The Violent Storm in Lamentations

Abstract

Using reader-response criticism as a beginning point, this article considers the final form of the book of Lamentations as a violent storm in the shape of a whirlwind. Without stressing that the book was consciously composed to elicit the effect of a whirlwind, it nevertheless shows how this type of storm remains consistent with the overall shape of the book and with images found therein. The storm shape suggests implications for reading in modern theological discussions as well as providing a means of understanding one view of the community’s plight.