Overview

Lamentations, Song of Songs by Wilma Ann Bailey and Christina Bucher covers the full emotional register of biblical literature: from the anguished sorrow songs of ancient Israel to the passionate, lyric poems of lovers. Wilma Bailey plumbs the interpretive depths of Lamentations, including questions about authorship, images of God, and depiction of a community's response to exile and its development of an identity in the wake of catastrophe. Christina Bucher then offers multiple perspectives on the Song of Songs and its imagery, characters, and allegorical and literal interpretations by readers and communities across the centuries. Both scholars build sturdy theological scaffolding to help lay readers, pastors, and scholars understand and apply the wisdom contained by these Hebrew writings of desire and exile, love and lament. Volume 27 in the BCBC series About Believers Church Bible Commentary Series Accessible to lay readers, useful in preaching and pastoral care, helpful for Bible study groups and Sunday school teachers, and academically sound, the Believers Church Bible Commentary Series foregrounds an Anabaptist reading of Scripture. Published for all who seek more fully to understand the original message of Scripture and its meaning for today, the series is based on the conviction that God is still speaking to all who will listen, and that the Holy Spirit makes the Word a living and authoritative guide for all who want to know and do God's will.

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You must read this very fine commentary. The authors are alert to the texture and details and layers of meaning in the poetry, as well as to the complicated reverberations of the books in later contexts. I can think of no better guides to a fruitful interpretive engagement with these two brief but unforgettable biblical books. --Tod Linafelt professor of biblical literature, Georgetown University (02/09/2015)

You must read this very fine commentary. The authors are alert to the texture and details and layers of meaning in the poetry, as well as to the complicated reverberations of the books in later contexts. I can think of no better guides to a fruitful interpretive engagement with these two brief but unforgettable biblical books. </p>--Tod Linafelt professor of biblical literature, Georgetown University (02/09/2015)

These books have been very well thought out to help the believer/minister get to the meat of the text. It is high-end scholarship brought to a level that can provide depth to the ordinary believer. -- Gordon Brown Northern Ireland

Wilma Ann Bailey and Christina Bucher have written clear, lyrical, and academically solid studies on Lamentations and the Song of Songs. Paired together, the two scholars make the texts live. They plunge readers into questions about human life in its tragic and joyous dimensions. I recommend this work for...those who love biblical literature. -- Kathleen M. O'Connor professor emerita of the Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary The pairing of Lamentations and Song of Songs might seem the ultimate scriptural odd couple, but Bucher and Bailey explicate these powerful testimonies with striking clarity. In so doing, they reveal strong, authentic biblical testimonies to the voice and experience of women and men in Scripture. -- Frank Ramirez senior pastor, Union Center Church of the Brethren These books have been very well thought out to help the believer/minister get to the meat of the text. It is high-end scholarship brought to a level that can provide depth to the ordinary believer. -- Gordon Brown Northern Ireland -You must read this very fine commentary. The authors are alert to the texture and details and layers of meaning in the poetry, as well as to the complicated reverberations of the books in later contexts. I can think of no better guides to a fruitful interpretive engagement with these two brief but unforgettable biblical books.- --Tod Linafelt-professor of biblical literature, Georgetown University- (02/09/2015) -Both erudite and earthy, this commentary is the one I'll be drawing on for future sermons and lectures. Bailey and Bucher build bridges for us between spirituality and sexuality in ways that are honest, expansive, and grounded.- --Keith Graber Miller-professor of Bible, religion, and philosophy, Goshen College- (02/09/2015) -Wilma Ann Bailey and Christina Bucher plunge readers into questions about human life in its tragic and joyous dimensions. I recommend this work for believers, for those seeking for God, and for those who love biblical literature.- --Kathleen M. O'Connor-professor emerita of the Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary- (02/09/2015) You must read this very fine commentary. The authors are alert to the texture and details and layers of meaning in the poetry, as well as to the complicated reverberations of the books in later contexts. I can think of no better guides to a fruitful interpretive engagement with these two brief but unforgettable biblical books. --Tod Linafelt professor of biblical literature, Georgetown University (02/09/2015) Both erudite and earthy, this commentary is the one I'll be drawing on for future sermons and lectures. Bailey and Bucher build bridges for us between spirituality and sexuality in ways that are honest, expansive, and grounded. --Keith Graber Miller professor of Bible, religion, and philosophy, Goshen College (02/09/2015) Wilma Ann Bailey and Christina Bucher plunge readers into questions about human life in its tragic and joyous dimensions. I recommend this work for believers, for those seeking for God, and for those who love biblical literature. --Kathleen M. O'Connor professor emerita of the Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary (02/09/2015) You must read this very fine commentary. The authors are alert to the texture and details and layers of meaning in the poetry, as well as to the complicated reverberations of the books in later contexts. I can think of no better guides to a fruitful interpretive engagement with these two brief but unforgettable biblical books. --Tod Linafelt professor of biblical literature, Georgetown University (02/09/2015) Both erudite and earthy, this commentary is the one I ll be drawing on for future sermons and lectures. Bailey and Bucher build bridges for us between spirituality and sexuality in ways that are honest, expansive, and grounded. --Keith Graber Miller professor of Bible, religion, and philosophy, Goshen College (02/09/2015) Wilma Ann Bailey and Christina Bucher plunge readers into questions about human life in its tragic and joyous dimensions. I recommend this work for believers, for those seeking for God, and for those who love biblical literature. --Kathleen M. O'Connor professor emerita of the Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary (02/09/2015)

