“Nature will castigate those who don’t masticate.” So ran the solemn advice of one Horace Fletcher, the 1920s food faddist and evangelist for the idea that we should chew our food to a liquefied pulp ...

Robert Alter’s ongoing translation of the Hebrew Bible into a new, more accurate and forceful English version is one of the most ambitious literary projects of this or any age. Turning the Bible into ...

This month, Robert Alter publishes a new translation of three Biblical books in “The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes: A Translation with Commentary.” Alter, a Hebrew literature scholar ...

The Hebrew Bible’s Book of Proverbs, sandwiched between the Psalms and Job, elucidates moral values and proper conduct for a life of wisdom and justice. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, author of The Book of ...

Proverbs belongs to the so-called wisdom literature of the Old Testament and cannot be fully understood without some knowledge of this literary genre. In some measure wisdom is found amongst all ...

You know more of the Bible than you think you do, I often remark to my students. Phrases such as “As a dog returns to its own vomit” or “spare the rod and spoil the child” are well-known in English as ...

An overview of the historical background and theology of Ecclesiastes to help you develop your sermon series and apply it to your hearers. Traditionally, Ecclesiastes is understood to be authored by ...