Biblical Hebrew Poetry

Call For Papers: Biblical Hebrew Poetry will be hosting four sessions: The FIRST session will be “Woman Zion’s (Round)-Table.” This interactive session will invite participants to consider the fruitful interface of different methodological approaches for considering the imagery of Zion as female personification in biblical literature. Invited panelists will draw on their own area of expertise to inform conversation among themselves and to foster active discussion amongst participants. The aims of this session are to consider the figure of woman Zion from multiple disciplinary perspectives and to consider the impact of methodological decisions on scholarly outcomes as well as to foster and further discussion of the Zion figure in biblical scholarship. This will be a joint session with the Metaphor and Book of Isaiah program units. The SECOND session will be “The Poetry of Lamentations.” The book of Lamentations remains a vital proving ground for the consideration both of Hebrew poetic style and of Israel’s religious understanding of the exile. This session welcomes papers that further advance our understanding of this moving work. The THIRD session will be “The Poetry of Joy.” The great tragedies of biblical Israel’s historical experience and universal challenges of the human experience combined to produce the compelling laments that appear so frequently in the Psalter and, in related forms, in other parts of the Hebrew Bible. Less often considered, however, is the Bible’s poetry of joy (simchah). Even in the face of life’s challenges, the singers of ancient Israel found occasion to celebrate, to revel in divine blessing, and to give poetic form to the expression of joy. This session welcomes papers that consider this fascinating area of research. The FOURTH session will be a general open session: We invite general papers regarding any aspect of Biblical Hebrew Poetry.

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