Everyone Should Read This Book!
Robert Alter's commentary for the first five books of the bible are fantastic! The emphasis is on the meanings of words and phrases translated from the original Hebrew. It explains when a word or phrase differs from the Masoretic text and the Septuagint. It gives insight into double and triple meanings of words and even sheds light on puns (which there are a lot of them) that are often not mentioned in other texts with commentary.
It is well worth the read, even for someone who has read these books in other forms. Robert Alter also did a translation of I&II Samuel in his book "The David Story" which is a great companion to this book.
