Lamentations

Lamentations
Center
Abbreviation	La
Class.	Old Testament
Category	Book of Prophecy
Chapters	5 Chapters
Record Related
Writer	Presumed to be Jeremiah
Date (Approx.)	BC 586
Location	Presumed to be Jerusalem

Lamentations is the twenty-fifth book of the Old Testament. It contains five poetic laments mourning the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem, which were devastated around 586 BC during the Babylonian (Neo-Babylonian) invasion. When the Old Testament is divided into four sections, Lamentations is classified as a book of prophecy.

Writer and Time

The Hebrew title of Lamentations is "Ekhah" (אֵיכָ֣ה). It means "How come" and conveys the sorrow of mourning for the fallen Jerusalem.

The Bible does not explicitly mention the author of this book, yet Jewish tradition consistently attributes it to Jeremiah. Additionally, the dominant view identifying Jeremiah as the writer is based on:

① The similarity in vocabulary and style referring to Jerusalem between Lamentations and Jeremiah.

② The call to repentance by pointing out reliance on foreign military power instead of God, and the lamentation over Jerusalem’s destruction—both of which align with the themes in Jeremiah.

It is presumed to have been written shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem, as it records the horrors of Jerusalem as clearly and vividly as if witnessing them firsthand.

Record Background

In the ninth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, Jerusalem was besieged by Babylon, and all routes leading to the city were blocked. Inside the city, the famine became so severe that many people died of starvation, and horrifyingly, some parents even resorted to eating their own children. Judah was miserably destroyed two years later, in 586 BC. The Babylonian army burned down God’s temple, the royal palace, and the houses of the people, and they tore down the city walls.

Feature

• Each chapter is a poem that mourns the fall of Jerusalem.
• Chapters 1, 2, and 4 each contain 22 verses, using the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order as the first letter of each line. Chapter 3 is composed of 66 verses, with each letter forming three verses. Chapter 5, with 22 verses, does not adhere to alphabetical order.

Contents of Lamentations

Chapters	Category	Content
Chapter 1	The First Lamentation	The Ruined Jerusalem
Chapter 2	The Second Lamentation	God’s wrath against Jerusalem
Chapter 3	The Third Lamentation	Prophet’s Pain and Hope
Chapter 4	The Fourth Lamentation	Destruction of Jerusalem
Chapter 5	The Fifth Lamentation	Prayer for Salvation

Lamentations was written in sorrow over the destruction of Jerusalem and the suffering of its people. The writer confesses that the reason for Jerusalem, once beautiful and glorious, becoming an object of scorn among foreign nations is due to the sins of Judah, and pleads with God to show mercy and restore Jerusalem.