Hierarchical Précis
Major Prophets
Lamentations
It
is
not
certain
who
wrote
Lamentations,
but
ancient
Jewish
and
Christian
tradition
ascribe
it
to
Jeremiah.
He
is
named
in
the
opening
sentence
of
the
Septuagint,
which
reads:
‘And
it
happened,
after
Israel
was
taken
captive
and
Jerusalem
was
laid
waste,
Jeremiah
sat
weeping and gave this lament over Jerusalem…’
There
are
five
laments
recorded
as
poetry
in
five
chapters.
Each
lament
has
twenty
two
verses
reflecting
the
number
of
letters
in
the
Hebrew
alphabet,
except
the
third,
which
has
sixty-six
verses
(3
x
22).
The
first
four
laments
are
acrostics
with
each
of
the
twenty-
two verses, or triplets of twenty-two in the third chapter, beginning with the successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
The
first
lament
is
over
Jerusalem’s
misery
and
desolation.
She
was
once
a
prosperous
and
vibrant
city
but
is
now
laid
waste
and
desolate.
The second lament reflects God’s anger against His people, the destruction of Jerusalem and the scoffing by Israel’s enemies.
The
third
speaks
of
Judah’s
affliction
reflected
in
the
words
of
an
individual,
his
recognition
of
God’s
love
and
faithfulness,
but
a
desire for God to avenge his enemies.
The fourth lament expresses a contrast between the city’s former glory and the suffering of her people through God’s judgement.
The
final
lament
is
an
appeal
to
God
not
to
forget
Judah
despite
her
sin
and
the
consequences
of
it,
and
to
restore
her
to
her
former
glory, unless He has utterly rejected her and is angry beyond measure.