Many enlightening statements, including this one at 1:03:35: “Maybe many of us…tend to assume that as time goes by and culture changes and we all become modern people, things get more sophisticated, things get more subtle, more complicated. And this, it really started even before my bible translation when I started working on biblical narrative, I came to realize especially getting up close sentence by sentence to the ancient narratives that these people were every bit as smart as we are, and they developed subtle and sophisticated ways of representing the world that we scarcely would have imagined.”
Yes, for me this happened as well when learning about the Bible in a Berkeley course. But prior to that, in a course on early english literature, I was struck by Chaucer. In just a few tales, he convincingly depicts such diverse personalities, motives, and attitudes toward life. Every time someone tries to convince me that we are the most knowledgeable we ever were, I remind myself that the only difference that exists between humans is their differing personal experiences.
Thank you Dr. Alter. He came to St. John's College and talked to a very small group of us. It was a talk that changed everything for me. Without him I would not have learned how to study the Bible, I would not have understood how the Bible speaks to the Bible.
Dr Robert Alter your presence matches Dr Dov Noy's presence. The same heartwarming presence. I hope that you and your family are well. Thank you for your explanations.
Dr. Alter is amazing!!! What a treat to here some of his gift!
Many enlightening statements, including this one at 1:03:35: “Maybe many of us…tend to assume that as time goes by and culture changes and we all become modern people, things get more sophisticated, things get more subtle, more complicated. And this, it really started even before my bible translation when I started working on biblical narrative, I came to realize especially getting up close sentence by sentence to the ancient narratives that these people were every bit as smart as we are, and they developed subtle and sophisticated ways of representing the world that we scarcely would have imagined.”
Yes, for me this happened as well when learning about the Bible in a Berkeley course. But prior to that, in a course on early english literature, I was struck by Chaucer. In just a few tales, he convincingly depicts such diverse personalities, motives, and attitudes toward life. Every time someone tries to convince me that we are the most knowledgeable we ever were, I remind myself that the only difference that exists between humans is their differing personal experiences.
trace the Greek language....that should do something.....to demonstrate the state of the earlier peoples...
Thanks for sharing this fantastic quite!
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@@kilgoretrout321 The thanks were directed to this particular comment.
Thank you Dr. Alter. He came to St. John's College and talked to a very small group of us. It was a talk that changed everything for me. Without him I would not have learned how to study the Bible, I would not have understood how the Bible speaks to the Bible.
I honestly have no idea how could I admire Dr. Alter even more
I just purchased a copy of the Robert Alter's Hebrew Bible with commentary online. I can't wait to read and study it!
Dr Robert Alter your presence matches Dr Dov Noy's presence. The same heartwarming presence. I hope that you and your family are well. Thank you for your explanations.
Enjoyed this very much-- thank you for sharing!
This looks like it was videotaped in 1990 LOL Good interview, though.
GOD BLESS ROBERT ALTER
Why isn’t this translation more readily available?
Sorry, wrong book
It's new so it's still under copyright.
why not say a light, for day, and a reflective light for the night....
@1:21:00 It is clear that God is masculine.
And?!
silly me....I did not get anything, from this presentation...