How to Search for Prayers of Lament

[Lorinda H. M. Hoover]

Today I was wanting to track down some prayers of Lament in Scripture.  My typical approach to looking for passages that fall into a category like lament, where there isn't an easy word to search for, is to use Google to make a search.   (i.e. "Psalms of Lament" or "Laments in the Bible").  As I was starting to do so, I realized there might be a way to do so in Accordance.  I tried setting my research to "All Tools" and searched for Lament.  This pulled up a lot of hits, but outside of a couple items in my collection of "Passage Finder" Tools (Topical Textbook, Parables & Miracles, Classic Passages etc.), I didn't have a lot of success.  Not terribly surpising, but I'm wondering if there is a way to search for these kinds of passages that I missed.

[Rev. Dr. Timothy M. Hall]

A topic search might work. There is no topic of "lament" but there is for sorrow...

[justinjevans]

If it helps, here is a handout I made for my students a few years ago on lament psalms. 

Psalms of Lament.pdf

[Lorinda H. M. Hoover]

@justinjevans Thanks.  I had already found pieces that helped me, but I will file this away for later use.  In this case, I was also interested in laments found elsewhere.  It is relatively easy to google for "Psalms of Lament" and find examples.  But not so much for laments elsewhere in Scripture.

 

While I was looking for Scriptures for a particular (now completed) project, I also posted this as a though experiment:  What are good ways to look for this kind of thing generally?  There may not be great things, but often the minds here come up with approaches I hadn't thought of yet, thus my question. 

[mbcvida]

Andersen Forbes database has a tag for 

  (PREDICATOR HumanToDivinity LamentationHDivine) —  you limit the results to Psa and then do a table by chapters and it will  show the chapters with the greatest numbers of hit The usefulness of the AF database is greatly limited since there are no tutorials that are available in Accordance. Years ago Roy Brown offered an introduction to it; but it did not really show how to use it. I have asked a number of times over the past few years, but it seems like no one is actually using it. So I am not certain if this will help you at all.  You can also do a headings search and find passages relating to lament

 

[Lorinda H. M. Hoover]

54 minutes ago, mbcvida said:

Andersen Forbes database has a tag for 

  (PREDICATOR HumanToDivinity LamentationHDivine) —  you limit the results to Psa and then do a table by chapters and it will  show the chapters with the greatest numbers of hit The usefulness of the AF database is greatly limited since there are no tutorials that are available in Accordance. Years ago Roy Brown offered an introduction to it; but it did not really show how to use it. I have asked a number of times over the past few years, but it seems like no one is actually using it. So I am not certain if this will help you at all.  You can also do a headings search and find passages relating to lament

 

Interesting. I don’t have the AF database. I wish it had come out when I was in seminary (30 ish years ago) so i could have learned how to use/understand the diagramming, terms etc.

 

i hadn’t thought about headings searches. That’s very helpful, thanks!  

[Michel Gilbert]

I would look up “lament” in a Bible dictionary, say Anchor, or several dictionaries, including theological ones. Then I would look it up in lexicons. I would note parallel words and concepts. Then I would search OT and NT introductions. I don’t have any in Accordance, but I looked up lament in Collins’s OT introduction (in L) and got 106 hits, many outside the Psalms. Then I would search all the commentaries I own.

 

 

Edited May 29 by Michel Gilbert