The David Story

Having enjoyed Robert Alter's translation of Genesis I approached 'The David Story' with keen anticipation. The same high standard is maintained - I had half-expected that there would be less to remark upon as these stories are so familiar. The vivid characters, their speech, the detail of their lives all seem to gain new life in this version.

Although I am no Hebraist it seems to me that part of Alter's success lies in the high view he takes of the ancient text and its integrity. He has little time for the deconstructionist cut-and-paste scholars who would see a committee, or a series of committees, as being capable of producing such a closely crafted and unified piece of literature - as if Shakespeare could be written by consensus. I break out in silent applause when Alter expresses his candid views on these theories. For example, on II Sam. 11&12: "Though analytic scholars have variously sought to break up break up these chapters into editorial frame, and Succession Narrative...emending patches of the text as they proceed, such efforts are best passed over in silence." He also gives good, consistent reasons for these statements, if not for all of his other opinions.

For those interested in the translation process itself, the footnotes give a fascinating over-the-shoulder view of his workings. He naturally relies heavily on the Masoretic text but explains his usage of the alternative sources - Dead Sea scroll, the Septuagint, Josephus, and even the Targums. As Samuel is in places a notoriously difficult (and imperfect) Hebrew text his explanations are very welcome. He also makes use of background detail such as the archeological discovery which supplied our understanding of the Hebrew word 'pim'. This word occurs only once in the bible, and is found in Samuel. Its meaning of 'two thirds of a shekel' was rediscovered when trading weights marked with this word were unearthed, a small but welcome advance.

The other part of Alter's success is that his grasp of style is as acute in English as it is in ancient Hebrew. He is at pains to transmit fast-paced Hebrew narrative as fast-paced English prose, and ensure that the poetry still sounds poetic. That said, the dialogue is my favourite feature, with the outstanding linguistic skills of king David giving him the star part. Altogether this adds up to a version which reads very well out loud: a great asset to preachers.

On the debit side, there are an alarming number of errors in the commentary and footnotes that evaded the proof-reader. Fortunately I could find none in the text itself. A small sample: 'casual' for 'causal' not once, but twice (p.xii and p.230), and misspelling of 'Israel' (p.369).

Sadly Alter's viewpoint is secular and he knows nothing of revelation or spiritual experience. (Curiously this is an advantage when he is criticising the deconstructionists, who usually discount refutations from the Christian and Jewish believer on ideological grounds.) However, it is the fire in text that saves the translation from being a cold etymological exercise, and I for one hope for an Isaiah, or even a psalter from his pen next.

Robert Alter

Reader Reviews:

FIRE IN THE TEXT (10/10 people found this helpful)

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