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."
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The beauty of Israel lies slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! Don't report it in Gath, don't spread the news in the streets of Ashkelon, or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate! read more. O mountains of Gilboa, may there be no dew or rain on you, nor fields of grain offerings! For it was there that the shield of warriors was defiled; the shield of Saul lies neglected without oil. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of warriors, the bow of Jonathan was not turned away. The sword of Saul never returned empty. Saul and Jonathan were greatly loved during their lives, and not even in their deaths were they separated. They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions. O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet as well as jewelry, who put gold jewelry on your clothes. How the warriors have fallen in the midst of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your high places! I grieve over you, my brother Jonathan! You were very dear to me. Your love was more special to me than the love of women. How the warriors have fallen! The weapons of war are destroyed!
Hastings
LAMENTATIONS, BOOK OF
1. Occasion.
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Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah which all the male and female singers use to mourn Josiah to this very day. It has become customary in Israel to sing these; they are recorded in the Book of Laments.
(Alef)Alas! The city once full of people now sits all alone! The prominent lady among the nations has become a widow! The princess who once ruled the provinces has become a forced laborer!
(Alef)Alas! The city once full of people now sits all alone! The prominent lady among the nations has become a widow! The princess who once ruled the provinces has become a forced laborer! (Bet) She weeps bitterly at night; tears stream down her cheeks. She has no one to comfort her among all her lovers. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies. read more. (Gimel) Judah has departed into exile under affliction and harsh oppression. She lives among the nations; she has found no resting place. All who pursued her overtook her in narrow straits. (Dalet) The roads to Zion mourn because no one travels to the festivals. All her city gates are deserted; her priests groan. Her virgins grieve; she is in bitter anguish! (He) Her foes subjugated her; her enemies are at ease. For the Lord afflicted her because of her many acts of rebellion. Her children went away captive before the enemy. (Vav) All of Daughter Zion's splendor has departed. Her leaders became like deer; they found no pasture, so they were too exhausted to escape from the hunter. (Zayin) Jerusalem remembers, when she became a poor homeless person, all her treasures that she owned in days of old. When her people fell into an enemy's grip, none of her allies came to her rescue. Her enemies gloated over her; they sneered at her downfall. (Khet) Jerusalem committed terrible sin; therefore she became an object of scorn. All who admired her have despised her because they have seen her nakedness. She groans aloud and turns away in shame. (Tet) Her menstrual flow has soiled her clothing; she did not consider the consequences of her sin. Her demise was astonishing, and there was no one to comfort her. She cried, "Look, O Lord, on my affliction because my enemy boasts!" (Yod) An enemy grabbed all her valuables. Indeed she watched in horror as Gentiles invaded her holy temple -- those whom you had commanded: "They must not enter your assembly place." "Look, O Lord! Consider that I have become worthless!" (Lamed) Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by on the road? Look and see! Is there any pain like mine? The Lord has afflicted me, he has inflicted it on me when he burned with anger. (Mem) He sent down fire into my bones, and it overcame them. He spread out a trapper's net for my feet; he made me turn back. He has made me desolate; I am faint all day long. (Nun) My sins are bound around my neck like a yoke; they are fastened together by his hand. He has placed his yoke on my neck; he has sapped my strength. The Lord has handed me over to those whom I cannot resist. (Samek) He rounded up all my mighty ones; The Lord did this in my midst. He summoned an assembly against me to shatter my young men. The Lord has stomped like grapes the virgin daughter, Judah. (Ayin) I weep because of these things; my eyes flow with tears. For there is no one in sight who can comfort me or encourage me. My children are desolated because an enemy has prevailed. (Pe) Zion spread out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob; his neighbors have become his enemies. Jerusalem has become like filthy garbage in their midst. (Tsade) The Lord is right to judge me! Yes, I rebelled against his commands. Please listen, all you nations, and look at my suffering! My young women and men have gone into exile. (Qof) I called for my lovers, but they had deceived me. My priests and my elders perished in the city. Truly they had searched for food to keep themselves alive. (Resh) Look, O Lord! I am distressed; my stomach is in knots! My heart is pounding inside me. Yes, I was terribly rebellious! Out in the street the sword bereaves a mother of her children; Inside the house death is present. (Sin/Shin) They have heard that I groan, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have brought it about. Bring about the day of judgment that you promised so that they may end up like me! (Tav) Let all their wickedness come before you; afflict them just as you have afflicted me because of all my acts of rebellion. For my groans are many, and my heart is sick with sorrow.
