Book contents
- The Book of Lamentations
- New Cambridge Bible Commentary
- The Book of Lamentations
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Supplements
- Preface
- Suggested Readings
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Plotting a Path for Zion’s Spiritual Rehabilitation
- 2 Dispelling Delusions I: The Lord and His Love for Zion
- 3 Redirecting Zion’s Anger: The Geber as Model
- 4 Dispelling Delusions II: Zion and Her Social Structures
- 5 Purging Prayer of Zion Theology
- Index of Scriptural Passages
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 July 2023
- The Book of Lamentations
- New Cambridge Bible Commentary
- The Book of Lamentations
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Supplements
- Preface
- Suggested Readings
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Plotting a Path for Zion’s Spiritual Rehabilitation
- 2 Dispelling Delusions I: The Lord and His Love for Zion
- 3 Redirecting Zion’s Anger: The Geber as Model
- 4 Dispelling Delusions II: Zion and Her Social Structures
- 5 Purging Prayer of Zion Theology
- Index of Scriptural Passages
Summary
In this commentary, Joshua A. Berman considers Lamentations as a literary work that creates meaning for a community in the wake of tragedy through its repudiation of Zion theology. Drawing from studies in collective trauma, his volume is the first study of Lamentations that systematically accounts for the constructed character of the narrator, a pastoral mentor who engages in a series of dialogues with a second constructed character, daughter Zion, who embodies the traumatized community of survivors. In each chapter, the pastoral mentor speaks to a different religious typology and a different sub-community of post-destruction Judeans, working with daughter Zion to reconsider her errant positions and charting for her a positive way forward to reconnecting with the Lord. Providing a systematic approach to the careful structure of each of its chapters, Berman illuminates how biblical writers offered support to their communities in a way that is still relevant and appealing to a therapy-conscious contemporary society.
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- The Book of Lamentations , pp. 1 - 24Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023