Reference: Lamentations, Book of
Easton
called in the Hebrew canon 'Ekhah, meaning "How," being the formula for the commencement of a song of wailing. It is the first word of the book (see 2Sa 1:19-27). The LXX. adopted the name rendered "Lamentations" (Gr. threnoi = Heb qinoth) now in common use, to denote the character of the book, in which the prophet mourns over the desolations brought on the city and the holy land by Chaldeans. In the Hebrew Bible it is placed among the Khethubim. (See Bible.)
As to its authorship, there is no room for hesitancy in following the LXX. and the Targum in ascribing it to Jeremiah. The spirit, tone, language, and subject-matter are in accord with the testimony of tradition in assigning it to him. According to tradition, he retired after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar to a cavern outside the Damascus gate, where he wrote this book. That cavern is still pointed out. "In the face of a rocky hill, on the western side of the city, the local belief has placed 'the grotto of Jeremiah.' There, in that fixed attitude of grief which Michael Angelo has immortalized, the prophet may well be supposed to have mourned the fall of his country" (Stanley, Jewish Church).
The book consists of five separate poems. In chapter 1 the prophet dwells on the manifold miseries oppressed by which the city sits as a solitary widow weeping sorely. In chapter 2 these miseries are described in connection with the national sins that had caused them. Chapter 3 speaks of hope for the people of God. The chastisement would only be for their good; a better day would dawn for them. Chapter 4 laments the ruin and desolation that had come upon the city and temple, but traces it only to the people's sins. Chapter 5 is a prayer that Zion's reproach may be taken away in the repentance and recovery of the people.
The first four poems (chapters) are acrostics, like some of the Psalms (25, 34, 37, 119), i.e., each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet taken in order. The first, second, and fourth have each twenty-two verses, the number of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The third has sixty-six verses, in which each three successive verses begin with the same letter. The fifth is not acrostic.
Speaking of the "Wailing-place (q.v.) of the Jews" at Jerusalem, a portion of the old wall of the temple of Solomon, Schaff says: "There the Jews assemble every Friday afternoon to bewail the downfall of the holy city, kissing the stone wall and watering it with their tears. They repeat from their well-worn Hebrew Bibles and prayer-books the Lamentations of Jeremiah and suitable Psalms."
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"The glory of Israel [is] on your high places; how [the] mighty have fallen! Do not tell it in Gath; do not proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of [the] Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. read more. O mountains of Gilboa, [let there be] no dew or rain upon you or on the fields of [grain for] offerings, for there the small shield of [the] mighty [was] defiled, the small shield of Saul [was] not anointed with oil. From the blood of [the] slain, from the fat of [the] mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, and the sword of Saul did not return {without effect}. Saul and Jonathan [were] beloved and pleasant in their lives and [were] not separated in their death. They [were] swifter than eagles, stronger than lions. O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, the one who clothed you with crimson, the one who {adorned your clothing with golden ornaments}. How [the] mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle; Jonathan [lies] slain on your high places. {I am distressed} over you, my brother Jonathan. you [were] very dear to me; your love [was] more wonderful to me than the love of women. How [the] mighty have fallen and the weapons of warfare perished."
Hastings
LAMENTATIONS, BOOK OF
1. Occasion.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Jeremiah uttered a lament for Josiah, and all the male and female singers have spoken in their laments about Josiah to this day. And they made them a requirement in Israel, and behold, they are written in the laments.
How desolate the city sits [that] was full of people! She has become like a widow, [once] great among the nations! Like a woman of nobility in the provinces, she has become a forced laborer.
How desolate the city sits [that] was full of people! She has become like a widow, [once] great among the nations! Like a woman of nobility in the provinces, she has become a forced laborer. She weeps bitterly in the night, her tears [are] on her cheeks; she has no comforter among all her lovers. All her friends have been unfaithful to her; they have become her enemies. read more. Judah has gone into exile with misery and under hard servitude; she lives among the nations, she has not found a resting place; all her pursuers have overtaken her amidst [her] distress. The roads of Zion [are] mourning because no one comes to the festival. All her gates [are] desolate, her priests groan; her young women [are] worried, and she herself suffers bitterly. Her foes have become [her] {master}, her enemies are at ease; Yahweh has made her suffer because of the greatness of her transgressions. Her children have gone away, captive before the foe. All her majesty has gone away from the daughter of Zion; her princes have become like young stags that have not found pasture; they have gone away without strength, before the pursuer. Jerusalem remembers the days of her misery and wanderings, all her treasures that were from the days of long ago. When her people fell into [the] hand of the enemy, there was no one helping her; the enemies saw her, they mocked at her destruction. Jerusalem sinned grievously, thus she became an objection of derision; all those who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness. She herself groans and turns away. Her uncleanness [was] in her skirts; she did not remember her future, she has descended beyond understanding, there is no comforter for her. See, O Yahweh, my persecution! [My] enemy has been made great! The enemy has stretched out his hand over all her treasures; for she has seen the nations, they entered her sanctuary, those whom you commanded not to enter in your assembly. All her people groan, they are searching for bread. They give their treasures for food, to bring back life. See, O Yahweh, and look, [how] I am despised. Is it nothing to you, {all who pass by}? Look and see if there is sorrow like my sorrow, which was dealt to me, which Yahweh inflicted on the {day of his wrath}. From heaven he sent fire, into my bones he let it descend. He spread out a net for my feet; he turned me back, he gave me devastation, fainting all day. My rebellion was bound [as] a yoke, with his hand it was fastened together; it was put on my neck [and] caused my strength to fail. The Lord gave me into the hands [of those whom] I cannot withstand. The Lord has rejected all my mighty ones in my midst. He called an assembly against me, to crush my young men; [like in] a wine press, the Lord has trodden [on] the virgin daughter of Judah. For these [things], I am weeping, {my eyes flow with tears}; because a comforter is far from me, one to restore my life. My sons are desolate because [the] enemy has prevailed. Zion stretches out her hands; there is no one to comfort her. Yahweh has commanded against Jacob, [that] those surrounding him [should be] his enemies; Jerusalem has become a defilement among them. Yahweh is righteous; I have rebelled [against] {his word}. Please hear, all [the] nations, And see my pain; My young women and young men went into captivity. I have called to my lovers, they themselves deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city when they sought food for themselves to revive their life. See, O Yahweh, that {I am in distress}; {my stomach} is in torment, my heart has turned inside me because I have certainly rebelled. From outside a sword brings bereavement, inside the house [it is] like death. They hear that I was groaning; [there is] no comforter for me. All my enemies have heard my misery, they are pleased that you have done it. Bring [that] day that you have proclaimed, And let them be like me. Let all their evil come before you; and deal with them just as you have dealt with me because of all my crimes; for my groaning is much and my heart [is] faint.
