The Art of Biblical Narrative

From the celebrated translator of the Hebrew Bible, Robert Alter, the classic book on the Bible as literature, now updated with a new preface.

“A groundbreaking study that encourages us to look beneath the theological surface of the biblical text to glimpse its beating heart.” —Los Angeles Times

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award

In The Art of Biblical Narrative, renowned critic and translator Robert Alter radically expands our view of the Bible by recasting it as a work of literary art deserving studied criticism. Alter describes how the Hebrew Bible's many authors used innovative literary techniques—from dialogue to artful repetition to recurrent motifs—to tell one of the greatest stories of all time: the revelation of a single God. In so doing, Alter shows, these writers reshaped not only history, but also the art of storytelling itself.

Now updated with a new preface, The Art of Biblical Narrative is an indispensable contribution to biblical and literary scholarship alike.