Though the five poems of Lamentations undoubtedly refer to the Babylonian siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BCE, the multiple voices that narrate unspeakable suffering and labor to make sense of the surrounding horror do so at women’s expense.
In the opening chapters, a prevailing metaphor of Jerusalem as a woman (Woman Zion) portrays a weeping widow, abandoned and alone, who soon becomes the target of blame for the downfall of the city and its inhabitants. Vague sexual improprieties craft the basis of her sinfulness, seemingly to justify her immense suffering as punishment. The damning effect of such a metaphor finds company in subsequent accounts of women, young girls, and mothers—all victims of the destruction recorded therein. But this feminist interpretation of Lamentations does not stop at merely documenting the case against women; it also demonstrates how such texts can serve as sources of strength by lifting up portraits of courageous resistance amid the rubble of misogynist landscapes.
Table of Content
Contents
List of Abbreviations ix
Acknowledgments xi
List of Contributors xiii
Foreword
“Tell It on the Mountain”—or, “And You Shall Tell Your Daughter [as Well]” xv
Athalya Brenner-Idan
Editor’s Introduction to Wisdom Commentary:
“She Is a Breath of the Power of God” (Wis 7:25) xix
Barbara E. Reid, OP
Author’s Introduction:
“For These Things I Weep” (Lam 1:16a) xxxix
Lamentations 1
“Is There Any Sorrow Like My Sorrow . . .” 1
Lamentations 2
“O Daughter Zion, Who Can Heal You?” (Lam 2:13) 19
Lamentations 3
“Does the Lord Not See?” (Lam 3:36) 39
Lamentations 4
“Life Drains Away” (Lam 4:9c) 59
Lamentations 5
“Why, O Lord, Have You Forgotten Us?” (Lam 5:20) 75
Conclusion:
Lamenting Lamentations 93
Works Cited 101
Index of Scripture References 105
Index of Subjects 107
About the author
Sarah Kohles, OSF, is a Sister of St. Francis of Dubuque, Iowa. She professed final vows in 2011, and currently she is working on her Ph D in biblical studies at Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She has formerly served on the Giving Voice core team.
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