Rachel’s voice from Ramah, weeping

Rachel’s voice from Ramah, weeping. Rosalind Brown* (1953- ).  This hymn was written in March 1996, following the news of the massacre at Dunblane, Scotland, when sixteen children and their teacher were killed. It begins with a reference to Jeremiah 31: 15: ‘a  voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children ...’, in which Rachel, the beloved wife of Jacob, weeps for her descendants, her ‘children’, who, as a result of historical events, are no more. It is quoted in Matthew 2: 18: ‘Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.’ Matthew was searching for a response to the dreadful slaughter of the innocents in...