Citation

Miller CW. Current. Biblic. Res. 2002; 1(1): 9-29.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1476993X0200100102

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Over the past decade there has been an unprecedented explosion of interest in the book of Lamentations. This increased attention has led to the writing of more dissertations, monographs and articles since 1990 than had been pro duced in the previous half century. This article offers a brief overview of some of the more important aspects of that research, as well as a summary of the significant trends in scholarship that have surfaced in the past several years.A more relentlessly brutal piece of writing is scarcely imaginable. This short biblical book affronts the reader with a barrage of harsh and violent images...the reader is not so much engaged by the book of Lamentations as assaulted by it (Linafelt 2000: 2).The Book of Lamentations calls its readers to remember the sacred events of their past, to reflect on them, to relive them again, to learn from them, and eventually to find hope in that knowledge (Polan 1996: 16).