a quick look
Author:
Probably Jeremiah
Audience:
Jews in Babylonian exile who are lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem
Date:
Shortly after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC
Theme:
The prophet and his fellow Jews lament the devastation of their beloved city at the hands of the Babylonians.
Title
The Hebrew title of the book is ‘ekah
(“How …!”), the first word not only in
1:1
but also in
2:1
;
4:1
. Because of its subject matter, the book is also referred to in Jewish tradition as qinot
, “Lamentations,” a title taken over by the Septuagint (the pre-Christian Greek translation of the OT) and by the fourth-century Latin Vulgate, as well as by English versions.
Author and Date
Lamentations is anonymous, although ancient Jewish and early Christian traditions ascribe it to Jeremiah. These traditions are based in part on
2Ch 35:25
(though the “laments” referred to there are not to be identified with the OT book of Lamentations); in part on such texts as
Jer 7:29
;
8:21
;
9:1
,
10
,
20
; and in part on the similarity of vocabulary and style between Lamentations and the prophecies of Jeremiah. Moreover, such an ascription gains a measure of plausibility from the fact that Jeremiah was an eyewitness to the divine judgment on Jerusalem in 586
BC,
which is so vividly portrayed here. Nevertheless, we cannot be certain who authored these carefully crafted poems or who is responsible for putting them together into a single scroll. Lamentations poignantly expresses the people’s overwhelming sense of loss that accompanied the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, as well as the exile of Judah’s inhabitants from the land Yahweh had covenanted to give Israel as a perpetual national homeland.
The earliest possible date for the book is 586
BC,
and the latest is 516 (when the rebuilt Jerusalem temple was dedicated). The graphic immediacy of Lamentations argues for an earlier date, probably before 575.
Jews still pray and weep over their holy city at the “Wailing Wall” in Jerusalem. The “Wailing Wall,” or Western Wall, is a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the Jewish temple’s courtyard, dating back to the Second Temple period.
Left: © Elisei Shafer/
www.BigStockPhoto.com
Right: © Kobby Dagan/
www.BigStockPhoto.com
Literary Features
The entire book is poetic. The first, second, fourth and fifth laments all contain 22 verses, reflecting the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. In the first and second laments each verse contains three poetic lines; in the fourth each verse contains two lines; and in the fifth each verse contains only one line. The first four laments are alphabetic acrostics (see NIV text notes on
1:1
;
2:1
;
3:1
;
4:1
). In the first, second and fourth, each numbered verse begins with the letter of the Hebrew alphabet dictated by the traditional order of that alphabet. The third (middle) lament is distinctive in that while it too is made up of 22 three-line units (like laments
1
and
2
), in it the three lines of each unit all begin with the sequenced order of the letters of the alphabet (thus three aleph
lines followed by three beth
lines, etc.)—after the manner of
Ps 119
(see
diagram
). The fifth lament continues to reflect the alphabetic pattern in its 22-line structure, but the initial letters of these lines do not follow the alphabetic sequence (see note on
5:1–22
). Use of the alphabet as a formal structuring element indicates that, however passionate these laments, they were composed with studied care.
Stele with funeral dance, from the tomb of Pharaoh Horemheb (c. 1319–1291 BC) in Saqqara, Egypt. The Jews similarly lamented over the impending destruction of Jerusalem.
Scala/Art Resource, NY
Themes and Theology
Lamentations is not the only OT book that contains individual or community laments. (A large number of the psalms are lament poems, and every prophetic book except Haggai includes one or more examples of the lament genre.) Lamentations is the only book, however, that consists solely of laments.
As a series of laments over the destruction of Jerusalem (the royal city of the Lord’s kingdom) in 586
BC,
the book stands in a tradition with such ancient non-Biblical writings as the Sumerian “Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur,” “Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur,” and “Lamentation over the Destruction of Nippur.” Orthodox Jews customarily read it aloud in its entirety on the ninth day of Av, the traditional date of the destruction of Solomon’s temple in 586, as well as the date of the destruction of Herod’s temple in
AD
70. Many also read it each week at the Western Wall (the “Wailing Wall”) in the Old City of Jerusalem. In addition, the book is important in traditional Roman Catholic liturgy, where it is customarily read during the last three days of Holy Week.
