The Book Of Lamentations

Set in the highlands of the Mexican state of Chiapas, The Book of Lamentations tells of a fictionalized Mayan uprising that resembles many of the rebellions that have taken place since the indigenous people of the area were first conquered by European invaders five hundred years ago. With the panoramic sweep of a Diego Rivera mural, the novel weaves together dozens of plot lines, perspectives, and characters. Blending a wealth of historical information and local detail with a profound understanding of the complex relationship between victim and tormentor, Castellanos captures the ambiguities that underlie all struggles for power. A masterpiece of contemporary Latin American fiction from Mexico’s greatest twentieth-century woman writer, The Book of Lamentations was translated with an afterword by Ester Allen and introduction by Alma Guillermoprieto.

The destruction of Jerusalem is the likely setting for the book of Lamentations, delivered from a place of unspeakable pain in poetry of astonishing beauty and intricacy. In this Bible Speaks Today volume, Christopher Wright shows that we must not, and cannot, isolate Lamentations from the rest of the Bible.

"A commentary for scholars and pastors on the biblical book of Lamentations, with an emphasis on reading it as authoritative Christian Scripture"--

When published, this work on the Book of Lamentations opened a new wave of studies on that much neglected biblical book. After a fresh translation, followed by acute analyses of the acrostic form and literary genres, the author develops the two-fold theology of "doom" and "hope" that reverberates through the five laments composed during the exile to cope with the fall of Jerusalem. Created for public performance, the poems artfully alternate the voices of the poet and the community, personified by turns as a forlorn widow (Fair Zion) and as an afflicted man (Jacob/Israel). The book attributes the catastrophe in part to the moral and social failures of Judah's leadership, but it also finds the enormity of the suffering beyond moral or theological explanation.

The five poems composing the book express Israel's sorrow, brokenness, and bewilderment before God."--BOOK JACKET.

Explores the book of Lamentations and its meaning for faith and ministry today. The five poems that comprise Lamentations tell of the community's pain in the aftermath of Jerusalem's destruction.

Knowable Word offers a foundation on why and how to study the Bible. Through a running study Genesis 1, this new edition illustrates how to Observe, Interpret, and Apply the Scripture-and gives the vision behind each step.

In this volume Robin Parry not only builds on traditional scholarship to interpret the book of Lamentations within its ancient context but also ventures further, exploring how the book can function as Christian Scripture. Parry provides the first systematic attempt to read Lamentations in light of the cross and resurrection. --from publisher description

Most contemporary interpretations of the biblical book of Lamentations focus on the figure of the "suffering man" as a role model for submission in the face of God's punishment for sin. Yet such a model offers small consolation to survivors of the Holocaust or other mass atrocities and also ignores chapters 1 and 2 of Lamentations, in which the personification of Zion laments her sufferings and demands a response on behalf of her dying children. In Surviving Lamentations, Tod Linafelt offers an alternative reading of Lamentations in light of the "literature of survival" (works written by survivors of catastrophe) as well as literary and philosophical reflections on "the survival of literature." He refocuses attention on the figure of Zion as a manifestation of a basic need to give voice to suffering, and traces the afterlife of Lamentations in Jewish literature, in which text after text attempts to provide the response to Zion's lament that is lacking in Lamentations itself. Seen through Linafelt's eyes, Lamentations emerges as uncannily relevant to contemporary discourse on survival.

The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today's context. To bring the ancient messages of the Bible into today's world, each passage is treated in three sections: Original Meaning. Concise exegesis to help readers understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context. Bridging Contexts. A bridge between the world of the Bible and the world of today, built by discerning what is timeless in the timely pages of the Bible. Contemporary Significance. This section identifies comparable situations to those faced in the Bible and explores relevant application of the biblical messages. The author alerts the readers of problems they may encounter when seeking to apply the passage and helps them think through the issues involved. This unique, award-winning commentary is the ideal resource for today's preachers, teachers, and serious students of the Bible, giving them the tools, ideas, and insights they need to communicate God's Word with the same powerful impact it had when it was first written.

Chorus in the Dark invites attention to the treaty negotiated by the voices of Lamentations. The issues of God's justice and human rights are at the centre of a forceful discussion embodied in the five poems of Lamentations. Difficult questions are subtly raised: How can God's justice be recognized and honoured in the midst of suffering? How can the human right to protest against mistreatment be respected? How can loss, grief, and shame be overcome? What future is there for the victims? How can these sensitive issues be negotiated without loss? Zion is the first major speaker in Lamentations. Zion projects the voice of a woman crying by the grave. Her pain is intense, her loss is vast, her anger is uncontrollable. Zion is unable to see any future. God is indeed just in destroying her, but her surviving children do not deserve her fate. The other major speaker is the man of Lamentations 3. He too speaks of the pain, grief, anger, and desire for vengeance of a victim bent under the yoke of affliction. Yet, like a Davidic king, he dares to claim covenant promises and hope that darkness will eventually turn to light. Through both harmony and discord, and with a profound ambivalence toward the future, the separate voices of Lamentations resonate in a timbre that transcends the sum of its parts. The five poems, while having unique value individually, are meant to be read together as a living documentation of a moment of suspension, a great turning point in the history of Israel.

