Difference between revisions of "Book Of Lamentations"

<p> An ancient tradition, dating back to the earliest Greek translation (about 250 B.C.), claims that Jeremiah is the author of Lamentations. However, the [[Hebrew]] text of the book does not make that claim. Factors which favor authorship by Jeremiah are the antiquity of the tradition associating him with the book, the similarity in tone between Lamentations and portions of Jeremiah's book (&nbsp;Jeremiah 8-9;Jeremiah 8-9;&nbsp;14-15 ), and a similar perspective in Lamentations and Jeremiah as to the cause of the fall of [[Jerusalem]] (for example, &nbsp;Lamentations 1:2-18; &nbsp;Lamentations 2:14; &nbsp;Lamentations 4:13-17; &nbsp;Jeremiah 2:18; &nbsp;Jeremiah 14:7; &nbsp;Jeremiah 16:10-12; &nbsp;Jeremiah 23:11-40; &nbsp;Jeremiah 37:5-10 ). </p> <p> Factors which militate against Jeremianic authorship are differences in phraseology between the two books and differences in viewpoints on several issues. &nbsp;Lamentations 1:21-22 and &nbsp; Lamentations 3:59-66 appear to be incongruent with Jeremiah's conviction that the [[Babylonians]] were functioning as God's instrument of judgment (&nbsp; Jeremiah 20:4-5 ). &nbsp;Lamentations 4:17 suggests that the author was expecting help from the Egyptians, a perspective which Jeremiah strongly opposed (&nbsp; Jeremiah 37:5-10 ). The view of Zedekiah, Judah's last king, in &nbsp;Lamentations 4:20 is also quite different from that found regarding him in &nbsp; Jeremiah 24:8-10 . The evidence tends to favor the opinion that Lamentations was written by someone other than Jeremiah; however, Jeremianic authorship is not —impossible. In either case the author was surely an eyewitness of the fall of Jerusalem. </p> <p> &nbsp;Lamentations 1:1 mourns the misery resulting from the destruction of Jerusalem and explains that the desolation was God's judgment for the nation's sin. &nbsp; Lamentations 2:1 continues the lament over the ruin wrought by divine anger and calls the people to prayer. While &nbsp; Lamentations 3:1 further extends the mourning over Jerusalem's destruction, it also declares that God's steadfast love gives reason to hope that He will extend mercy in the future. In light of that hope the author calls for repentance. &nbsp; Lamentations 4:1 vividly pictures the horrors of the siege and fall of Jerusalem and places part of the blame for the judgment on the immoral prophets and priests of the city. &nbsp; Lamentations 5:1 summarizes the calamitous situation and closes with a prayer for restoration. </p> <p> Lamentations served the Judeans as an expression of their grief, an explanation for the destruction, and a call for repentance and hope. The book warns modern readers that an immoral nation stands in danger of God's awesome judgment and that the only hope for survival is submission to God. </p> <p> Outline </p> <p> I. The Appalling [[Price]] of [[Sin]] (&nbsp;Lamentations 1:1-22 ) </p> <p> A. Description of punishment for sins (&nbsp;Lamentations 1:1-17 ) </p> <p> B. [[Admission]] of sin (&nbsp;Lamentations 1:18-20 ) </p> <p> C. [[Cry]] for vengeance (&nbsp;Lamentations 1:21-22 ) </p> <p> II. God Is the One Who Punishes Sin (&nbsp;Lamentations 2:1-22 ) </p> <p> A. God has done as He said (&nbsp;Lamentations 2:1-17 ). </p> <p> B. Call the people to repent (&nbsp;Lamentations 2:18-19 ). </p> <p> C. Call on the Lord to relent (&nbsp;Lamentations 2:20-22 ). </p> <p> [[Iii. A]]  Personal Cry to God (&nbsp;Lamentations 3:1-66 ) </p> <p> A. I am suffering (&nbsp;Lamentations 3:1-18 ). </p> <p> B. I cry to God in hope (&nbsp;Lamentations 3:19-21 ). </p> <p> C. God will hear and help (&nbsp;Lamentations 3:22-33 ). </p> <p> D. God knows our unacceptable actions (&nbsp;Lamentations 3:34-36 ). </p> <p> E God punishes unforgiven sin (&nbsp;Lamentations 3:37-54 ). </p> <p> F. God will hear, respond, and requite the enemy (&nbsp;Lamentations 3:55-66 ). </p> <p> IV. A Graphic Portrayal of [[Suffering]] [[Caused]] by Sin (&nbsp;Lamentations 4:1-22 ) </p> <p> V. A [[Plea]] to God (&nbsp;Lamentations 5:1-22 ) </p> <p> A. [[Remember]] us, [[O]] God, (&nbsp;Lamentations 5:1-18 ). </p> <p> B. [[Restore]] us, O God, (&nbsp;Lamentations 5:19-22 ). </p> <p> Bob R. Ellis </p>

