The story of David is the greatest single narrative representation in antiquity of a human life evolving by slow stages through time, shaped by the pressures of political life, family, the impulses of body and spirit, and the eventual sad decay of the flesh. In its main character, it provides the first full-length portrait of a Machiavellian prince in Western literature.

The beautiful, musical David, loved by all, resourceful slayer of Goliath, is revealed through his life to be a calculating political animal. To advance his own cause, he becomes a collaborator with the archenemies of Israel, the Philistines. Later he commits adultery with Bathsheba, and compounds the betrayal with murder. But through the author's empathy and skill David also emerges as a fully realized character, a man of passion and intelligence who navigates the ambiguities of belief, loyalty, ambition, temptation, and circumstance with uneven success. He exposes himself repeatedly to humiliation, oscillates between noble sentiment and harsh vindictiveness, and with his dying breath charges his son Solomon to wreak bloody vengeance on his enemies. Historical personage and full-blooded imagining, David is the creation of a literary artist comparable to the Shakespeare of the history plays.

Robert Alter's brilliant translation recovers the meanings, literary strategies, and eloquence of the ancient Hebrew and conveys them with striking literary grace. His translation is enhanced by his insightful commentary which, running at the bottom of the page, is a learned voice whispering in the reader's ear. Translation and commentary together enable a great work of literature to emerge from the Bible and stand on its own.