|
Introduction to Lamentations
Keith Sharp
Title
The word "Lamentations" means "mourning aloud, wailing, expressing sorrow." The title well describes the
book.
Author
It is not certain who wrote Lamentations. Consistent tradition assigns the
book to Jeremiah. This harmonizes with the internal evidence. The author was
an eye witness of the destruction of Jerusalem
(2:11; 4:17). Compare Jeremiah 38:6 with Lamentations 3:53-55.
Setting
The book was written in Jerusalem
after its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. (1:3-4).
Theme
The theme of Lamentations is mourning over Jerusalem’s de-struction
(1:12).
Form
The book consists of five poems, four of which are acrostic, that is,
each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in alphabetical
sequence. This was a favorite form of Hebrew poetry, adopted to help the
memory (Halley’s Bible Handbook).
The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. In chapters 1,2,
and 4, each verse begins with a new Hebrew letter in alphabetical order, and
in chapter 3 every third verse does. (To see the Hebrew letters and their
names, look at Psalm 119, which is alphabetic. Each 8 verse section begins
with a Hebrew letter in alphabetical order through all 22 letters, making 176
verses. The translators have put the Hebrew letter and its name at the
be-ginning of each section.)
Outline
I. Zion
Desolate - chapter 1
II. God’s Anger Destroyed Jerusalem’s Beauty - chapter 2
III. Jeremiah’s Grief - chapter 3
IV. Horror of the Siege - chapter 4
V. Remember, O Lord! - chapter 5
_______________
~ ~ ~
|