<p> <strong> [[Lamentations, Book Of]]  </strong> </p> <p> 1. [[Occasion]] . In b.c. 586 [[Nebuchadnezzar]] captured Jerusalem, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, slew the princes, burned the [[Temple]] and palaces, razed the walls, and deported the inhabitants (save some of the poorest sort) to forced labour in [[Babylon]] (&nbsp; 2 Kings 25:1-30 ). These events and their religious meaning are the theme of the five complete hymns in the Book of Lamentations. The poet looked on these calamities as the death of the [[Jewish]] people; and he prepares an elegy for the national funeral. </p> <p> <strong> 2. Date </strong> . It need not be supposed that Jeremiah went about composing acrostics while Jerusalem was burning; on the other hand, the language of the poems is not that of some Rabbinical versifier after Nehemiah’s time. Between the desolation of b.c. 586 and the restoration of b.c. 536 is the time limit for the production of this book. </p> <p> <strong> 3. Form </strong> . The form of these elegies has been recognized to be the type of Hebrew poetry which is peculiar to threnody. Its metrical character depends on the structure of the single line. The line has not the exact measure of a Latin hexameter or pentameter, but consists of five to seven words, making on an average eleven syllables. The line is divided by sense and grammar into two unequal parts, as 6:5 or &nbsp; Lamentations 4:3; the first part being more emphatic in sense, and the second forming an antiphonal supplement to the first. Thus &nbsp; Lamentations 1:1 </p> <p> ‘Ah now! she sits alone the populous city, </p> <p> Husbandless doomed to be the foremost of peoples. </p> <p> Once the princess over states a serf in a gang.’ </p> <p> Such is the <em> qînâh </em> -metre, found also in parts of Amos, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. </p> <p> <strong> 4. Arrangement </strong> . These Hebrew elegiacs may stand singly, as in &nbsp; Lamentations 3:1-66 , or in two-lined stanzas, as in ch. 4, or in three-lined stanzas, as in chs. 1 and 2. But there is also in Lam. a more artificial embellishment. The 22 stanzas of chs. 1, 2, and 4 are introduced by the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet in regular order, except that 2 and 4 place the letter <em> [[Pe]] </em> before the letter <em> [[Ayin]] </em> . This inexplicable variation in the order of the letters has been held to imply a difference in authorship. Again ch. 3 has 66 verses, the lines beginning aaa; bbb, etc. Ch. 5 has 22 verses, but no acrostic; and its lines are of a slightly different structure. As this chapter is a prayer, these external marks may have been felt to be inappropriate. The poetic form of Lam. is thus the result of elaborate effort; but this need not imply the absence of genuine feeling. The calamity in remembrance seemed to call for an adequate form of expression, and to invite the resources of technical skill. </p> <p> <strong> 5. Contents </strong> . The contents of the five hymns are not pervaded by clear lines of thought; but the nature of the subject forbids us to look for the consistency of a geometrical theorem. The cruel scenes, the pity and horror they occasioned, the religious perplexity at the course of events, are depicted sometimes by the poet himself, again by Jerusalem, or by the personified community. Ch. 1 describes the ruin of Jerusalem and the humiliation of the exiles &nbsp; Lamentations 1:1-11 in the words of the poet, while the city itself speaks in &nbsp; Lamentations 1:12-22 . The second hymn finds the sting of their sufferings in the fact that they are inflicted by Jehovah, their ancient defender. Ch. 3, ‘the triumph song of ethical optimism,’ recounts the national misery (&nbsp; Lamentations 3:1-18 ), perceives the purpose of [[Jehovah]] in their calamities (&nbsp; Lamentations 3:19-47 ), and calls the people to penitence (&nbsp; Lamentations 3:48-66 ). Ch. 4 contrasts the past history of [[Zion]] with its present condition, and ch. 5 is a prayer for mercy and renewal of ancient blessings. The hope for Judah was the compassion of the Lord; ‘therefore let us search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord’ (&nbsp; Lamentations 3:40 ). It forms a curious contrast to the consolation offered to [[Athens]] in her decline and fall through the comedies of Aristophanes. </p> <p> <strong> 6. Authorship </strong> . No author is named in Lam. itself. In &nbsp; 2 Chronicles 35:25 we read that ‘ <strong> Jeremiah </strong> lamented for Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women spake of [[Josiah]] unto this day; and they made them an ordinance in Israel: and behold they are written in the lamentations.’ This statement is 300 years later than the fall of Jerusalem; and Lam. has nothing to do with Josiah. But it ascribes standard elegies to Jeremiah. The LXX [Note: Septuagint.] , followed by the [[Vulgate]] and other versions, names Jeremiah the prophet as the author of Lam.; and this view prevailed universally till recent times. Internal evidence has been considered unfavourable to Jeremiah’s authorship. The alphabetic form, a few peculiar words, an affinity in chs. 2 and 4 with Ezekiel, in chs. 1 and 5 with the younger Isaiah, and in ch. 3 with late Psalms, the accumulation of pictorial metaphors, the denial of vision to prophets, the reliance on Egypt (&nbsp; Lamentations 4:17 ), are given (Löhr, <em> Com </em> .) as conclusive objections to Jeremiah’s being the writer. But the acrostic form would then have the charm of novelty, and would be useful as a mnemonic for professional mourners; and it is not prophecy to which it is here attached. The affinities with later books are not very marked, and may he due to derivation from the elegies. And there is avowedly much resemblance in vocabulary and thought between Jeremiah and Lamentations. Both trace disaster to the sin of the nation, both deprecate trust in alliances, and both inculcate penitence and hope. Probably the internal evidence originated the traditional view that Jeremiah was the author; and the newer scrutiny of the evidence seems hardly sufficient to disprove the verdict of the ancients. </p> <p> Again it is asked, Would one author make five independent poems on one and the same subject? If several authors treated the theme independently, it is not likely that their work would hear juxtaposition so well as the collection in Lamentations. Jeremiah’s life ended some 6 or 7 years after the [[Captivity]] began; and &nbsp;Lamentations 5:20 implies a longer interval since the devastation. If we assign, with Thenius, chs. 2 and 4 to Jeremiah, and suppose that some disciples of the prophet imitated his model in 1, 3, and 5, then perhaps the differences and similarities in the several hymns may be accounted for. When Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus in a.d. 70, there was no new <em> qînâh </em> ; the elegies seem to presuppose a personality of Jeremiah’s type as their originator. </p> <p> <strong> 7. [[Names]] </strong> . The Hebrew name of Lam. is <em> ’Ekhâh </em> (‘Howl’), the first word in the book. It is also called <em> Qînôth </em> or ‘Elegies.’ The LXX [Note: Septuagint.] has <em> Threnoi </em> ( <em> Ieremiou </em> ); Vulg. [Note: Vulgate.] , <em> Threni, id est lamentationes JeremiÅ“ prophetÅ“ </em> , and this is the source of the English title. </p> <p> <strong> 8. Position in the [[Canon]] </strong> . In Hebrew Bibles Lam. is placed in the third division of the OT Canon. Its place is generally in the middle of the five <em> [[Megilloth]] </em> , between Ruth and Ecclesiastes. The [[Jews]] recite the book on the Black Fast (9th of Ab) the anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem. In the Greek OT and the other versions Lam. is attached to the prophecies of Jeremiah, in accordance with the current belief in his authorship. </p> <p> D. M. Kay. </p>

<i> 'Ekhah </i> &nbsp; 2 Samuel 1:19-27[[Bible]] <p> 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). </p> <p> 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. </p> <p> 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. </p> <p> [[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." </p>

<p> ''''' lam ''''' - ''''' en ''''' - ''''' tā´shunz ''''' , - T he Lamentations of Jeremiah: </p> 1. Name: <p> This is a collective name which tradition has given to 5 elegies found in the Hebrew Canon that lament the fate of destroyed Jerusalem. The rabbis call this little book <i> ''''' 'Ekhāh ''''' </i> ( איכה , "how"), according to the word of lament with which it begins, or <i> ''''' ḳı̄nōth ''''' </i> ( קינות ). On the basis of the latter term the Septuagint calls it θρῆνοι , <i> ''''' thrḗnoi ''''' </i> , or Latin <i> Threni </i> , or "Lamentations." </p> 2. Form: <p> The little book consists of 5 lamentations, each one forming the contents of a chapter. The first 4 are marked by the acrostic