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Penitential prayers become well attested in Judaism after the exile, but their exact relation to psalms of communal lament has been uncertain. Now Richard J. Bautch identifies which elements of these prayers reflect literary conventions characteristic of communal laments and how these conventions are modified in the prayers. Based on a careful review of prayers from Third Isaiah and the Writings, Bautch concludes that confession of sin dominates these expressions of penitence. In addition, by analyzing elements constitutive of this shared form, Bautch is able to state the literary relationship between the psalms of communal lament and the post-exilic prayers of penitence in a detailed and convincing manner.

Richard J. Bautch is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas.