Personal tragedy and communal catastrophe up to the present day are universal human experiences that call forth lament. Lament singers--from the most ancient civilizations to traditional oral poets to the biblical psalmists and poets of Lamentations to popular singers across the globe--have always raised the cry of human suffering, giving voice to the voiceless, illuminating injustice, or pleading for divine help. This volume gathers an international collection of essays on biblical lament and Lamentations, illuminating their genres, artistry, purposes, and significant place in the history and theologies of ancient Israel. It also explores lament across cultures, both those influenced by biblical traditions and those not, as the practices of composition, performance, and interpretation of life's suffering continue to shed light on our knowledge of biblical lament. --From publisher's description.

An indispensable resource for students and scholars, The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms features a diverse array of essays that treat the Psalms from a variety of perspectives. Classical scholarship and approaches as well as contextual interpretations and practices are well represented. The coverage is uniquely wide ranging.

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"An emerging field of study that explores the Hispanic minority in the United States, Latino Studies is enriched by an interdisciplinary perspective. Historians, sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists, demographers, linguists, as well as religion, ethnicity, and culture scholars, among others, bring a varied, multifaceted approach to the understanding of a people whose roots are all over the Americas and whose permanent home is north of the Rio Grande. Oxford Bibliographies in Latino Studies offers an authoritative, trustworthy, and up-to-date intellectual map to this ever-changing discipline."--Editorial page.

For six decades, Erhard Gerstenberger was a leader in the study of the Psalms and ancient Israelite poetry. The essays in this volume bring together some of his key contributions reflecting on two fundamental forms of prayer in the biblical tradition: praise and petition. Both the student and the experienced researcher will be enriched by the depth and clarity of perspective that Gerstenberger brings. One of the essays (chapter 4) appears here for the first time in any language. Contents 1. Petition and Praise: Basic Forms of Prayer in Babylonian and Hebrew Traditions 2. “Where Is God?” The Cry of the Psalmist 3. Complaint and Confession: Psalm 69 4. Form Criticism in Action: Psalm 22 5. New Form Criticism: Psalm 55 6. Jeremiah’s Complaints: Observations on Jer 15:1–21 7. Elusive Lamentations: What Are They About?

In this guide, Jill Middlemas introduces students to the Book of Lamentations by examining the book's structure and characteristics, covering the latest in biblical scholarship on Lamentations, including historical and interpretive issues, and considering a range of scholarly approaches. In particular, the guide provides students with an introduction to Hebrew poetry as it relates to Lamentations and includes insights from the field of trauma and postcolonial studies. With suggestions of further reading at the end of each chapter, this guide will be an useful accompaniment to study of Lamentations.

Is it possible to hear women prophets' utterances embedded within lyrics of prophetic books? If so, women prophets should be represented as implied composers along with men. A few scholars have raised this question, yet a clear method for discerningwomen's voices - apart from feminine grammatical forms, genres used, and women's perspectives - has not been offered. This study offers a reliable method, based on the sound patterns of lyrical Hebrew. It discerns a consistent, clear signature of women's composing more broadly, and a different signature of men's composing, across all lyrical genres and historical periods. This methodological key, when turned, unlocks and throws open a window on a significant women's Hebraic composing tradition,resounding in texts where women's voices are attributed, and where they are unattributed. There are also surprising ramifications here for the biblical narratives composed by women and rooted in oral tradition. Integrating indigenous cultural, postcolonial, feminist, and oral poetic approaches, this inquiry moves past closed doors of previous suppositions, including that ancient Israel was simply patriarchal. It also brings a new appreciation of the practice of female and male prophets lyricising in partnership, in an indigenous culture in which women, individually or as a group, were not always given credit for their contributions.