In this volume Robin Parry not only builds on traditional scholarship to interpret the book of Lamentations within its ancient context but also ventures further, exploring how the book can function as Christian Scripture. Parry provides the first systematic attempt to read Lamentations in light of the cross and resurrection -- as Israel's Holy Saturday literature, filled with the cries of those caught between the death of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians and its rebirth.

While Lamentations has been sadly neglected by a culture averse to grief and tragedy, this anguished poetry of pain -- especially when read through the lens of Christ's agony and death -- has much to teach us about life, God, and the right response to human suffering.