Lamentations

Tisha B’Av

As the story has it, Napoleon was walking through a small village in France, when he heard weeping coming from inside a small ramshackle building nearby. The sound was enough to stop Napoleon in his tracks and compel him to investigate this commotion. As he entered the building, he h…

Introduction to Lamentations

The book of Lamentations contains five lamentations, which all refer to the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Kingdom of Judah by the Chaldeans. Each song bewails the unutterable misery that has befallen the covenant people in this catastrophe, and the disgrace whic…

Introduction 

2:1-10 – Yahweh hath done this;

2:11-19 – Jeremiah speaks to Jerusalem: thrown down and not pitied;

2:20-22 – Jerusalem speaks: prayer.

The first song of Lamentations introduces Jerusalem’s affliction and the sin that was the source of the problem. We find Je…

Introduction to Lamentations 3

In the previous two chapters, the problem and consequences of sin are laid out with the recognition that Yahweh is righteous in all his judgments. In this third song, the same picture of suffering is presented, but this time through the lens of the “man that hath …

Introduction to Lamentations 4

After the glimmer of hope in chapter 3, the fourth song dives back down to the depths of Jerusalem’s suffering. A suggested break-down is as follows:

4:1-12 – The precious sons of Zion are smashed

4:13-16 – They have polluted themselves with blood

4:…

Introduction to Lamentations 5 – The People’s Prayer 

The final song of the book is written as a communal prayer and outpouring of grief to God. It can be divided up as follows:

5:1-16 – Behold our reproach

5:17-18 – For this our heart is faint

5:19-22 – Renew our days of…