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Title: The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel by Robert Alter ISBN: 0-393-32077-4 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: September, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.79 (14 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Feast for the Mind
Comment: The stories of Samuel, Saul, and David are high points of Biblical narrative, and Robert Alter's superb new translation with commentary is geared to make the slightest nuances of the richly woven stories available to the reader who must read them in English. Both translation and commentary are first-rate: The David Story alerts the reader to puns and plays on words in the Hebrew, while Alter's own interpretations are enriched by his use of insights by other fine scholar/critics such as Fokkelman, Polzin and Sternberg, along with the traditional rabbinic sources. (A gentleman as well as a scholar, Alter gives credit where it is due.)
The Book of Samuel comes down to us in a Hebrew text that is clearly faulty in spots, and it is also obvious that more than one author has been at work. Some scholars, like Kyle McCarter, editor of the Anchor Samuel, looking for documentary origins, emphasize the breaks in the text, the inconsistencies that suggest that different traditions have been incompletely harmonized with one another. In accordance with his views in "The Art of Biblical Narrative" and his practice in his translation of the book of Genesis, Alter plays down the "documents" approach and instead emphasizes the skill of the final redactor of Samuel who wove those disparate stories into a single skein.
For example, we are confronted by two disparate stories of how David comes to be introduced into Saul's court, first as a skilled musician in Saul's entourage and second as the shepherd boy from Bethlehem who comes from his flock and slays Goliath. Early in chapter 17, that harmonizer is at work when he tells us that "David would go back and forth from Saul's side to tend his father's flock in Bethlehem" (1 Sam 17:15).
For me the problem is that the work of the redactor seems inconsistent. By the end of the chapter, Saul seems not to know who David is, for he asks his general, "Whose son is the lad, Abner?" How can Saul not know his own musician? How can he not know the shepherd boy to whom he wanted to lend his armor? Alter argues that "for the ancient audience, and for the redactor, these contradictions would have been inconsequential in comparison with the advantage gained in providing a double perspective on David," and Alter compares this feature of Biblical narrative with the competing versions of Greek myths.
Alter may be right in this, but there may be a different sort of explanation here. Perhaps Saul is asking whose son David is, not because he does not recognize David, but because he now wants desparately to make David his OWN son. Saul has already been told by Samuel that no son of his will succeed to the throne of Israel. Recognizing in David his successor, with all the ambivalence one might expect, Saul is soon negotiating for David to become his son-in-law, offering him first Merab and then Michal from among his daughters. Even after they have become bitter enemies, Saul asks "Is this your voice, my son, David?" (1 Sam 24:17).
Alter is as good at seeing the forest as the individual trees, and keeps us aware of how the individual stories of Samuel, Saul and David repeat and echo each other. These narrative patterns include the way the sons of Eli, of Samuel, of Saul, and of David rebel against their fathers and betray their principles. All in all, The David Story is a genuine feast for the mind.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good cross reference
Comment: I picked this up while doing study of David and I and II Samuel and it proved to be a interesting reference point, with all the commentary, as well as providing a great alternative text. The attempt to closely preserve the nuances of the original language made the reading more interesting, but also a bit daunting.
Overall, I highly recommend it for anyone interested in getting deeper into the David story.
Rating: 5
Summary: A must read for those interested in the Bible
Comment: Most versions of the biblical text succeed either because of a superb translation or because of thought provoking commentary. David Alter gives the world one of those rare treatments that succeeds on both scores and provides a truly important addition to biblical scholarship.
Alter's analysis of the language can be a true bridge for those who want to know the text but do not speak Hebrew. By pointing out to the reader places where the language is unclear, he lets him or her make the choice of what the texts real meaning is. Only the Everett Fox translation is equal or superior.
As for commentary, Alter's literary critique of the text helps bring it to life and helps the reader understand how those in the period of redaction read the text.
Alter has already made many noteworthy contributions to biblical scholarship. With this work, he assures his place in the illustrious pantheon of important biblical scholars.
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Title: Genesis: Translation and Commentary by Robert Alter ISBN: 039331670X Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: September, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Art of Biblical Narrative by Robert Alter ISBN: 046500427X Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: July, 1983 List Price(USD): $16.50 |
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Title: The Art of Biblical Poetry by Robert Alter ISBN: 0465004318 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: May, 1987 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: The Literary Guide to the Bible by Robert Alter, Frank Kermode ISBN: 0674875311 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: September, 1990 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Give Us a King! : Samuel, Saul, and David by Dr. Everett Fox ISBN: 0805241604 Publisher: Schocken Books Pub. Date: 02 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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