Ancient Israel_PBK.inddJoshua at Jericho. Samson and Delilah, David and Goliath. These familiar biblical tales undergo a thorough review in the latest installment of Berkeley professor Robert Alter’s ongoing translation of the Hebrew Bible, Ancient Israel — The Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings.

Taking up fewer than 250 pages in a basic King James Version of the Bible, these six books extend beyond 850 pages in Alter’s tome. That’s due to Alter’s extensive commentary, including detailed descriptions of why he chooses a different word or phrase in particular instances from those appearing in other translations.

Among the most useful of Alter’s observations are those that explain how these books fit with a larger pattern of biblical narrative, such as the frequent use of “And it happened” to begin a chapter, and the frequent use of “formulaic” figures, such as 40 years, to denote a long time, rather than a precise measurement.

This reader particularly enjoyed Alter’s attention to the David story, which he summarizes in a reader’s note before the two books of Samuel.

The major sequence that runs, according to the conventional book and chapter divisions of later editorial traditions from 1 Samuel 1 to 1 Kings 2 is one of the most astounding pieces of narrative that has come down to us from the ancient world. The story of David is probably the greatest single narrative representation in antiquity of a human life evolving by stages through time, shaped and altered by the pressures of political life, public institutions, family, the impulses of body and spirit, the eventual sad decay of the flesh. It also provides the most unflinching insight into the cruel processes of history and into human behavior warped by the pursuit of power. And nowhere is the Bible’s astringent narrative economy, its ability to define characters and etch revelatory dialogue in a few telling strokes, more brilliantly deployed.

If this paragraph piques your interest, you’ll find much more to ponder as you wade through old stories made new with the help of a thoughtful guide in Alter.