The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary

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.

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.

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.

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.

Book as described: UsedGood.Arrived one day early!Thank you!

I am enjoying reading Mr. Alter's translation of the Psalms. It gives a fresh angle, and it fills a void. Considering how prominent the psalms are, both in being quoted as prophetic in the New Testament, and in Christian liturgy and spirituality, it is notable how little in depth commentary there is on the psalms. This book is certainly not written from a Christian point of view -- I knew that going in. That said, I was disappointed by Mr. Alter's analysis of the psalms. One of the fascinating questions is, why are they arranged as they are? One theory is that they more or less track the history of Israel, with emphasis on David moving to the fore, his accession as king, the coronation of Solomon, and then decline and destruction, exile and then the return to the land and even hints of a new temple. It's not a totally satisfying theory, but it has possibilities.Unfortunately, Mr. Alter offers very little beyond, "who knows?"That said, he does provide lots of line-by-line analysis, and his translation does shed light. I am glad I bought the book.

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.

Really beautiful production. Sadly it was slightly damaged on delivery but other than that, very happy with this purchase.

Thought this book would be a great read but the interpretations are anti Christ. Don’t spend your money here.

Le livre se présente comme annoncé. Donc pas de commentaire spécial à faire. Merci.je recommande donc l'annonceur.bonne journée

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.