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REL 310

Poetic and Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament
Week 9 Class Notes

Lamentations

Authorship : Lamentations is traditionally ascribed to Jeremiah, although he is not named as author in the text.

The setting of the Book is the time immediately after the Fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 567 BC.

The Biblical text tells us that the prophet Jeremiah did experience the siege and Fall of Jerusalem, and did survive the Babylonian conquest. The Bible does not say what happened to Jeremiah after the Babylonians left Judah, but there is a tradition that he acompanied, or was forced to accompany, the remnant of Jews who fled to Egypt after the murder of the governor Gedaliah, and that he was killed in Egypt when he denounced the Egyptian gods and goddesses.

The structure of the Book : Lamentations consists of five poems, one per chapter.

  1. Chapter 1 is an acrostic, using each of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order. Hence there are 22 verses, one for each letter. Each verse has three lines, hence there are 66 lines in the whole poem.
    The author described Jerusalem as a bereaved widow weeping for her dead family. The description of conditions is paralelled by the descriptions in 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Jeremiah of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians
  2. Chapter 2 has a similar scrostic structure of 22 verses, each with three lines, for a total of 66 lines.
    In this poem the author draws the conclusion that the sin of the nation had brought destruction upon Jerusalem
  3. Chapter 3 has 66 verses, and is an acrostic in which three lines at a time start with the same letter of the alphabet. The author holds out the hope that God will work through thee present sufferings to bring a better day for the people
  4. Chapter 4 is an acrostic with 22 verses of 2 lines each, which laments the present desolation, and says that it has been brought about by the people's sins.
  5. Chapter 5 has 22 verses, but in its present form is not an acrostic. It is a prayer for repentance and restoration

Paralells between Lamentations and Deuteronomy
In Deuteronomy, the Israelites were warned of the consequences of apostasy and sin.
Lamenataions describes the results of apostasy and sin

Deuteronomy Lamentations
28:65 And among those nations you shall find no rest. 1:3 She dwells among the nations but she has found no rest.
28:44 He shall be the head, you shall be the tail 1:5a Her adversaries have become the head
28:32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people. 1:5c Her little ones have gone away as captives before the adversary.
28:25 You shall flee seven way before them 1:6c They have fled without strength before the pursuer.
28:41 You shall have sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for they shall go into captivity 1:18c My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity
28:37 You shall become a horror, a proverb, a taunt among all the people where the Lord will drive you. 2:15 All who pass along the way clap their hands in derision at you
28:53-57 Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body 2:20 Should women eat their offspring?
28:50 Shall have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young 2:21 On the ground in the streets lie young and old
28:56-57 The refined and delicate women among you ... she shall eat them secretly for lack of anything else 4:10 The hands of compassionate women boiled their own children
28:30 You shall build a house, but you shall not live in it. 5:2b Our houses were given to aliens
28:65 And among those nations you shall find no rest 5:5 There is no rest for us.
28:24 The rain of your land powder and dust 5:10 The burning heat of famine
28:30 You shall become engaged to a woman, but another man shall lie with her 5:11 Women of Zion ravished.
28:50 A grim-faced nation, who shall have no respect for the old 5:12 Elders were not respected
28:26 And your carcasses shall be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away. 5:18 Foxes prowl in Zion

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Copyright © 2007 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved

Dr. Rollinson

Department of Religion
ENMU
Portales, NM 88130

Last Updated: September 24, 2007

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