Wilma Ann Bailey and Christina Bucher have written clear, lyrical, and academically solid studies on Lamentations and the Song of Songs. Paired together, the two scholars make the texts live. They plunge readers into questions about human life in its tragic and joyous dimensions. I recommend this work for...those who love biblical literature. -- Kathleen M. O'Connor professor emerita of the Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary The pairing of Lamentations and Song of Songs might seem the ultimate scriptural odd couple, but Bucher and Bailey explicate these powerful testimonies with striking clarity. In so doing, they reveal strong, authentic biblical testimonies to the voice and experience of women and men in Scripture. -- Frank Ramirez senior pastor, Union Center Church of the Brethren These books have been very well thought out to help the believer/minister get to the meat of the text. It is high-end scholarship brought to a level that can provide depth to the ordinary believer. -- Gordon Brown Northern Ireland -You must read this very fine commentary. The authors are alert to the texture and details and layers of meaning in the poetry, as well as to the complicated reverberations of the books in later contexts. I can think of no better guides to a fruitful interpretive engagement with these two brief but unforgettable biblical books.---Tod Linafelt-professor of biblical literature, Georgetown University- (02/09/2015) -Both erudite and earthy, this commentary is the one I'll be drawing on for future sermons and lectures. Bailey and Bucher build bridges for us between spirituality and sexuality in ways that are honest, expansive, and grounded.---Keith Graber Miller-professor of Bible, religion, and philosophy, Goshen College- (02/09/2015) -Wilma Ann Bailey and Christina Bucher plunge readers into questions about human life in its tragic and joyous dimensions. I recommend this work for believers, for those seeking for God, and for those who love biblical literature.---Kathleen M. O'Connor-professor emerita of the Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary- (02/09/2015) You must read this very fine commentary. The authors are alert to the texture and details and layers of meaning in the poetry, as well as to the complicated reverberations of the books in later contexts. I can think of no better guides to a fruitful interpretive engagement with these two brief but unforgettable biblical books. --Tod Linafelt professor of biblical literature, Georgetown University (02/09/2015) Both erudite and earthy, this commentary is the one I'll be drawing on for future sermons and lectures. Bailey and Bucher build bridges for us between spirituality and sexuality in ways that are honest, expansive, and grounded. --Keith Graber Miller professor of Bible, religion, and philosophy, Goshen College (02/09/2015) Wilma Ann Bailey and Christina Bucher plunge readers into questions about human life in its tragic and joyous dimensions. I recommend this work for believers, for those seeking for God, and for those who love biblical literature. --Kathleen M. O'Connor professor emerita of the Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary (02/09/2015) You must read this very fine commentary. The authors are alert to the texture and details and layers of meaning in the poetry, as well as to the complicated reverberations of the books in later contexts. I can think of no better guides to a fruitful interpretive engagement with these two brief but unforgettable biblical books. --Tod Linafelt professor of biblical literature, Georgetown University (02/09/2015) Both erudite and earthy, this commentary is the one I ll be drawing on for future sermons and lectures. Bailey and Bucher build bridges for us between spirituality and sexuality in ways that are honest, expansive, and grounded. --Keith Graber Miller professor of Bible, religion, and philosophy, Goshen College (02/09/2015) Wilma Ann Bailey and Christina Bucher plunge readers into questions about human life in its tragic and joyous dimensions. I recommend this work for believers, for those seeking for God, and for those who love biblical literature. --Kathleen M. O'Connor professor emerita of the Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary (02/09/2015)

Author Information

Wilma Bailey is the Minnie Vautrin Professor of Christian Witness and Professor of Hebrew and Aramaic Scripture, Emerita, at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Indiana. Bailey earned her PhD from Vanderbilt University. Her scholarly publications and popular publications have usually focused on issues of peace and justice, women, and ecology. Christina Bucher is professor of biblical studies at Elizabethtown College, where she has served as chair of the department of religious studies and as dean of the faculty. Bucher earned her PhD from Claremont Graduate University. She is the author of several books and journal articles and serves on the editorial council of the Believers Church Bible Commentary series.

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