ABSTRACT
This research demonstrates how Jeremiah assumed the primary speaking role in Lamentations’ history of consequences, minimizing the role of the female speaker, Daughter Zion. After a survey of reception methodology, the essay contrasts the prominence of Daughter Zion within the Hebrew Lamentations with the absence of her voice in later receptions, beginning with the Septuagint translation of Lamentations. Then, the implications of Jeremiah’s prominence in place of Daughter Zion’s are considered for both Judaism and Christianity. Overall, interpreters’ placement of Jeremiah in the forefront of Lamentations superimposes an orthodox perspective on the causal connection between sin and suffering and erases the emotionally potent protest of Daughter Zion.
