Reading Lamentations Intertextually

Description

This book addresses intertextual connections between Lamentations and texts in each division of the Hebrew Bible, along with texts throughout history. Sources examined range from the Dead Sea Scrolls to modern Shoah literature, allowing the volume's impact to reach beyond Lamentations to each of the 'intertexts' the chapters address. By bringing together scholars with expertise on this diverse array of texts, the volume offers a wide range of exegetical insight. It also enables the reader to appreciate the varying intertextual approaches currently employed in Biblical Studies, ranging from abstract theory to rigid method. By applying these to a focused analysis of Lamentations, this book will facilitate greater insight on both Lamentations and current methodological research.

Heath A. Thomas is President and Professor of Old Testament at Oklahoma Baptist University, USA. Brittany N. Melton is Assistant Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Palm Beach Atlantic University, USA, and Research Fellow at the University of the Free State, South Africa.

After a helpful essay on the significance of intertextuality, the editors present the essays in accord with the divisions of the Hebrew Bible (Torah, Prophets, and Writings). A fourth group of essays studies Lamentations in dialogue with postbiblical Jewish, Christian, and Islamic words. A final essay describes reading Lamentations after the Shoah. Both senior and junior biblical scholars will appreciate this collection. * The Bible Today * [A] stimulating collection of papers that help to bring Lamentations more into the mainstream of OT studies while also showing the fruitfulness of an expressly intertextual stance. * Journal for the Study of the Old Testament *