---
product_id: 2726604
title: "Genesis: Translation and Commentary"
price: "£24.33"
currency: GBP
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 12
url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/2726604-genesis-translation-and-commentary
store_origin: GB
region: United Kingdom
---

# In-depth literary translation Top 50 Old Testament commentary Scholarly commentary & analysis Genesis: Translation and Commentary

**Price:** £24.33
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Summary

> 📖 Unlock the timeless stories of Genesis like never before — where literature meets legacy.

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Genesis: Translation and Commentary
- **How much does it cost?** £24.33 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/2726604-genesis-translation-and-commentary)

## Best For

- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Key Features

- • **Contextual Richness:** Benefit from detailed historical, poetic, and linguistic commentary that enriches every chapter.
- • **Literary Mastery Unveiled:** Experience Genesis through a fresh, literary lens that reveals hidden story patterns and motifs.
- • **Trusted Bestseller Status:** Join thousands of readers who rated this #47 Old Testament commentary with 4.6 stars.
- • **Perfect for Study & Reflection:** Ideal for academic courses or personal deep dives into scripture’s narrative artistry.
- • **Scholarly Depth for the Curious Mind:** Engage with college-level insights that challenge and expand your understanding of biblical texts.

## Overview

Genesis: Translation and Commentary by Robert Alter offers a groundbreaking literary translation of Genesis paired with insightful commentary that highlights narrative techniques, historical context, and linguistic nuances. Highly rated and widely used in academic settings, this edition invites readers to explore the Bible as a masterful work of storytelling.

## Description

"[Here is] the Genesis for our generation and beyond."―Robert Fagles Genesis begins with the making of heaven and earth and all life, and ends with the image of a mummy―Joseph's―in a coffin. In between come many of the primal stories in Western culture: Adam and Eve's expulsion from the garden of Eden, Cain's murder of Abel, Noah and the Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham's binding of Isaac, the covenant of God and Abraham, Isaac's blessing of Jacob in place of Esau, the saga of Joseph and his brothers. In Robert Alter's brilliant translation, these stories cohere in a powerful narrative of the tortuous relations between fathers and sons, husbands and wives, eldest and younger brothers, God and his chosen people, the people of Israel and their neighbors. Alter's translation honors the meanings and literary strategies of the ancient Hebrew and conveys them in fluent English prose. It recovers a Genesis with the continuity of theme and motif of a wholly conceived and fully realized book. His insightful, fully informed commentary illuminates the book in all its dimensions.

Review: Insightful - plan on making this a study - The intro was a hard read. More like a college level text book, but it provides background/logic/understanding of what the author tried to do in the translation. Once you get past that - insightful and thought provoking. An opportunity to look at Genesis with "new eyes". I liked the commentary with each chapter that provided historical, poetic and contextual references where a common phrase or story pattern was used in another part of the bible. This is the text for an on line class I am taking with HIllsdale college. I see other comments about why the translation fails as a "commentary" - but this is not a conservative or other commentary - it is his best effort at translation, where comments are provided to explain the translation - 2 distinctly different things.
Review: Saved a little and got it faster - Nice book, I bought it for a class I was taking on line. Saved a little and got it faster

## Features

- Used Book in Good Condition

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #113,148 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #163 in Old Testament Commentaries #262 in Old Testament Bible Study (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 464 Reviews |

## Images

![Genesis: Translation and Commentary - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61zJG9CWY6L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Insightful - plan on making this a study
*by J***B on March 8, 2025*

The intro was a hard read. More like a college level text book, but it provides background/logic/understanding of what the author tried to do in the translation. Once you get past that - insightful and thought provoking. An opportunity to look at Genesis with "new eyes". I liked the commentary with each chapter that provided historical, poetic and contextual references where a common phrase or story pattern was used in another part of the bible. This is the text for an on line class I am taking with HIllsdale college. I see other comments about why the translation fails as a "commentary" - but this is not a conservative or other commentary - it is his best effort at translation, where comments are provided to explain the translation - 2 distinctly different things.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Saved a little and got it faster
*by W***D on February 23, 2026*

Nice book, I bought it for a class I was taking on line. Saved a little and got it faster

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Artful translation preserving the syntax and flow of the Hebrew
*by J***R on April 22, 2024*

The preface, labeled "To The Reader" by the translator, alone is worth the investment of cost and effort of Alter's brilliant translation. He explains, in terms accessible to lay readers, his priority of rendering the original Hebrew's vividness and readability into English. In his terms, above all, he strove to avoid the common practice of "the use of translation as a vehicle for explaining the Bible instead of representing it in another language." The examples he chose exemplify this exceptional translation that exhibit his mastery of both languages.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Genesis: Translation and Commentary
- A Rulebook for Arguments

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*Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom*
*Store origin: GB*
*Last updated: 2026-05-16*