The Five Books of Moses: A Translation and Commentary, By Robert Alter

Lively and lucid, Alter's translation is also meticulous. If less stirring than the "In the beginning..." of the King James version, his opening has a greater precision: "When God began to create heaven and earth..."

However, the reader's eye inevitably strays to Alter's animated footnotes. Describing Moses as "irascible", he notes how Joseph's interpretation of Pharaoh's dream "does not miss a beat".

We learn that the injunction in Exodus "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk" was possibly a repudiation of pagan ritual or a humanitarian gesture. In any case, it was the basis for the separation of meat and dairy products in Jewish cuisine.