466 Harkins Biblical Interpretation 24 (2016) 466-491 © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi 10.1163/15685152-02445p03 Biblical Interpretation 24 (2016) 466-491 ISSN 0927-2569 (print version) ISSN 1568-5152 (online version) BI 4-5 brill.com/bi The Pro-Social Role of Grief in Ezra’s Penitential Prayer Angela Kim Harkins Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, USA angela.harkins@bc.edu Abstract This study uses a model of human experience that considers the embodied brain, reli- gion, and social context in an integrated system of bio-cultural approaches. The study of grief and its strategic arousal in ritual contexts can highlight fundamental differences between modern and ancient religious understandings of the self, ultimately helping us to become more aware of our own scholarly biases and anachronisms. Such methods complement traditional historical-critical methods and shed light on how Ezra’s peni- tential prayer could have functioned in a Second Temple context. This study examines the similarities between the ritual performance of actions and discursive traditions that are said to have been performed by Ezra (Ezra 9–10) and discusses their resemblance to two passages that preserve foundational events of remaking the covenant (Exodus 32–34; Deuteronomy 9) and dedicating the first Temple (1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 6–7). The reenactment of scripted grief is identified as a strategy for bridging the breach between foundational events and the authors and readers in the Second Temple period. Keywords penitential prayer – grief – emotion – Ezra – Moses – Solomon Inquiry into what modern scholars call emotions and how they function with- in ritual reenactments can serve as a useful point of entry into a new integra- tive scholarly conversation taking place among the humanities, social sciences, A Journal of Contemporary Approaches Emotions in Ancient Jewish Literature: Definitions and Approaches * The author wishes to acknowledge with gratitude that this research was funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme under the grant agreement number 627536 RelExDSS FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IIF./