Abstract
The order, frequency and variety of names given the personified city in Lamentations 1-2 enhances a sense of readerly empathy that the personification of the city imbues. In the first stanza of Lamentations 1, the names for the personified figure are ordered such that the most specific name appears in the description of the most personal violence. In Lamentations 2, the personified city is named with a similar frequency to the violent and angry language used to describe the deity. Combined with an increased use of endearment terms, this violence requires readers to hold together both the violence and the deep relationship between the city and her God.
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