Robert Alter, “On Writing ‘The Art of Biblical Narrative’”

BYU Ancient Near Eastern Studies Lecture-January 30, 2020
Robert Alter, “On Writing ‘The Art of Biblical Narrative’
In this lecture to students in Brigham Young University's ANES program, Dr. Robert Alter discusses how he came to write "The Art of Biblical Narrative," a book that inspired scholars to appreciate the craft and composition of one of the world's most widely-read texts.
ROBERT ALTER is Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has written widely on the European novel from the eighteenth century to the present, on contemporary American fiction, and on modern Hebrew literature. He is especially well-known for having written extensively on literary aspects of the Bible. His twenty-two published books include two prize-winning volumes on biblical narrative and poetry and award-winning translations of Genesis and of the Five Books of Moses. In 2019 he published The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary.
This lecture was co-sponsored by BYU’s Department of Ancient Scripture and the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.

[@rdtenney]

How I wish I could have been at these lectures. He has provided priceless commentary and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. Thanks for inviting him.

[@byumaxwell]

Thanks for watching! It was great to have him visit.

[@raifteri]

Reading his "Wisdom Books" now, which covers the books of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.This books is a fascinating introduction to Hebrew idioms and literary devices used in these books, giving further insight into what these books really meant to the people who lived back then. I recommend it. A pleasure to hear him speak. Thanks for posting this, Maxwell Institute!

[@byumaxwell]

Thanks for watching! It was a real honor to have Dr. Alter visit.

[@kirkbowyer3249]

GOD BLESS ROBERT ALTER

[@byumaxwell]

We were glad to have him visit.

[@peterblair4448]

Thank you so much for sharing this! What a fantastic lecture.

[@byumaxwell]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@truth4618]

Wow! Powerful history of his narrative process. I continued to seek understanding of the Hebrew Bible way after seminary school. I am fascinated by the laws and how if follow, family can maintain strong Agape Love, peace and prosperity and years of understanding and happiness. I happen to think that the structural narrative of the Hebrew Bible is based on the following. The Laws are explained and stated in its clearest forms. Then there are narratives that follows (like play writers and actors giving us a visual effect of the laws). For example, in my seminary studies we were told that Genesis 38 was an interpolation. Up to that point in the narrative most of the laws from the family perspective had been addressed except in a few form and fashion. Genesis' 38 Narrative was intended to address Leviticus 18:16, 20: 21 and Duet: 25:5. The Greeks and Romans Bible addressed the same law in Matthew 14:3 and 22:24. From this, we can see this pattern of the narrative played out and enacted between the two brothers Jacob and Esau , The law of a Man marrying a maidservant in Abraham, Sarah and Hagar etc....I will say more but i think we get the pictures. Thanks to the Professor’s exposé on Biblical Narratives. I love It! May God bless his work Mightily!

[@byumaxwell]

Thanks for the comment!

[@claudiaramosmonteiro]

Amazing!

[@byumaxwell]

Thanks!