How can a work published in 1611 have had such a lasting influence on the language? To answer this question, Crystal offers fascinating discussions of phrases such as "The skin of one's teeth" or "Out of the mouth of babes," tracing how these memorable lines have found independent life in the work of poets, playwrights, novelists, politicians, and journalists, and how more recently they have been taken up with enthusiasm by advertisers, Hollywood, and hip-hop. --from publisher description.

Continuing his exploration of the art of the "Bible," Robert Alter provides a fresh interpretation of the poetry of the Old Testament and a lucid, original account of how biblical poetry works.

This broad-ranging work explores the cultural world of Babylonian rabbis and their students through the prism of the stories they included in the Bavli, the primary interpretive text of rabbinic Judaism. The anonymous editors of the Bavli, known as the Stammaim, were part of a large institution with a distinctive culture. Jeffrey L. Rubenstein illustrates how their presentation of earlier rabbinic teachings was influenced by their own values and practices. Rubenstein examines the hierarchical structure of the rabbinic academy, the use of dialectics in teaching, the functions of violence and shame within the academy, the role of lineage in rabbinic leadership, the marital and family lives of the rabbis, and the relationship between the rabbis and the rest of the Jewish population.