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    Cover of The Wisdom Books

    The Wisdom Books

    Robert Alter · 2010

    Presents a modern translation of the Books of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament, and provides annotations and commentary for each verse.

    Fiction & LiteratureReligion & Spirituality
    Open LibraryAmazon
    Stats for nerds
    2recommend
    5mentions
    3people
    2021–2024years
    80% recommend20% neutral

    Mentions per year

    2021202220232024

    What Hacker News says

    1. rramadassOct 2024
      I am not a Christian and hence wanted to know whether there were any books of wisdom (not stories/accounts etc.) in Christianity and came across a good book by Robert Alter titled The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes: A Translation with Commentary which you may also find interesting.
      thread
    2. rramadassApr 2024
      Your comment is downright petty and silly.

      Wisdom/Insight/Life Advice wherever it comes from is always valuable. It is up to you to tease out the kernel of knowledge from the chaff of religiosity.

      I am no Christian, but i found Robert Alter's The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes quite interesting and would advice you to a study of the same.

      thread
    3. rramadassMar 2022
      The "only thing" worth reading from the The Bible are the "Wisdom Books". Robert Alter's translation The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes: A Translation with Commentary is pretty good.
      thread
    4. quercusaJun 2021
      I have not read his work on Ecclesiastes (The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes), but Robert Alter's other translation projects have been excellent. He tries to not just translate the sense but also the 'feel' of the text, which can be a real challenge as Hebrew poetry does not work like English poetry. He includes notes on his translation decisions; even if you disagree with his choices, he'll force you to wrestle with them.
      thread
    5. kcartlidgeMar 2022
      > The "only thing" worth reading from the The Bible are the "Wisdom Books"

      From the perspective of Wisdom you're probably right.

      From the perspective of the modern Christian Faith I'd include the complete New Testament. From the perspective of historical reference (I know archaeological opinions vary) include the Old Testament too.

      thread

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