The book of Lamentations evokes sympathy for the survivors of Babylonia's destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. However, most of the Judeans who survived and remained in Judah during the Neo-Babylonian period were peasants living in the rural areas. The Book of Lamentations and the Social World of Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Era explores the experience of Judean peasants and reconstructs their stories.

Using a form of social-historical criticism this book provides a counter-reading of Lamentations that elucidates the impact and aftermath of siege warfare on Judah's peasants. The rhetoric of Lamentations, ancient Near Eastern writings and archaeological evidence are considered, along with analogous social models from other agrarian societies. Together these shed light on the changing social dynamics, religious customs, and political and economic structures of rural and urban Judah in the sixth century BCE. The Book of Lamentations and the Social World of Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Era brings to life voices long silent, and suggests that Judah's resilient peasant communities played a significant role in the survival of peasant and city-dweller alike, once Jerusalem had been destroyed.

Cover: Jeremiah lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem, oil on panel, Rembrandt, 1630.