---
title: "4 Robert Alter Quotes"
description: "Robert Bernard Alter is an American professor emeritus of Hebrew and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taug..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b017/author-robert-alter-67212.jpg"
---

![Portrait of Robert Alter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b017/author-robert-alter-67212.jpg)

# Robert Alter

 **4** quotes in **2** categories

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Robert Bernard Alter is an American professor emeritus of Hebrew and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has published two dozen books, including an award-winning translation of the Hebrew Bible in 2018, which was twenty-four years in

##  Quotes by Robert Alter

> [“What this typographical distinction should make immediately apparent in the passage is the highly subsidiary role of narration in comparison to direct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-alter/what-this-typographical-distinction-should-make-immediately-apparent/)

[Robert Alter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-alter/)

[Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/robert-alter-67212_communication_what-this-typographical-distinction-shou_555134.jpg)

> [“Balaam in his wrath hardly seems to notice the miraculous gift of speech but responds as though he were accustomed to having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-alter/balaam-in-his-wrath-hardly-seems-to-notice-the-miraculous-gift-of/)

[Robert Alter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-alter/)

[Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/167/robert-alter-67212_communication_balaam-in-his-wrath-hardly-seems-to-noti_1302392.jpg)

> [“When Israel came out of Egypt, 1 the house of Jacob from a barbarous-tongued folk, Judah became His sanctuary, 2 Israel His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-alter/when-israel-came-out-of-egypt-1-the-house-of-jacob-from-a-barbarous/)

[Robert Alter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-alter/)

[God Jacob](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-jacob-2057678/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63c/robert-alter-67212_god-jacob_when-israel-came-out-of-egypt-1-the-hous_2353107.jpg)

> [“Reading is a privileged pleasure because each of us enjoys it, quite complexly, in ways not replicable by anyone else. But there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-alter/reading-is-a-privileged-pleasure-because-each-of-us-enjoys-it-quite/)

[Robert Alter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-alter/)

[Common ground](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-ground/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/876/robert-alter-67212_common-ground_reading-is-a-privileged-pleasure-because_2429640.jpg)

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