NPR

After 24 Years, Scholar Completes 3,000-Page Translation Of The Hebrew Bible

Literary scholar Robert Alter says he didn't think the existing English translations of the Bible did justice to the original Hebrew. So he spent nearly a quarter century writing his own — by hand.
The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary

For 24 years, literary scholar Robert Alter has been working on a new translation of the Hebrew Bible and — "this may shock some of your listeners," he warns — he's been working on it by hand.

"I'm very particular — I write on narrow-lined paper and I have a Cross mechanical pencil," he says.

The result is a three-volume set —

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