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This work has been submitted to ChesterRep – the University of Chester’s online research repository http://chesterrep.openrepository.com Author(s): Gwendoline Mary Knight Title: Frameworks, cries and imagery in Lamentations 1-5: Working towards a cross- cultural hermeneutic Date: February 2011 Originally published as: University of Liverpool PhD thesis Example citation: Knight, G. M. (2011). Frameworks, cries and imagery in Lamentations 1-5: Working towards a cross-cultural hermeneutic. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Liverpool, United Kingdom. Version of item: Submitted version Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10034/209452 FRAMEWORKS, CRIES AND IMAGERY IN LAMENTATIONS 1-5: Working Towards a Cross-cultural Hermeneutic Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy By Gwendoline Mary Knight FEBRUARY 2011 ABSTRACT Frameworks, Cries and Imagery in Lamentations 1-5: Working Towards a Cross-cultural Hermeneutic Gwendoline Mary Knight This thesis explores how the ancient Near Eastern Book of Lamentations can be read and interpreted cross-culturally today, so that the reader stays with the structure of the text but also listens to the spontaneity of cries from a bereft and humiliated people as they grapple with grief. The first part sets the scene and develops a hermeneutical model: a double-stranded helix, which demonstrates the tensions between the textual form and psychological content of Lamentations 1-5. The two strands are connected by three cross-strands, which represent frameworks, cries and metaphorical images introduced in the opening stanza of each lyric. In the second part, the model becomes the basis for an examination of the frameworks of the Lamentation lyrics and of psychological grief, which together demonstrate how regular patterns provide safe places from which to lament and grieve. Eventually these frameworks are difficult to maintain without interruption, so an analysis of the translation of cries of lament shows how strong feelings of emotion become audible or are silenced as they break through the containment of traditional borders and structures. In the third part motifs already introduced by the form of frameworks and the sounds of cries are developed further, through metaphorical imagery. Through this fresh approach each poem becomes a new venture by means of stance, voice, and dynamic movement, as communities of men, women and children develop coping strategies for feelings of grief. i Declaration This work is original and has not been submitted previously in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or institute of learning. Signed: Date: This thesis contains 95,458 words. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks go to Dr. Eric Christianson for his enthusiasm and delight in Hebrew poetry, which has energised this thesis throughout and for the helpful criticism and feedback received from Revd. Dr. Ruth Ackroyd, Professor David Clough, Revd. Robert Evans, Professor Tom Greggs, Dr. Wayne Morris, Revd. Canon Professor Loveday Alexander, and colleagues in the network of the University of Chester. I am grateful to Revd. Canon Peter Lee and friends of the Parish Church of St James, Christleton for their understanding and encouragement. I have received good advice from Professor Cheryl Exum and colleagues of the Society of the Study for Old Testament. I appreciate the loyal support of my family and friends, especially Gertrude Wright who has listened over many hours to my struggles and arguments. Above all, I want to thank my husband Bob, who has lived through the ups and downs of grief and lament in all stages of my work, but still took on the job of proofreading the manuscript. iii ABBREVIATIONS Bibles and Sacred Texts AMP Amplified Bible BDS La Bible du Semeur CEV Contemporary English Version DRA Douay-Rheims GNB Good News Bible HCV Haitian Créole Version KJV King James Version KNO Knox Version LIV Living Bible MSG The Message NASB New American Standard Bible NIV New International Version Study Bible NRSV New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha NVI Nueva Versión Internacional TAN Tanakh Commentaries, Dictionaries Journals, Lexicons etc. BDB Brown, Driver Briggs BI Biblical Interpretation BIJCA Biblical Interpretation: A Journal of Contemporary Approaches CBQ Catholic Bible Quarterly CBR Currents in Biblical Research CDCH Concise Dictionary of Classical Hebrew DCH Dictionary of Classical Hebrew JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JOTSSA Journal of the Old Testament Society of South Africa JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament OED Oxford English Dictionary SJOT Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament