-as-a-whole theology.

Still, he writes very clearly and it's pushing me to haul out the Hebrew after decades (sheesh: I don't even remember what some of the letters are!).

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Jun 28, 2012 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bible, books-of-2012

This is a very insightful piece on how to read the Bible as narrative. So 4+ stars for moments of insight but dips here and there due to the secular Jewish perspective of Alter. However, really worthwhile all the way through.

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Aug 04, 2010 Richard rated it 3 of 5 stars

It felt like reading a textbook. I look forwards to rereading the Bible with insights into biblical narrative given by the book.

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Jul 04, 2012 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars

A pleasure to read. Demonstrates very simply how masterful (even crafty!) the Scriptures are, with many practical tips on reading between the lines in the Bible.

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Jan 26, 2008 Erin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Andy for loaning me the book. I think it's a definite buy- just to refer to in the future. I'm excited to read the Old Testament again with NEW eyes!

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Jul 16, 2008 Christine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: essays

Wonderful literary essays about the story-telling in the Bible.

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Feb 03, 2011 Evan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Pretty interesting...3 and a half stars. Alter has a unique way of looking at things.

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Trivia About The Art of Biblic...