'Perhaps there is Hope': Reading Lamentations as a Polyphony of Pain, Penitence, and Protest

Bier proposes here a strong new understanding of the Book of Lamentations, drawing on Bakhtinian ideas of multiple voices to analyse the poetic speaking voices within the text; examining their theological perspectives, and nuancing the interaction between them. Bier scrutinises interpretations of Lamentations, distinguishing between exegesis that reads Lamentations as a theodicy, in defense of God, and those that read it as an anti-theodicy, in defense of Zion. Rather than reductively adopting either of these approaches, this book advocates a dialogic approach to Lamentations, reading to hear the full polyphony of pain, penitence, and protest.

• Table Of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Reading Lamentations 1 as a Polyphony
• Chapter 3: Reading Lamentations 2 as a Polyphony
• Chapter 4: Reading Lamentations 3 as a Polyphony
• Chapter 5: Reading Lamentations 4 as a Polyphony
• Chapter 6: Reading Lamentations 5 as a Polyphony
• Chapter 7: Reading the Book of Lamentations as a Polyphony
• Summary and Conclusions: The Hermeneutical Implications of Polyphony
• Conclusions
• Bibliography