The book of Lamentations is a challenge to its readers. Its ambiguous theology, strident protestations against its deity, and haunting imagery confound interpreters. This monograph engages the enigma of Lamentations by assessing its theology. It does so, however, neither by tracing a single theological perspective through the book nor by reconstructing the history of the composition of the book. Rather, Heath Thomas assesses the poetry of Lamentations by offering a close analysis of each poem in the book. He reconsiders the acrostic as the foundational structure for the poetry, reads the book as an intentionally composed whole, and assesses the pervasive use of repetition, metaphor, and allusion. For the first time in the field, the analysis here is grounded on the insights of the Italian semiotician Umberto Eco. Drawing upon Eco's distinction between 'open' and 'closed' textualities, Thomas argues that Lamentations represents a distinctively 'open' text, one that presents its reader with a myriad of surprising avenues to interpret the poetry. This distinctive approach avoids a polarization in the portrait of God in Lamentations, arguing that its poetry neither justifies God outright nor does it exonerate God's people in the exilic age. Rather, it enables these theological visions to interrelate with each another, inviting the reader to make sense of the interaction. The ambiguous theological vision of Lamentations, then, is not a problem that the reader is intended to overcome but an integral feature in the construction of meaning. This original monograph offers a new perspective on how the poetry informs our appreciation of theological thought in the exilic age.

The books of Lamentations, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah are rich with God’s truth concerning our need of redemption. But hope and mercy have the fi nal word as God promises to bless those who turn back to him in faith and repentance. This accessible study takes readers through these books over the course of 12 weeks. The prophecies, though far removed from our historical context, are deeply relevant and applicable to today’s contemporary issues—offering hope for restoration in our fallen world. Part of the Knowing the Bible series.

Charles Swindoll's practical study of the books of Matthew through 1 Thessalonians is part of God's Masterwork, a five-volume overview of the Bible that lays a foundation for a lifetime of personal Bible study and application.

We have all experienced a disconnect between God's promises to us and our everyday reality. We wait, without understanding why. We want to know God's plan so that we can trust it--but God so often hides his plan so that we will trust him. What can we do in the meantime as we are waiting for an answer, a change, or a miracle? With deep compassion, Wayne Stiles helps readers understand why God makes them wait. Unpacking the Old Testament story of Joseph, Stiles shows readers how to find comfort and opportunity in the time between God's promises and his answers, revealing the perspective-altering truth that sometimes when we think we are waiting on God, he is actually waiting on us. Anyone who has felt a disconnect between God's promises and their reality, who doesn't know what God wants them to do next, or who struggles with the brokenness of their world will find in Wayne Stiles a wise and trustworthy guide to finding peace in the pauses.

In this accessible volume, Adele Berlin explicates the five poems of Lamentations and builds a convincing case for Lamentations' immense power to address violence and grief. The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

Written by Dallas Seminary faculty members, The Bible Knowledge Commentary 2-Volume Setoffers a straightforward, verse-by-verse exploration of the Old and New Testaments.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JQ WINGATE, 2017 My mother, my family and Judaism are nested inside each other. I am Jewish and always Jewish; it's analogous with family, however hard it is, and however strained, it can never be disavowed... I remain, as my therapist put it, 'enmeshed', all tangled up in the family hoard. This book has been both a continuation of my conversations with them, and an attempt to untangle myself. This is Joanne's account of coming to terms with her brother's suicide and through that process, the entirety of her family life. In Small Pieces Joanne explores her childhood, her Jewishness and her mother's death as well as that of her brother. The life and family Joanne describes is a complex combination of conflicting influences - both scientific and literary; Jewish and humanist impulses; and middle America and North London settings. Small Pieces is a beautiful and searingly honest meditation on family and faith.

Contained in these eight lessons is a rare and rich verse by verse study of one of the lesser known books of the Bible: the Lamentations of Jeremiah. But how its words are needed today! In this brief journal, the prophet describes his beloved city in ruins and his own people in grief, all because of sin. "Whatever we sow, we reap" pulsates through these serious, soul searching messages designed to warn the reader against disobeying the voice of God. - Back cover.

Short essays on Parashat Hashavua. Talks on the Parasha recreates the warm, intimate atmosphere of a personal encounter with Rabbi Steinsaltz. While providing insights that are meaningful for the Jewish collective, it speaks to every individual as well. To Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, the Torah contains within it many worlds. The themes, the language, the myriad ways in which to understand and interpret it ¿ all of these are worlds that both exist independently and are connected to one another, inextricably linked from within and from without. What emerges from the totality of the Torah¿s manifold shades of meaning is that the Torah is essentially ¿the book of the chronicles of man.¿ The Torah ¿ addressing, in particular, the Jewish people and the individual ¿ helps the reader understand not only what happened in the past and what ought to happen in the future, but also the meaning of his or her own life.