SOH Church is receiving strong early response to the newest season of The Dig In Podcast, highlighted by a compelling episode released this week: "Children and Lamentations: The Forgotten Voices." What sets this episode apart is its grounding in newly published scholarly research that sheds fresh light on the role of children in the Book of Lamentations.
The episode draws significantly on the recent academic study by biblical scholar Dr. Timothy Yap, Children of the night: The portrayal of children in the book of Lamentations (2024). In his article, Yap argues that children in Lamentations are not merely background victims of Jerusalem's fall but constitute a narrative and theological center of gravity. Through close literary analysis of key Hebrew terms, attention to narrative patterning, and engagement with trauma studies, Yap demonstrates that children:
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embody the book's emotional and theological climax,
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function as witnesses to the catastrophe of 587 BCE,
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serve as barometers of covenant blessing and judgment, and
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offer a lens through which the community's trauma is most acutely expressed and remembered.
Yap's study further contends that the book uses the suffering of children not to sensationalize tragedy but to humanize it, intentionally spotlighting "the smallest and most vulnerable" as the ones who reveal the true cost of societal sin, national collapse, and divine abandonment. His work contributes to emerging scholarship that reads Lamentations through the eyes of the powerless, challenging long-held assumptions that privilege adult or royal perspectives.
Pastor Johnny Ova, host of The Dig In Podcast, incorporates these insights to open up the text for listeners with both scholarly depth and pastoral clarity. The episode brings Yap's findings into accessible conversation, helping audiences consider how the cries of children in Lamentations reshape our understanding of lament, justice, and the character of God.
The episode is now streaming on major platforms:
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/UiK2ZnqQCHY
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/children-and-lamentations-the-forgotten-voices/id1173741212?i=1000737005636
Early listeners have praised the episode for its emotional honesty, fresh perspective, and the way it integrates rigorous scholarship with the lived realities of faith. Many have expressed that this approach helped them hear Lamentations "for the first time."
Pastor Ova shared:
"Timothy Yap's work opened a window for me. When you center the children in Lamentations, the entire book changes. The devastation becomes personal, the theology becomes embodied, and the cry for God's mercy becomes far more urgent."
This newest season of The Dig In Podcast continues SOH Church's commitment to accessible, thoughtful, and theologically rich biblical teaching. Future episodes will unpack overlooked themes, difficult passages, and fresh insights drawn from both scholarship and pastoral experience.
Media Contact:
SOH Church
Email: info@soh.church
Website: https://www.soh.church
