LAMENTATIONS

 It is a mute reminder that sin, in spite of all its allurement and excitement, carries with it heavy weights of sorrow, grief, misery, barrenness, and pain. It is the other side of the ‘eat, drink and be merry’ coin.”
                                                                                                          —Charles R. Swindoll
MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (La 2:1). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

This little book is called “Lamentations” in the Greek, Latin, and English versions. The Jews refer to it by the first Hebrew word of chapters 1, 2, and 4, which is translated “How” or “Alas.” The book consists of five separate poems united by the common theme of Jerusalem’s destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. and by the unique acrostic structure of the first four chapters.

Probably to facilitate memorization, the lines of the poems are in Hebrew alphabetical order, one verse beginning with each letter, except in chapter 3 where each letter is assigned three verses in a row starting with the same letter. Chapter 5 has the same number of verses as the Hebrew alphabet (twenty-two) but is not in acrostic form.

In spite of the difficulty of writing in such a rigid framework, the book succeeds in passionately expressing patriotic and heartfelt sorrow.

MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (La 2:1). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

The place of the book of Lamentations in the Bible has never been in dispute. The Talmud (an ancient commentary on the Old Testament), the Septuagint (the early Greek translation of the Old Testament), the writings of the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, and the Latin Vulgate (an early translation of the Bible from Greek into Latin), all recognize Lamentations as part of the canon. Lamentations is found in the Writings section of the Jewish Scriptures, as part of the Megilloth—the five books of Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Esther, which are read during certain Jewish festivals. Lamentations is read during the ninth of Ab, a fast that commemorates the destruction of the first and second temples.                —             Apologetics Study Bible, The