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Form and Message in Lamentations
... In the last part of the poem there is again a return to the lament of the individual that recalls the first part of the poem, but with one difference-the laments are now addressed to God (vv. [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56]. ...
... 3 in order to focus the reader's attention on the increased tension between form and content in this chapter, thereby creating a chapter that seems the most well thought out. 51 The unique phenomenon of the acrostic in chap. 5 is also clarified. ...
Lam 3 has probably received the most attention from scholars studying the Book of Lamentations. One of the most challenging questions concerning this chapter is still the figure of the geber – the main protagonist. There is a cacophony of ideas and interpretations offered in this regard. The current paper is an attempt to simplify the effort
of comprehending the figure of the geber offering a new time perspective and reading it through the lenses of two conventions: voice and anonymity. They seem to be sufficient for determining the role of the geber in the poem and possible rhetorical strategy the author employed here. The paper will also give a survey of the most crucial aspects of the
scholarly debate relevant for the study.
Keywords: Lam 3, the geber, time perspective, literary conventions, voice,
anonymity, Everyman.
Lamentations 5 of The Book of Lamentations consists of verses of one line only, and is strikingly similar to a number of Psalms. Gunkel suggested that Lamentations 5 ‘may have been sung during one of the festivals at the ruins of Jerusalem, like the ones mentioned in Zech 7’ (98). Lamentations 5 continues its catalogue of catastrophes with a reference to the physical appearance of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The very point of these verses of the book's closing chapter is to emphasize the people's utter helplessness and the depths of their despair in the hope that God will relent and bring an end to their suffering. The Targum of Lamentations is a translation into Aramaic, the spoken language of Yehud/Palestine in the second Temple period. The issue of the reception of Lamentations in the later Hebrew Bible is a fascinating one.
Lamentations reflects the silence of God. God seemingly does not act or speak. To some, this detachment represents an absence of God; to others, a "hiddenness" of God (Deus absconditus). Analysis of Lam 3,55-57, the crux interpretum for the divine silence, suggests the p strophe may break this oppressive silence. The strophe reflects an awareness of God who speaks. God stands in the background of the whole of life for tills poet, emerging only fleetingly and in ways oblique, This perspective is similar to the ambiguous, indeterminate approach to reality in postmodernism. The divine Voice thus joins other voices in Lamentations.
Psychological approaches to biblical texts have gained currency, particularly in lament literature. One notes, however, an increasing interest in the intersections between Lamentations and psychological analysis as well. Upon a survey of literature, one quickly realises no singular methodology prevails: scholars have applied to Lamentations the insights of Kübler-Ross' grief process as well as the insights of John Archer, Yorick Spiegel, Sigmund Freud and the perspectives of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Whilst useful in identifying and assessing pain in the poetry, these approaches undervalue the crucial indicators of prayer in Lamentations. These indicators press research to the fecund field of the psychology of prayer. This essay exposes diverse applications of psychological approaches to the book, presents an analysis of both the benefits and limitations of this research and then relates prayer and pain in its poetry by exploring the connections between Lamentations and the psychology of prayer.
Covering a rich landscape of literary, theological and cultural creativity, the authors explore the astonishing variety of interpretations inspired by Lamentations, one of the shortest books in the Bible.Features a wealth of reactions - covering two and a half millennia - to this ancient text's influential and unflinching account of the devastation wreaked by war Explores a kaleidoscope of examples ranging from the Dead Sea Scrolls; Yehudah Halevy; John Calvin; and composer, Thomas Tallis; through to the startling interpretations of Marc Chagall; contemporary novelist, Cynthia Ozick; and Zimbabwean junk sculpture Deploys "reception exegesis", a new genre of commentary that creatively blends reception history and biblical exegesis Offers sensitive treatment of challenging theological and psychological responses to one of the most disturbing books of the Hebrew Bible Widely relevant, with nuanced reflections - both religious and secular - on human suffering and the disasters of war.
This article investigates the short prayer of Lamentations 3:42, the only text in the prayer literature that uses the particle (no) together with the term (forgive). The exegetical study focuses on the literal, historical and theological dimensions of the short prayer. The questions posed by this article is: Does this text portray God's unwillingness to forgive? Does Lamentations 3 only speak about punishment and judgement or do we find references to divine forgiveness? Lamentations 3 speaks about punishment, but not rejection or unwillingness to forgive. The worshipper in verse 42 confronts God with his real self: He is supposed to forgive. In the rest of chapter 3 we find reminders of God's forgiving heart: mercy and compassion (vv. 22, 32); faithfulness (v. 23); kindness (vv. 25, 26, 27); salvation (v. 26); and steadfast love (v. 32).
