Lament, Death, and Destiny (original) (raw)
Related papers
SBL Annual Meeting, 2023
The imagery of war and suffering in Lamentations presents many issues for contemporary readers. Though interpreters may commend the book for its honest testimony, its vivid descriptions of suffering children (2:11–12, 20–22; 4:10; 5:11) and troubling choice of metaphors (e.g., 1:8–10; cf. 2:4; 5:11) often disturb its interpreters, and the book has been criticized for such features. Many have claimed that these images foster compassion and just action within its readership, but in these assessments, the connection between viewing (or imagining) images of suffering and responding ethically is often assumed more than demonstrated. This paper seeks to explore that relationship more closely. It will ask what the book of Lamentations wants the reader to “do” or the kind of person its discourse seeks to produce with special consideration of the book’s imagery: What violent content does the book “show” the reader? How do the poetics of this imagery—how the poet frames these scenes—impinge upon the reader and form certain ethical responses rather than others? This paper will address these and related questions in a comparative manner, by drawing upon the fields of photography ethics and visual culture theory, specifically as it pertains to the complicated moral response elicited by images of human suffering. Many in these fields describe the distance generated between the viewer and the sufferer when the former “sees” the latter in image media. They also problematize the assumed connection between viewing images of suffering, feeling compassion for the depicted sufferer, and responding with ethical action. In light of these findings, this paper will thus examine how violence imagery figures in Lamentations, how this imagery may elicit complex (moral) responses from readers, and how the poetry might guide the reader beyond mere viewing into critical examination conducive of moral disposition and action.
OT theologians have often noted with some frustration that Lamentations does not easily fit into a theological grid, even one supposedly derived from within the OT itself. Dobbs-Allsopp's comment is reflective of the situation.
De-Centering Lamentations: A Crisis of Hope, of Memory, and of Continued Presence
Old Testament Essays
Scholars have frequently looked to chapter three at the centre of the book of Lamentations to provide a note of hope, faith, and comfort, so that the book as a whole is considered a chiasm with its resolution at the centre. But this does not give adequate attention to the developing story line running through the book as a whole or the role that chapter three plays in heightening the crisis initiated by the exile and provoking a turning point in the story. The arc of the story told by a variety of characters reaches its climax in chapter three and the forward movement of the story can be seen in the move from dirge to lament and from isolation to community as Israel considers the ways in which their relationship with Yahweh has fundamentally changed. *
Examples of Contemporary Laments (Based on Biblical Laments), Illustrating Theological Insights
Scriptura, 2018
Many of us do not see God in our suffering as a result of our notions of who God is and how God interacts with us. But a study of the psalms of lament can help us bring all our emotions – those emanating from pain, frustration, faith, and a need for revenge – to God. In this article, examples are given of lament poems composed by young Zulu 'pain-bearers', after they had come to understand the language of biblical lament, as seen in three psalms. A careful review of these lament psalms gave insight to the participants as to who God is and how we can approach God. They also noted that in the Bible suffering was part of the normal human condition. By composing their own personal laments, the young people were able to process their pain better, and gain a sense of agency, being able to tell their stories and be heard with respect and compassion. Introduction Many of us have naive notions about who God is and of how God interacts with us, and consequently we do not see God in our suffering. In this study, 'pain-bearers' were encouraged to explore God in their suffering, through participating in a workshop where they were given a brief review of some psalms of lament, and then encouraged to write their own laments, following ideas they gained from the biblical pattern. The participants were Zulu youth from the Pietermaritzburg area, and included young women who are part of an AIDS support group, and young men and women from the local LGBT support group. During the workshop (conducted over two days, for three hours per day, for each group separately), they studied Psalms 3 and 13 (personal biblical laments), as well as Psalm 55 (a communal lament). They noted that the biblical poems included complaints (sometimes in the form of rhetorical questions), requests for justice to be done to the perpetrator, expressions of trust, and petitions, and these different forms were often intermingled, revealing the heart of the speaker. The young people then used these ideas to compose their own personal laments, speaking into their particular situations. A few examples follow, with complaints highlighted in grey, expressions of trust in bold, and requests (for justice or other) in italics. Thereafter, a review is made of lament studies in recent years, to place these empirical examples within the frame of the theory of biblical lament.
2002
This commentary on Lamentations offers a translation, discussing questions of historical background and literary architecture before providing a theologically sensitive exposition of the text.
The suffering witness: a missiological reading of Lamentations
In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi, 2007
This article explores the possibilities of a missiological reading of the book of Lamentations. Based upon a historical understanding of Lamentations, Christological conclusions are drawn from it with a view on formulating some missiologically relevant guidelines for missionary praxis. This article contends that Lamentations was composed to be used pastorally in an unprecedented crisis in Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In a situation of utter powerlessness and otherlessness the lamenting population was shown a way to rebuild their shattered universe by, paradoxically, reaching out to their God who was not there for them anymore. The suffering witness of Lamentations 3 is used as a Christological model, which is applied to missionary praxis. In the fields of worship and liturgy, aid and assistance and prophetic analysis the church has to continue the witnessing ministry of her Lord, empowered by his Spirit.