SOTS Society for Old Testament Study ZAW Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft iv FIGURES and TABLES Figures 1. Ricoeur’s Hermeneutical and Mimetic Arcs 19 2. Double-stranded Helix Model for Lamentations 1-5 29 3. A Motif Section on the Helix Model 31 4. Helix Model Motifs and Variations 33 5. Lamentations 1-5: Configuring Frameworks and Grief Stages 37 6. Lamentations 1-5: Configuring Cries of Grief and Lament 66 7. Lamentations 1 Motif: The Lonely ’almānāh Laments and Configures her Grief 96 8. The Governess 111 9. Lamentations 2 Motif: bat-ṣiyyôn Configures Anger and Shame 121 10. La Liberté Guidant le Peuple 135 11. Lamentations 3 Motif: The Warrior geḇer Engages in Bargaining 146 12. A Young Negro in French Uniform is Saluting 160 13. Lamentations 4 Motif: bәnê ṣiyyôn/bat-‘ammî Surviving the Wilderness in Oppression and Depression 171 14. Stones Strewn in the Street 177 15. High Priest with Breast Plate 181 16. Breast Plate with Precious Stones 181 17. Egyptian Jackal-headed god Anubis 185 18. Lamentations 1-5: Motifs and Variations 190 Tables 1. Textual Threads and Lament Processes 9 2. Psychological Threads and Grief Processes 25 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract i Declaration ii Acknowledgements iii Abbreviations iv Figures and Tables v PART I – THEORY and METHOD 1. Introduction 1 1.1 History of Scholarship on Lamentations 2 1.1.1 Historical Setting 4 1.1.2 Prophetic Background 5 1.1.3 Deuteronomic and Zionistic Background 6 1.1.4 Background of Religious Crisis and City Laments 7 1.2 Poetic Structure 9 1.2.1 Acrostic Form 11 1.2.2 Cries of Lament 12 1.2.3 Metaphorical Imagery 13 1.3 Intertextual, Interdisciplinary and Cross-cultural Models of Lament 14 1.3.1 Linear Model 15 1.3.2 Frame and Picture 16 1.3.3 Dynamic Circle 17 1.3.4 Metaphorical Cyclone 18 1.3.5 Ricoeur’s Hermeneutical and Mimetic Arcs 19 1.3.6 Spiral or Gyre 21 1.4 History of Scholarship of Grief 22 1.4.1 Grief Studies 24 1.4.2 Stages and Tasks of Grief 24 1.4.3 Cries of Grief 26 1.4.4 Images of Grief 27 1.4.5 Intertextual, Interdisciplinary and Cross-cultural Models of Grief 27 1.5 Methodology 28 1.5.1 ‘Textual Strand’ and ‘Psychological Strand’ 28 1.5.2 Double-stranded Helix Model 28 1.5.3 Three ‘Cross-strands’ 30 1.5.4 Scope and Limitations 32 1.5.5 Summary of Thesis: Parts and Chapters 32 1.5.6 Part I Introduction: Theory and Method 33 1.5.7 Part II Lamentations 1-5: Frameworks and Cries 33 1.5.8 Part III Lamentations 1-5: Metaphorical Imagery and Grief Themes 34 vi PART II – LAMENTATIONS 1-5 2. Textual and Psychological Frameworks 37 2.1 First ‘Cross-strand’: Acrostic and Grief Frameworks 37 2.1.1 Key Words 38 2.1.2 Completeness 39 2.1.3 Magical Formula 39 2.1.4 Memory Aid 40 2.1.5 Liturgical Form 41 2.1.6 Container or Coping Strategy 41 2.2 Unity and Diversity of Acrostic Forms 42 2.3 Frameworks Overflowed 44 2.4 Lamentations 1: Patterns of Loneliness 44 2.5 Lamentations 2: Steps of Anger and Blame 47 2.6 Lamentations 3: Intensified Forms of Bargaining 52 2.6.1 Liturgical Use 55 2.6.2 Fighting for Survival at the Borders 58 2.7 Lamentations 4: A Spectrum of Change 59 2.8 Lamentations 5: Setting New Boundaries 62 2.9 Conclusion 63 3. Cries in Lamentations and Human Grief 66 3.1 Second ‘Cross-strand’: Lament and Grief Cries 66 3.2 Lamentations 1: ’êkāh a Lonely Cry 71 3.2.1 Death Rites and Sung Laments 71 3.2.2 Human Breath in Life and at Death 74 3.2.3 Psychological Signs of Grief 76 3.2.4 The Grief Story: aleph 77 3.3 Lamentations 2: ’êkāh a Cry in Anger and Shame 78 3.3.1 Cultic Cries 80 3.3.2 ‘āh!’ and ‘māh’ Sounds 82 3.4 Lamentations 4: ’êkāh’êkāh a Double Cry of Depression 84 3.4.1 Neglect and Survival 85 3.4.2 Sound Repetition as a Defence Mechanism 86 3.5 Lamentations 3: ’ănî … ‘ŏnî a Self-defensive Cry 87 3.6 Lamentations 5: ḥerpātēnû a Tripartite Cry 90 3.7 Conclusion 92 PART III - REFLECTIONS ON THE IMAGERY OF LAMENTATIONS 1-5 Introduction to Metaphor 93 4. Lonely Like an ’almānāh in Lamentations 1 96 4.1 The ’almānāh and the Loneliness Theme 96 4.2 Role Reversals 97 4.2.1 Yāšbāh bādād: Sitting Apart or Settled? 101 vii 4.2.2 Broken Engagements: Friends or Enemies? 105 4.3 The Emptiness of Religious Festivals 107 4.4 Defiant Complaints from the Margins 109 4.5 Yâd and kaph: Hands Lifted Up 113 4.6 ‘Ênî ‘ênî : Weeping Eyes and Running Streams 115 4.7 Conclusion 119 5. Bat-ṣiyyôn: Anger and Shame Configured in Lamentations 2 121 5.1 Introduction to bat-ṣiyyôn 121 5.2 Poetic Wrath and Psychological Anger 122 Excursus: yhwh/’ādōnāy as Enemy 125 5.3 Bat-ṣiyyôn: a Multivalent Symbol of Honour and Shame 132 5.4 Clouded Identity and Unjust World 137 5.5 Sacred Space, Invaded Privacy and Barrenness 140 5.6 Coping Mechanisms for the Symbolic bat-ṣiyyôn 145 6.