use of the alphabet. In addition, the <i> ''''' ḳı̄nāh ''''' </i> ("elegy") meter is found in these hymns, in which a longer line (3 or 4 accents) is followed by a shorter (2 or 3 accents). In &nbsp; Lamentations 1,2 the acrostic letters begin three such double lines; in &nbsp; Lamentations 4 , however, two double lines. In &nbsp;Lamentations 3 a letter controls three pairs, but is repeated at the beginning of each line. In &nbsp; Lamentations 5 the alphabet is wanting; but in this case too the number of pairs of lines agrees with the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, i.e. 22. In &nbsp; Lamentations 2; &nbsp;3,4 , the letter <i> ''''' ‛ayin ''''' </i> ע follows <i> ''''' pē ''''' </i> פ , as is the case in &nbsp; Psalm 34 . &nbsp;Lamentations 1 , however, follows the usual order. </p> 3. Contents: <p> These 5 hymns all refer to the great national catastrophe that overtook the Jews and in particular the capital city, Jerusalem, through the Chaldeans, 587-586 BC. The sufferings and the anxieties of the city, the destruction of the sanctuary, the cruelty and taunts of the enemies of Israel, especially the Edomites, the disgrace that befell the king and his nobles, priests and prophets, and that, too, not without their own guilt, the devastation and ruin of the country - all this is described, and appeal is made to the mercy of God. A careful sequence of thought cannot be expected in the lyrical feeling and in the alphabetical form. [[Repetitions]] are found in large numbers, but each one of these hymns emphasizes some special feature of the calamity. &nbsp;Lamentations 3 is unique, as in it one person describes his own peculiar sufferings in connection with the general calamity, and then too in the name of the others begins a psalm of repentance. This person did not suffer so severely because he was an exceptional sinner, but because of the unrighteousness of his people. These hymns were not written during the siege, but later, at a time when the people still vividly remembered the sufferings and the anxieties of that time and when the impression made on them by the fall of Jerusalem was still as powerful as ever. </p> 4. Author: <p> Who is the author of these hymns? Jewish tradition is unanimous in saying that it was Jeremiah. The hymns themselves are found anonymously in the Hebrew text, while the Septuagint has in one an additional statement, the Hebrew style of which would lead us to conclude that it was found in the original from which the version was made. This statement reads: "And it came to pass, after Israel had been taken away captive and Jerusalem had been laid waste, that Jeremiah sat weeping, and uttered this lamentation over Jerusalem and said." The Targum also states that Jeremiah was the author. The rabbis and the church [[Fathers]] have no doubts on the subject. Jerome (compare on &nbsp;Zechariah 12:11 ) thinks that &nbsp;2 Chronicles 35:25 refers to these hymns. The same is said by Josephus ( <i> Ant. </i> , X, v, 1). If this were the case, then the writer of Chronicles would have regarded Lam as having been written because of the death of Josiah. But this misunderstanding is not to be ascribed to him. It was easily possible that he was acquainted with lamentations of such a nature, but which afterward were lost. At all events, Jeremiah was by nature adapted to the composition of such elegies, as is proved by his book of prophecies. </p> <p> Only in modern times has the authorship of these hymns by Jeremiah been seriously called into question; and it is now denied by most critics. For this they give formal and material reasons: The language of these lamentations shows many similarities to the discourses of Jeremiah, but at the same time also many differences. The claim that the alphabetical scheme is not worthy of Jeremiah is a prejudice caused by the taste of our times. Hebrew poets had evidently been making use of such methods for a long time, as it helps materially in memorizing. At the time of the first acute suffering on account of the destruction of Jerusalem, in fact, he would probably not have made use of it. But. we have in this book a collection of lamentations' written some time after this great catastrophe. The claim has also been made that the views of Jeremiah and those of the composer or the composers of these poems differ materially. It is said that Jeremiah