This Christian practice reminds us that the book of Lamentations not only bemoans Jerusalem’s destruction but also contains profound theological insights. The horrors accompanying the Babylonian destruction of Judah are recited in some detail:
(1) Wholesale devastation and slaughter engulfed kings (
2:6
,
9
;
4:20
), princes (
1:6
;
2:2
,
9
;
4:7–8
;
5:12
), elders (
1:19
;
2:10
;
4:16
;
5:12
), priests (
1:4
,
19
;
2:6
,
20
;
4:16
), prophets (
2:9
,
20
) and commoners (
2:10–12
;
3:48
;
4:6
) alike.
(2) Starving mothers were reduced to cannibalism (
2:20
;
4:10
).
(3) The flower of Judah’s inhabitants was dragged off into humiliating exile (
1:3
,
18
).
(4) An elaborate system of ceremony and worship came to an end (
1:4
,
10
).
The author of these laments understands clearly that the Babylonians were merely the human agents of divine judgment
.
But this recital is integrally woven into the fabric of a poetic wrestling with the ways of God, who as the Lord of history was dealing with his wayward people.
The author of these laments understands clearly that the Babylonians were merely the human agents of divine judgment. It was God himself who had destroyed the city and temple (
1:12–15
;
2:1–8
,
17
,
22
;
4:11
). This was not a merely arbitrary act on the Lord’s part; blatant, God-defying sin and covenant-breaking rebellion were at the root of his people’s woes (
1:5
,
8–9
;
4:13
;
5:7
,
16
). Although weeping (
1:16
;
2:11
,
18
;
3:48–51
) is to be expected and cries for redress against the enemy (
1:22
;
3:59–66
) are understandable (see note on
Ps 5:10
), the proper response to judgment is acknowledgment of sin (
1:5
,
8
,
14
,
22
;
2:14
;
3:39
;
4:13
;
5:7
,
16
) and heartfelt contrition (
3:40–42
). Trust in God’s mercies and faithfulness must not falter. The book that begins with lament (
1:1–2
) rightly ends with an appeal to the Lord for restoration (
5:21–22
).
In the middle of the book, the theology of Lamentations reaches its apex as it focuses on the goodness of God. He is the Lord of hope (
3:21
,
24–25
), of love (
3:22
), of faithfulness (
3:23
), of salvation and restoration (
3:26
). In spite of all evidence to the contrary, “his compassions never fail. / They are new every morning; / great is your faithfulness” (
3:22–23
).
Near the end of the book, faith rises from Jerusalem’s lamentable condition to acknowledge Yahweh’s eternal reign: “You,
LORD,
reign forever; / your throne endures from generation to generation” (
5:19
; see introductions to
Ps 47
;
93
; see also note on
Ps 102:12
).
Outline
I. Jerusalem’s Misery and Desolation (ch.
1
)
II. The Lord’s Anger against His People (ch.
2
)
III. Judah’s Complaint—and Basis for Consolation (ch.
3
)
IV. The Contrast between Zion’s Past and Present (ch.
4
)
V. Judah’s Appeal to the Lord for Forgiveness and Restoration (ch.
5
)
[BACK TO 48:1]
Concerning Moab.
See
Isa 15–16
;
Eze 25:8–11
;
Am 2:1–3
;
Zep 2:8–11
. Josephus (Antiquities
, 10.9.7) implies that Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the future destruction of Moab was fulfilled in the “twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign” (582
BC
). Nebo.
See v.
22
; a town originally allotted to the tribe of Reuben (see
Nu 32:3
,
37–38
; see also
Isa 15:2
and note). Kiriathaim.
See v.
23
. An ancient town (see
Ge 14:5
), it too was allotted to Reuben (see
Jos 13:19
and note). Nebo, Kiriathaim and several other towns referred to in this chapter are mentioned also in an important Moabite inscription written by Mesha, king of Moab (see
2Ki 3:4
), and discovered in 1868 (see
chart
).
[BACK TO 48:44]
Whoever flees … will fall … whoever climbs … will be caught.
Divine judgment, once determined, is unavoidable (see
Am 5:19
).
[BACK TO 49:8]
Turn and flee.
See v.
24
;
46:21
. Dedan.
See
25:23
; see also notes on
Isa 21:13
;
Eze 25:13
. Esau.
The patriarch Jacob’s brother, and another name for Edom (see
Ge 25:29–30
;
36:1
), just as Israel was another name for Jacob (see
Ge 32:28
). The fact that Esau was Jacob’s brother made Edom’s enmity toward Israel all the more reprehensible (see
Am 1:11
;
Ob 10
and notes).
