This essay constitutes a critical review and examination of Alter’s unique literary hermeneutic to the interpretation of biblical passages, mainly the Hebrew Bible. It begins by sketching some of Alter’s stellar academic credentials and the reasons he provided for developing his particular literary approach. The essay proceeds to place Alter’s writings within its proper historical context in order to grasp its theological significance within biblical scholarship, particularly the key roles played by Muilenburg’s contributions and problems associated with standard scholarly interpretations of Jewish history. Then the central features of Alter’s distinctive literary analysis are critically examined and discussed point-by-point. First admitting the Hebrew Bible as a sacred text, Alter professes the aim of exposing the unique literary principles driving biblical narratives, arguing that the meanings underlying those narratives go far beyond the technical social-scientific skill level of most biblical scholars into ancient Hebrew literary conventions. Alter’s major claim that the Hebrew Bible is best understood as theatrical art or prose fiction with biblical writers ‘artfully’ choreographing written texts to create indeterminacy of meaning is profoundly insightful and illuminating, and represents a major contribution to biblical scholarship. However, its strengths are complimented by a few telling weaknesses.