The Art of Biblical Poetry

From a renowned literary scholar, the definitive guide to the poetry of the Hebrew Bible, updated with a new preface.

“Intelligent, precise and exciting.” —New York Times Book Review

In The Art of Biblical Poetry, renowned literary scholar Robert Alter radically expands the horizons of biblical scholarship by recasting the Bible as not only a human creation, but a work of literary art deserving studied criticism. In this companion to the classic The Art of Biblical Narrative, Alter takes his analysis beyond narrative craft to investigate the distinctive workings of Hebrew poetry in the Bible. With pathbreaking analysis of biblical poetry’s structure and function, Alter reveals new layers of meaning in the Hebrew Bible’s range of poetic genres.

Updated with a new preface reflecting on how Alter’s understanding of biblical poetics has evolved since translating the full Hebrew Bible, The Art of Biblical Poetry is an indispensable contribution to biblical and literary scholarship alike.