In the process of compiling sources, hundreds were entered into our data base (many of which were annotated), but in the end they could not be included in the final selection for the printed edition of the bibliography. Furthermore, since having completed collecting sources for the printed edition, hundreds more books and articles have been published. Hence, this web bibliography expands and updates the printed edition, entailing approximately 1,500 additional sources. The sources in this web bibliography are listed by date of publication within the same categories as in the printed bibliography. Note that citations generally appear once, though many of them could have been assigned to more than one category. One advantage of this digital version of the bibliography is that you may search for specific words pertinent to your research. It would be incorrect to assume that this web bibliography, if combined with the printed version, is exhaustive. From the outset of the project, strict criteria for inclusion were followed, meaning that generally only essays and books that appeared to be exceptionally significant were considered. Please refer to the authors' preface in the printed edition for more information.
Using reader-response criticism as a beginning point, this article considers the final form of the book of Lamentations as a violent storm in the shape of a whirlwind. Without stressing that the book was consciously composed to elicit the effect of a whirlwind, it nevertheless shows how this type of storm remains consistent with the overall shape of the book and with images found therein. The storm shape suggests implications for reading in modern theological discussions as well as providing a means of understanding one view of the community’s plight.
Cet article dresse un parallele entre la structure des Lamentations, qui laisse apparaitre cinq perspectives differentes sur le chagrin et la peine, et les travaux de la psychologue E. Kubler-Ross qui a beaucoup travaille avec des mourants. Cette lecture psychologique met en relief le presuppose theologique de la liberte divine et engage la justice de Dieu dans l'acceptation de la culpabilite humaine.
Syllable-word pattern analysis, using the chi-square test, determines that no poem within Lamentations is a unity. Because frequencies of words with 1, 2, 3, and 4-5 syllables seem to be evidence of unconscious rhythms in Biblical Hebrew, the changes in syllable-word patterns suggest different poets at work. Further, the analysis offered in this study supports the identi-fication of voice and point of view changes in Lamentations 1-3 with different poets. It concludes that Lamentations is to be divided into the following differing sections: 1.1-11, 12-22; 2.1-10, 11-16, 17-19, 20-22; 3.1-24, 25-39, 40-47, 48-66; 4.1-10; 5.1-14, 15-22.
This paper argues that the Book of Joel is best understood against the background of the exilic period in Judah, after the Destruction but before the Return to Zion, that is, between 587 and 538 BCE. While concrete historical evidence is not decisive, an investigation of the ideology of the Book may determine the Book's historical setting. The lack of any rebuke in Joel accords with the view that he lived in the exilic period, when it would not have been appropriate to rebuke and criticize the people, who were in a state of deep despair. The Book of Joel places great emphasis on the motif of the Divine presence residing in the midst of Israel. This central message of assurance of the Divine presence is particularly apt if we accept the view that Joel belongs to the period of the Destruction, when the people were in despair and saw in the events their abandonment by God. There are cultic concerns in the book. This is understood if it is accepted that Joel functioned in the exilic period, and aimed at persuading his audience that one can pray to the Lord even when the Temple is in ruins. The prophet's main purpose was to bring the people to renew their connection with the Lord after the destruction of the Temple, and to focus the people's attention on the Temple, which, although physically ruined, had not lost its religious significance. Other characteristics of the Book of Joel that point to the same historical setting are discussed in the paper.
In this article, the author argues that the opening verses of the third song of Lamentations were conceived as a reversal of Ps 23. Firstly, it is shown that numerous lexical and thematic relations exist between the two texts. Secondly, it is demonstrated that also Lam 3,22-27, which forms the structural counterpart of the pericope under investigation, is marked by references to Ps 23. Thirdly, the probability of the reversal of Ps 23 by the authors of Lamentations, and the possible motives for this reversal are examined. The proposed reading of the pericope finally sheds a light on two of the main exegetical problems related to the text, viz., the identity of the I-person speaking, and the apparent absence of direct allusions to the occurrences of 587 BCE.
The Neo-Babylonian defeat of Judah and destruction of Jerusalem in 587 resulted in an era - commonly, though now anachronistically, known as the 'exilic age' - considered to be of fundamental significance in the historical, social, and theological development of ancient Israel. Although perceived by the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and modern scholarship as a foundational epoch, examinations of the exile tend to focus on the fraction of the community who experienced forced deportation after the collapse of Jerusalem, namely, those members of the community relocated to Babylonia. Since recent scholarship has raised awareness of renewal among the community left in Judah, the book reassesses the historical circumstances and the theological reflection made in the homeland. In drawing together recent analyses of the archaeological data and the strategies of governance adopted by the Neo-Babylonian empire, the evidence points to sufficient infrastructure in sixth-century Judah to allow for communal and religious life. The author then surveys the heterodox and Yahwistic worship practices thought to stem from this community. It is shown that interpreters have accepted perspectives of the religiosity of Templeless Judah generated by ideological stances in the ancient world and in modern scholarship. In order to gain access to the thought and distinguish themes from the people in the homeland, the author studies the book of Lamentations. Rather than formulating great theological constructs, the Judahites agonised over their troubles in prayer. In so doing, the laments attributable to Templeless Judah helpfully provide a means to ascertain other literature with a similar provenance.
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