Schrei laut zum Herrn! (Klgl 2,18)

The present thesis considers Lamentations to be a meaningful sequence of poems. The arrangement of its texts is tied to a theological program developed throughout the book. Is it conceivable that Gods punishment goes too far? Is it possible that God fails to live up to his own standard of justice and fairness? In order to address these questions, the individual poems espouse differing points of view and contribute to a riveting theological discussion. Thus, Lamentations represents yet another case, where the exegesis of individual texts must not ignore the broader context of the neighboring texts within the same biblical book.