emphasizes much more strongly the guilt of the people as the cause of the calamity than is done in these hymns, which lament the fate of the people and find the cause of it in the sins of the fathers (&nbsp;Lamentations 5:7 ), something that Jeremiah is said not to accept (&nbsp;Jeremiah 31:29 f). However, the guilt of the people and the resultant wrath of God are often brought out in these hymns; and Jeremiah does not deny (&nbsp; Jeremiah 31:29 f) that there is anything like inherited guilt. He declares rather that in the blessed future things would be different in this respect. Then, too, we are not to forget that if Jeremiah is the author of these patriotic hymns, he does not speak in them as the prophet and the appointed accuser of his people, but that he is at last permitted to speak as he humanly feels, although there is no lack of prophetical reminiscences (of &nbsp; Lamentations 4:21 f). In these hymns he speaks out of the heart that loves his Jerusalem and his people, and he utters the priestly prayer of intercession, which he was not allowed to do when announcing the judgment over Israel. The fact that he also evinces great reverence for the unfortunate king and his Divinely given hereditary dignity (&nbsp; Lamentations 4:20 ), although as a prophet he had been compelled to pronounce judgment over him, would not be unthinkable in Jeremiah, who had shown warm sympathies also for Jehoiachim (&nbsp;Jeremiah 22:24 , &nbsp;Jeremiah 22:28 ). A radical difference of sentiment between the two authors is not to be found. On the other hand, a serious difficulty arises if we claim that Jeremiah was not the author of Lamentations in the denunciations of Lamentations over the prophets of Jerusalem (&nbsp;Lamentations 2:14; &nbsp;Lamentations 4:13 ). How could the great prophet of the [[Destruction]] be so ignored if he himself were not the author of these sentiments? If he was himself the author we can easily understand this omission. In his book of prophecies he has spoken exactly the same way about the prophets. To this must be added, that Lam 3 forces us to regard Jeremiah as the author, because of the personal sufferings that are here described. Compare especially &nbsp;Lamentations 3:14 , &nbsp;Lamentations 3:37 f, 53 ff, 61, 63. What other person was during the period of this catastrophe the cynosure of all eyes as was the prophet, especially, too, because he was guiltless? The claim that here, not an individual, but the personified nation is introduced as speaking, is altogether improbable, and in some passages absolutely impossible (&nbsp; Lamentations 3:14 , &nbsp;Lamentations 3:48 ). </p> <p> This little book must accordingly be closely connected with the person of Jeremiah. If he himself is the author, he must have composed it in his old age, when he had time and opportunity to live over again all the sufferings of his people and of himself. It is, however, more probable, especially because of the language of the poems, that his disciples put this book in the present shape of uniform sentential utterances, basing this on the manner of lamentations common to Jeremiah. In this way the origin of Lamentaions 3 can be understood, which cannot artificially be shaped as his sayings, as in this case the personal feature would be more distinctly expressed. It was probably compiled. from a number of his utterances. </p> <p> In the Hebrew Canon this book is found in the third division, called <i> ''''' kethūbhı̄m ''''' </i> , or [[Sacred]] Writings, together with the Psalms. However, the Septuagint adds this book to Jeremiah, or rather, to the Book of Baruch, found next after Jerusalem. The Hebrews count it among the 5 <i> ''''' meghillōth ''''' </i> , or Rolls, which were read on prominent anniversary days. The day for the [[Lamentation]] was the 9th of Abib, the day of the burning of the temple. In the Roman [[Catholic]] church it is read on the last three days of Holy Week. </p> Literature. <p> Comms. of Thenius, Ewald, Nagelsbach, Gerlach, Keil, Cheyne, Oettli, Lohr, Budde; article by Robertson Smith on "Lamentations" in <i> Eb </i> . </p>

<p> One of the poetical books of the Old Testament, ascribed to Jeremiah and historically connected with his prophecies, written apparently after the fall of Jerusalem and in sight of its ruins, as lamentation over the general desolation in the land connected therewith. </p>