Translational Discontent: Robert Alter’s Tanakh, Daniel Matt’s Zohar, and the Scepter of Translation in the Twenty-First Century

Robert Alter’s The Hebrew Bible and Daniel Matt’s The Zohar: Pritzker Edition mark a new stage in the continued evolution of the reception, interpretation, and translation of Jewish Scriptures. This article offers a conceptual framework for reflecting on the translation of Jewish scriptures in the twenty-first century, positing the translations by Alter and Matt as the foremost achievements in this field. The proposed framework draws on Freud’s notion of personal discontent in order to reflect on the reasoning, aspirations, and drives underlying the decision to embark on translation projects such as those undertaken by Alter and Matt in the first place.