The Great Poems of the Bible: A Reader's Companion with New Translations - Softcover

Kugel, James L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743253264 ISBN 13: 9780743253260

Publisher: Free Press, 2003

Synopsis

Biblical scholar James Kugel offers a magnificent exploration of eighteen of the most beautiful and important poems of the Old Testament.

About this title

Review

James Kugel, professor of biblical studies at Harvard University, has taken the Bible's greatest poems and given each of them a dose of fresh thinking and a new translation. Chapter by chapter, Kugel leads readers into a new and sometimes profoundly different translation based on his interpretation of the original Hebrew Bible. As a lover and scholar of many languages, Kugel offers translations that are both eloquent and spiritually stirring. As a result, this is a feast for anyone who treasures beautiful language. But more so, it is a deeply satisfying discussion of beliefs in the biblical world. Kugel's essays boldly venture into the big questions: What does the Bible mean when it talks about people's souls? Where is the soul and what does it do? What is the source of human evil? These expertly written discussions never once bog down the poems. Rather, they bring greater texture and meaning to the ancient words. --Gail Hudson

About the Author

James L. Kugel, Starr Professor of Hebrew at Harvard from 1982 to 2003, now lives in Jerusalem. A specialist in the Hebrew Bible and its interpretation, he is the author of The God of Old and The Great Poems of the Bible. His course on the Bible was regularly one of the two most popular at Harvard, enrolling more than nine hundred students.

Edition details

• Publisher: Free Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0743253264
• ISBN 13: 9780743253260
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 352