| Feature Article – November 2006 |
|---|
Some of Alter’s renderings are quite felicitous. For example:
Poetry in general is well done; poems such as Num. 21:14b-15, 17b-18, 27b-30; 23:18b-24 (and others in this part of Numbers) reflect the rhythms and ambiguities of the original about as well as possible.
Other results are decidedly mixed. In Gen. 2:7, “the human, humus from the soil” nicely catches the pun on human/soil (‘adam/’adamah), but in the process obscures the connection to “dust” in 3:14, 19. To catch both would have required an awkward translation such as “the human, dust from the humus.” And the same pun is ignored in 6:1 and 7:23 where ‘adamah is rendered “earth”; in 8:13 it is “ground” (see the footnote there), but “soil” again in 8:21.
Alter follows the Hebrew word order where the English allows it, but it is not clear that this helps most English speaking readers. “Not Jacob shall your name hence be, but Israel” (Gen. 32:29) follows the original closely, but the subtleties are not obvious to most of us.
Most often, Alter himself finds it impossible to stick exactly to those original rhythms.
Sometimes, his choice of words is simply puzzling; for example, “flux” (instead of “discharge” as in other translations) in Lev. 15:2 and following may well confuse many readers.
Time after time, word plays and allusions that cannot be reflected in the translation are included in the notes:
This latter point leads us to recognize the magnificent accomplishment in Alter’s work. Although he has only partly succeeded in the impossible standard of translation which he set for himself, the notes are simply superb. Not only does Alter point out word plays, repetitions and connections, with a keen eye to the literary patterns of the text; he judiciously selects insights from both Jewish medieval commentators and modern critical scholarship. In this way the best of ancient and modern scholarship is used, but it never obscures the primary task of hearing the message of the text. (The notes are less detailed about the Tabernacle in the closing chapters of Exodus and the sacrificial system in the first part of Leviticus, but this is perhaps understandable.) Especially helpful are Alter’s comments on obscure passages such as Ex. 4:24-26, where he admits “it seems unlikely we will ever resolve the enigmas it poses”, but nevertheless he shows how the episode functions in its literary context.
Alter’s translation will not displace the standard ones in current use. But reading his comments is an excellent place to start the study of any passage of the Pentateuch. The notes make the book!