Daughter Zion Talks Back to the Prophets: A Dialogic Theology of the Book of Lamentations (Society of Biblical Literature Semeia Studies)

by Carleen Mandolfo

Daughter Zion Talks Back to the Prophets offers a new theological reading of the book of Lamentations by putting the female voice of chapters 1-2 into dialogue with the divine voice of prophetic texts in which God represents the people Israel as his wife and indicts them/her for being unfaithful to him. In Lam 1-2 we hear the wife talk back, and from her words we get an entirely different picture of the conflict showcased through this marriage metaphor. Mandolfo thus presents a feminist challenge to biblical hegemony and patriarchy and reconstrues biblical authority to contribute to the theological concerns of a postcolonial world.

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 22, 2007

Reviews

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a powerful and dangerous book. The author believes that God abuses his metaphorical wife, Israel, in prophetic literature. She argues that the first two chapters of the Book of Lamentations (one of the most powerful texts I've ever read) fight back against prophetic literature by unveiling God's immoral deeds. This book shows both the power and limitations of post-modern Biblical criticism. While I fundamentally disagree with the book's claims, I learned a huge amount about my own faith by understanding why I disagree with the author.