Abstract

O'KENNEDY, D.F.. Lamentations 3:42: Forgiveness or non-forgiveness?. Acta theol. [online]. 2014, vol.34, n.2, pp.94-108. ISSN 2309-9089.  https://doi.org/10.4314/ACTAT.V34I2.6.

This article investigates the short prayer of Lamentations 3:42, the only text in the prayer literature that uses the particle -” (no) together with the term --• (forgive). The exegetical study focuses on the literal, historical and theological dimensions of the short prayer. The questions posed by this article is: Does this text portray God's unwillingness to forgive? Does Lamentations 3 only speak about punishment and judgement or do we find references to divine forgiveness? Lamentations 3 speaks about punishment, but not rejection or unwillingness to forgive. The worshipper in verse 42 confronts God with his real self: He is supposed to forgive. In the rest of chapter 3 we find reminders of God's forgiving heart: mercy and compassion (vv. 22, 32); faithfulness (v. 23); kindness (vv. 25, 26, 27); salvation (v. 26); and steadfast love (v. 32).

Keywords : Lamentations 3:42; Forgiveness; Punishment.

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