The Fall of Jerusalem: Cultural Trauma as a Process

Abstract

Cultural trauma theory provides a framework for studying the socio-cultural process which takes place between an event and its (socially accepted) representation. This article will apply the process-oriented approach of cultural trauma theory to studying biblical narratives of the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, focusing in particular on the destruction and pillage of the temple. The comparison of the various accounts of the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, and of their different versions transmitted in Hebrew and in Greek, reveals that the memory of this event was by no means unified and developed over a longer period of time. Discussing passages from 2 Kgs 24–25 and their parallels in the book of Jeremiah, this article will argue that the devastation of the temple of Jerusalem, which is often regarded as a major traumatizing event in the history of ancient Judah, became remembered as such only as the result of a longer process.

Keywords

• hebrew bible
• trauma theory
• temple destruction
• 587 bce
• temple vessels
• 2 kings 25
• jeremiah 39
• jeremiah 52