UW-Madison
Spring 2006
Hebrew 371-Lecture 1
Lamentations and Its Interpreters
Tuesdays
and
Thursdays
Van Hise 583
Instructor: Kim Lan Nguyen
Office: Van Hise 1352
Office Hours:
Email: kimlannguyen@wisc.edu
Course Description
The book of
Lamentations came into being as a response to the destruction of
This course has two goals: 1) to understand how the book of Lamentations deals with suffering and how it offers catharsis to the sufferers so that they can move on, and 2) to understand how subsequent generations responded to the book as they reflected upon the suffering experienced in their own times. Toward the first goal, the book of Lamentations will be examined in its historical and literary contexts. Toward the second goal, later responses to the book will be examined; special attention will be paid to Late Antiquity Rabbis, Early Christians Church Fathers, and some modern interpreters.
Textbooks
Berlin, Adele.
Lamentations.
The Old Testament Library.
The textbook can be obtained at either The University Book Store or Underground Book Exchange
Course Reader available at Bob’s Copy Shop.
Course Requirements
- Attendance and participation: Three absences are allowed for illness, religious observances, and other emergencies. Each additional absence will result in a reduction of half a grade.
-
Examinations: There are two exams, a midterm
and a final. The midterm will be in class on March
7. The final must be taken at the scheduled time
Friday May 12, at
- Papers: There are two 5-page papers. Sources used for papers must be properly cited. Internet resources may be used only if they are taken from publish works. Please note that plagiarism will not be tolerated. Papers are due on Feb 28 and April 25 at the beginning of class.
- Pop quizzes: quizzes on reading material will be given frequently. There will be no made-up quizzes. One quiz (the lowest grade) will be dropped.
- Oral participation
Grading
The final grade is composed of the following:
Quizzes: 5%
Oral participation: 5%
Examinations: 20% each
Papers: 25% each
Schedule
Introduction
T 1/17
Introduction to the course; Introduction to the book of Lamentations
R 1/19
Topic
Historical and theological background of Lamentations
Readings
Deuteronomy 28; 2 Samuel 7:1-17; 2 Kings 22, 25
T 1/24
Topic
The genre of communal
lament in
Readings
Kramer, “Lamentation
over the
destruction of
Psalms 44, 79, 89
Reading Lamentations
R 1/26
Topics
External form of Lamentations; Acrostic feature and its meaning; Poetic feature; Unity of Lamentations.
Readings
Renkema, “The Meaning of the Parallel Acrostics in Lamentations”
Poem 1
T
1/31
Topic
Form/Structure/content
Reading
R
2/2
Topic
Speaking voices
Readings
Lanahan, “The Speaking Voice in the Book of Lamentations”
Miller, “Reading Voices: Personification, Dialogism, and the Reader of Lamentations 1”
T
2/7
Topics
Personification; Suffering; Justice/ Sin and punishment
Readings
Kaiser, “Poet as ‘Female Impersonator’: The Image of Daughter Zion as Speaker in Biblical Poems of Suffering” – read only pages 174-82
Dobbs-Allsopp, “No Comfort: Lamentations 1” – Read only the section “Excursus: Personified Zion” on pages 50-3
Poem 2
R
2/9
Topic
Form/Structure/Content
Reading
Poem 3
T
2/14
Topics
Genre; Form/Structure/content
Reading
R
2/16
Topics
“The Man”; Theology: Submission and Hope
Saebo, “Who is ‘the Man’ in Lamentations 3? A Fresh Approach to the Interpretation of the Book of Lamentations”
Owens, “Personification and Suffering in Lamentations 3”
Poem 4
T
2/21
Topic
Form/Structure/Content
Reading
Poem 5
R
2/23
Topic
Form/Structure/Content
Reading
Reading the poems together: The message of Lamentations
T
2/28
Work due: Paper 1
Topics
Theology; Purpose
Readings
Reimer, “Good Grief?
A
Psychological
Heim, “The Personification of Jerusalem and the Drama of Her Bereavement in Lamentations” – Read sections I, II, and IV
R
3/2
Topics
Theology and Purpose (Cont’d); Review
Readings
Greenstein, “ The Wrath at God in the Book of Lamentations”
Dobbs-Allsopp, “Tragedy, Tradition, and Theology in the Book of Lamentations” – Read only pages 54-60
T
3/7
Exam 1
Inner Biblical Interpretation
R
3/9
Topic
Second Isaiah’s response to Lamentations: Comfort and Restoration
Reading
Isaiah 49:8 – 50:3; 51:1 – 52:12;
54:1-17
Worksheet 1
Spring Break
T
3/14 and R 3/16
Rabbinic Interpreters
T
3/21
Topics
Midrashic Literature; Rabbinic responses to the book of Lamentations
Reading
Mintz, “Midrash and the Destruction” – Read pages 49-62
R
3/23
Topic
Rabbinic responses to
the reversal
of
Readings
Midrash Rabbah – Lamentations: I.1 Sections 3-11; Worksheet 2
T
3/25
Topics
Responses to the ambiguity of sin in Lamentations; Responses to innocent suffering
Readings
Midrash Rabbah – Lamentations: I.9 Section 36; I.16 Sections 45-50
Worksheet 3
R
3/30
Topic
Rabbinic response to God’s silence in Lamentations
Readings
Midrash Rabbah – Lamentations: Proem 24 (pp. 40-49)
Linafelt, “Life in Excess: The Midrash on Lamentations”
T
4/4
Topic
Rabbinic response to God’s silence (Cont’d)
Early Christian Church Fathers
R
4/6
Topic
Origin’s spiritual reading
Reading
Trigg, “Commentary on Lamentations, Selected Fragments”
Modern Interpreters
T 4/11
Topic
Literature of Survival
Reading
Linafelt, “
‘None Survived or Escaped’:
R
4/13
Topics
Submission and hope; Vicarious suffering
Mintz, “The Rhetoric on Lamentations” pp. 26-40
T
4/18
Topic
No vengeance, but repentance
Reading
Morris, “Reading Lamentations in the 21st Century: Concerning Daniel Berrigan’s Lamentations and Tod Linafelt’s Surviving Lamentations”
R
4/20
Topic
The significance of laments in the Christian church
Readings
Westermann, “The Theological Significance of Lamentations”
T 4/25
Work due: Paper 2
Topic
Theology of Protest
Reading
Graetz, “
R
4/27
Topic
Effects of the book of Lamentations on Women
Readings
Seidman, “Burning the Book of Lamentations”
Guest, “Hiding Behind the Naked Women in Lamentations: A Recriminative Response” – Read only pages 422-432
T
5/2
Topic
Open Discussion
R
5/4
Topics
Review
Wrap up
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Latest revision date: 12/27/2005 (cad)