I am a man who has seen misery, under the rod of his wrath. He has driven me along, he brought darkness and not light. read more. Surely he has turned his hand against me, all day long. He has worn out my flesh and skin, he has broken my bones. {He has besieged} and engulfed me with bitterness and hardship. In darkness he has let me dwell like [the] dead of long ago. He has built a wall around me, I cannot go out; he has made my bronze fetters heavy. Though I cry out for help, he shuts out my prayers. He has blocked my ways with dressed stones; he has made my paths crooked. To me he [is] like a bear lying in wait, a lion in hiding. He has forsaken my way and torn me to pieces; he has caused me desolation. He has bent his bow and set me as the target for the arrow. He shot {the arrows of his quiver} into my kidneys. I have become a laughingstock for all the people, their mocking song all day long. He has filled me with bitterness, he has drenched me [with] wormwood. He has broken my teeth on grit, he has trampled me down in ash. My life has been removed from peace, I have forgotten goodness. And I have said, "My glory is ruined, my expectation from Yahweh." Remember my misery and bitterness, the wormwood and venom! Surely my soul remembers and bows down within me. This {I have reminded myself}, therefore I will hope. The loyal love of Yahweh does not cease; his compassions do not come to an end. [They] are new in the morning, great is your faithfulness. "Yahweh is my portion," says my soul, "Thus I will hope on him." Yahweh is good to those who wait on him, to the person that seeks him. [It is] good to wait in silence for the salvation of Yahweh. [It is] good for a man who carries the yoke of his childhood. Let him sit alone and be silent when he has laid it on him. Let {him put} his mouth in the dust; perhaps there is hope. Let him give a cheek to his smiter, let him be filled with disgrace. For the Lord will not reject forever. For even though he causes grief he has compassion according to the greatness of his royal love. He does not {afflict willingly}, or grieve {anyone}. To crush under his feet all [the] prisoners of [the] earth; {to deprive one of justice} before the face of the Most High; to subvert a person in a legal dispute --the Lord has not found delight [in these things]. {Who can speak} and it will happen [if] the Lord has not commanded [it]? [Is] it not from the mouth of the Most High [that] disaster and good will come? Why should any living person complain about his sin? Let us test and examine our ways; let us return to Yahweh.
Let us test and examine our ways; let us return to Yahweh. Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens. read more. We ourselves have transgressed and rebelled, you have not forgiven. You have covered [yourself] {in anger} and pursued us, you have slain and not shown mercy. You have covered yourself in a cloud {so that prayer cannot pass through}. You have made us scum and refuse in the midst of the nations. All our enemies have opened their mouth against us. Fear and a pit have come upon us, desolation and destruction. Channels of water run down my eyes because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. My eyes have poured down unceasingly without respite, until Yahweh looks down and sees from heaven. My eyes inflict my soul because of all the daughters of my city. My enemies hunt me without cause, like a bird. {They have silenced me in a pit}, they have thrown a stone at me. Water has flown over my head, I said, "I am cut off." I have called your name, O Yahweh, from the depths of the pit. You have heard my cry, "Do not shut your ear to my cry for help, for my relief!" You came near on a day [when] I called you, you said, "Do not fear!" O Lord, you have pleaded for {my cause}, you have redeemed my life. You have seen my injustice, O Yahweh; judge my case. You have seen all their vengeance, all there plans against me. You have heard their disgrace, O Yahweh, all their plans against me. The lips and meditation of my assailants [are] against me all day long. Look at their sitting and their standing, I [am] their mocking song. Return to them what is deserved, O Yahweh, according to the work of their hands. Give them a stubborn heart; curse them! Pursue them {in anger} and destroy them from under the heavens of Yahweh.
Even the jackal bears the beast and nurses their cubs; [but] the daughter of my people has become ruthless, like ostriches in the wilderness.
Still our eyes failed, [looking for] our help in vain; in our watchtower, we kept watch for a nation that could not save.
Why have you forgotten us forever? Why have you forsaken us {for so long}?