LAMENTATIONS איכה

The book of Lamentations consists of five distinct (and non-chronological) poems, corresponding to its five chapters. Two of its defining characteristic features are the alphabetic acrostic and its qinah meter. However, few English translations capture either of these; even fewer attempt to capture both.

Acrostic: The first four chapters are written as acrostics. Chapters 1, 2, and 4 each have 22 verses, corresponding to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the first lines beginning with the first letter of the alphabet, the second with the second letter, and so on. Chapter 3 has 66 verses, and each letter begins with three lines. Unlike standard alphabetical order, in the middle chapters of Lamentations, the letter pe (the 17th letter) comes before ayin (the 16th).

In the first chapter, the Masoretic text uses the standard / modern alphabetical order; however, in the dead sea scroll version of the text (4QLam/4Q111), even the first chapter uses the pe-ayin order found in chapters 2, 3, and 4. The fifth poem, corresponding to the fifth chapter, is not acrostic but still has 22 lines.

Qinah: The book’s first four chapters have a well-defined qinah rhythm of three stresses followed by two, although the fifth chapter lacks this. Dobbs-Allsopp describes this meter as “the rhythmic dominance of unbalanced and enjambed lines”. Again, few English translations attempt to capture this.

The metaphor of Jerusalem as “Daughter Zion” has profound implications for the reading of gender and theology in the Hebrew Bible. Initially, Daughter Zion is positively likened to a daughter under the special regard of the father figure, God (2 Kings 19:21, Isaiah 37:22).

With the Babylonian siege and destruction of Jerusalem, the personification turns dark; she has brought this devastation upon herself by playing the harlot (as in Isaiah 1:8, 21). In Lamentations, she is given a voice and protests that she is punished far in excess of her sins. In the prophecies of consolation, dating to the return to Zion, Daughter Zion is forsaken no more and returns “home”—a joyful mother of children (as in Isaiah 54:1).

Jerusalem, the center of cultic worship and capital of the Judean people is personified throughout poetic and prophetic biblical passages as a woman—“Daughter Zion (Bat Tzion)” or “Fair Zion” (as in 2 Kings 19:21, Psalm 9:15, Isaiah 1:8, and so forth). As a conceptual metaphor, the term yields multiple meanings for God’s relationship to the people, the land, and the Temple at its sacred center.

The term “Daughter Zion” (like “Daughter Babylon/Chaldea,” in Psalms 137:8, Isaiah 47:1, 5, Jeremiah 50:42, 51:33, and Zechariah 2:7; “Daughter Edom,” in Lamentations 4:21, 22; or “Daughter Egypt” in Jeremiah 46:11, 19, and 24) is not to be understood in the sense of daughter of Zion, but rather in the sense of Zion as a ‘daughter’ (bat).

In Lamentations 1, the poem portrays God’s people as a grieving widow mourning her destruction. Hers is a clear fall from the place of renown and glory among other nations (verses 1,6,10). The nation of Israel has been betrayed by former allies (verses 2,12 19), her people enslaved (verses 1,3,5), the city’s deserted (verses 4, 17, 21) and there is no food for people.

There was no real help or salvation that they could get even from their allies (verses 13-15). Some nations ridiculed them and rejoiced upon hearing about their destruction. By the time Babylon was done with Israel, there was virtually nothing left that could for instance testify of Solomon’s glorious reign.

The people of Israel were carried off to Babylonian exile in three phases- during the times of Daniel, Ezekiel, and the final round when Jerusalem was totally destroyed. The book of Lamentations refers to a phase after the last one. Based on the summarised narrative of the fall of Jerusalem in Jeremiah 39, we learn that some of the poor Israelites were left behind in their homeland.

The prophet Jeremiah too was allowed to remain. Written from the perspective of those left behind, Lamentations is an intensely emotional book reflecting on the destruction of Israel and its people.

The descendants of Abraham are the ones that were miraculously rescued from slavery in Egypt. Now, the descendants of Israel are destroyed and carried off into captivity.

The book of Lamentations is not the only Old Testament book that contains individual or community laments. (A large number of the Psalms are lament poems, and every prophetic book except Haggai includes one or more examples of the lament genre.) Lamentations is the only book, however, that consists solely of laments.

As a series of laments over the destruction of Jerusalem, it stands in a tradition with such ancient non-Biblical writings as the Sumerian “Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur,” “Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur,” and “Lamentation over the Destruction of Nippur.”

In addition, the book is important in traditional Roman Catholic liturgy, where it is customarily read during the last three days of Holy Week.

This Christian practice reminds us that the book of Lamentations not only bemoans Jerusalem’s destruction but also contains profound theological insights. The horrors accompanying the Babylonian destruction of Judah are recited in some detail:

1. Wholesale devastation and slaughter engulfed kings (2:6,9;4:20), princes (1:6;2:2,9;4:7-8;5:12), elders (1:19;2:10;4:16;5:12), priests (1:4,19; 2:6,20; 4:16), prophets (2:9,20) and commoners (2:10-12;3:48;4:6) alike.
2. Starving mothers were reduced to cannibalism (2:20;4:10).
3. The flower of Judah’s inhabitants were dragged off into ignominious exile (1:3,18).
4. An elaborate system of ceremony and worship came to an end (1:4,10).

But this recital is integrally woven into the fabric of a poetic wrestling with the ways of God who, as the LORD of history, was dealing with his wayward people.

The book of Lamentations is divided into five chapters. Each chapter represents a separate poem. In the original Hebrew, the verses are acrostic, each verse starting with a succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Book of Lamentations, the Prophet Jeremiah understands that the Babylonians were God’s tool for bringing judgment on Jerusalem (Lamentations 1:12-15; 2:1-8; 4:11).

The book of Lamentations makes it clear that sin and rebellion were the causes of God’s wrath being poured out (1:8-9; 4:13; 5:16). Lamenting is appropriate in a time of distress, but it should quickly give way to contrition and repentance (Lamentations 3:40-42; 5:21-22).

Lamentations 1–2: Jeremiah laments the desolate state of Jerusalem following its destruction by the Babylonians. He acknowledges that Jerusalem was destroyed because the people rebelled against the commandments of the LORD.

Lamentations 3: Jeremiah prays for Judah’s deliverance and expresses hope in the LORD, whose mercy is upon those who trust in Him.

Lamentations 4: Jeremiah compares the conditions of the Jews before and after the destruction of Jerusalem. He sorrows as he considers the pitiful state of the people and acknowledges that these conditions are the result of sin.

Lamentations 5: Jeremiah prays for those who survived the destruction of Jerusalem, pleading for God to notice their desolation, forgive them, and allow them to return to the LORD and be restored as a people.