(Alef) I am the man who has experienced affliction from the rod of his wrath. He drove me into captivity and made me walk in darkness and not light. read more. He repeatedly attacks me, he turns his hand against me all day long. (Bet) He has made my mortal skin waste away; he has broken my bones. He has besieged and surrounded me with bitter hardship. He has made me reside in deepest darkness like those who died long ago. (Gimel) He has walled me in so that I cannot get out; he has weighted me down with heavy prison chains. Also, when I cry out desperately for help, he has shut out my prayer. He has blocked every road I take with a wall of hewn stones; he has made every path impassable. (Dalet) To me he is like a bear lying in ambush, like a hidden lion stalking its prey. He has obstructed my paths and torn me to pieces; he has made me desolate. He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrow. (He) He shot his arrows into my heart. I have become the laughingstock of all people, their mocking song all day long. He has given me my fill of bitter herbs and made me drunk with bitterness. (Vav) He ground my teeth in gravel; he trampled me in the dust. I am deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is. So I said, "My endurance has expired; I have lost all hope of deliverance from the Lord." (Zayin) Remember my impoverished and homeless condition, which is a bitter poison. I continually think about this, and I am depressed. But this I call to mind; therefore I have hope: (Khet) The Lord's loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end. They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant! "My portion is the Lord," I have said to myself, so I will put my hope in him. (Tet) The Lord is good to those who trust in him, to the one who seeks him. It is good to wait patiently for deliverance from the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. (Yod) Let a person sit alone in silence, when the Lord is disciplining him. Let him bury his face in the dust; perhaps there is hope. Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him; let him have his fill of insults. (Kaf) For the Lord will not reject us forever. Though he causes us grief, he then has compassion on us according to the abundance of his loyal kindness. For he is not predisposed to afflict or to grieve people. (Lamed) To crush underfoot all the earth's prisoners, to deprive a person of his rights in the presence of the Most High, to defraud a person in a lawsuit -- the Lord does not approve of such things! (Mem) Whose command was ever fulfilled unless the Lord decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that everything comes -- both calamity and blessing? Why should any living person complain when punished for his sins? (Nun) Let us carefully examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord.
(Nun) Let us carefully examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven: read more. "We have blatantly rebelled; you have not forgiven." (Samek) You shrouded yourself with anger and then pursued us; you killed without mercy. You shrouded yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through. You make us like filthy scum in the estimation of the nations. (Pe) All our enemies have gloated over us; Panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction. Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed. (Ayin) Tears flow from my eyes and will not stop; there will be no break until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees what has happened. What my eyes see grieves me -- all the suffering of the daughters in my city. (Tsade) For no good reason my enemies hunted me down like a bird. They shut me up in a pit and threw stones at me. The waters closed over my head; I thought I was about to die. (Qof) I have called on your name, O Lord, from the deepest pit. You heard my plea: "Do not close your ears to my cry for relief!" You came near on the day I called to you; you said, "Do not fear!" (Resh) O Lord, you championed my cause, you redeemed my life. You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord; pronounce judgment on my behalf! You have seen all their vengeance, all their plots against me. (Sin/Shin) You have heard their taunts, O Lord, all their plots against me. My assailants revile and conspire against me all day long. Watch them from morning to evening; I am the object of their mocking songs. (Tav) Pay them back what they deserve, O Lord, according to what they have done. Give them a distraught heart; may your curse be on them! Pursue them in anger and eradicate them from under the Lord's heaven.
(Gimel) Even the jackals nurse their young at their breast, but my people are cruel, like ostriches in the desert.
(Ayin) Our eyes continually failed us as we looked in vain for help. From our watchtowers we watched for a nation that could not rescue us.
Why do you keep on forgetting us? Why do you forsake us so long?