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Major prophets · Old Testament · 5 chapters

The book of Lamentations

Tears over the ruins, hope in the heart

Author
Jeremiah (according to Jewish and Christian tradition)
Written
Around 586 BC, shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem
Time covered
The fall of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar (586 BC) and the months that follow
Key word
Faithfulness

Five poems mourn the destroyed Jerusalem. The city, once “great among the nations,” sits solitary like a widow, with no one to comfort her (1). The Lord himself, “like an enemy,” has thrown down her walls, her temple and her king (2). At the center, a broken man cries out in distress, then remembers: “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning” (3:22-23). The horror of the siege is described: famine, dying children, guilty prophets and priests (4). The book ends with a prayer: “Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned” (5:21).

Main theme

The mourning of Jerusalem, destroyed because of her sin: God has carried out his word, but his compassions are new every morning for whoever returns to him.

Outline

  1. Lamentations 1 — The widowed city

    Jerusalem weeps, alone and without a comforter, and acknowledges: “The LORD is righteous.”

  2. Lamentations 2 — The wrath of the Lord

    God has acted like an enemy against his city, his temple and her leaders.

  3. Lamentations 3 — Hope at the bottom of the pit

    From complaint to faith: God’s faithfulness is new every morning.

  4. Lamentations 4 — The tarnished gold

    The horrors of the siege, the fruit of the sins of the prophets and priests.

  5. Lamentations 5 — The prayer of the remnant

    “Remember, O LORD… Turn thou us unto thee.”

Key points

  • Jerusalem is personified as a solitary widow weeping in the night, and the refrain “none to comfort her” recurs throughout chapter 1 (1:1-2, 9, 16-17, 21).
  • The book never denies the cause: “the LORD hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions”; and Jerusalem confesses: “The LORD is righteous” (1:5, 18).
  • God has fulfilled “his word that he had commanded in the days of old”: the ruin carries out the warnings of the Law and the prophets (2:17; Deut 28:53).
  • The false prophets are accused of not having exposed the people’s iniquity, letting the catastrophe come (2:14; 4:13).
  • At the exact center of the book, hope springs up: the LORD’s compassions “are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (3:22-23).
  • God disciplines but does not cast off for ever: “he doth not afflict willingly” (3:31-33).
  • The right response to trial is not to complain about God but to search our ways and turn back to him (3:39-41).
  • The book ends on God’s sovereignty (“Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever”) and on a prayer for restoration (5:19-21).
Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.
Lamentations 1:12 — Zion’s cry of pain, which Christians have often applied to the sufferings of Christ.
Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.
Lamentations 2:19 — The invitation to pour out one’s heart before the Lord in distress.
The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
Lamentations 3:24 — When all is lost, the LORD remains the believer’s portion.

Jesus in Lamentations

Lamentations points to the One who in turn wept over Jerusalem and foretold her ruin (Luke 19:41-44). Many Christians hear the voice of the Crucified in 1:12: given bitterness to drink (3:15; Matt 27:34), mocked by passersby who shake their heads (2:15; Matt 27:39), struck without defending himself (3:30), he bore the wrath that Jerusalem suffered, so that God’s compassions might be new every morning for us (3:22-23).

Did you know?

  • Chapters 1, 2 and 4 each have 22 verses beginning with the 22 successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet; chapter 3 has 66, three per letter. Chapter 5 also has 22 verses, but without an acrostic.
  • The Hebrew title of the book is “Eikhah,” “How!” or “Alas!”, the first word of chapters 1, 2 and 4; in synagogues it is read on the 9th of Av, a fast day commemorating the destruction of the temple.
  • The beloved hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” (Thomas Chisholm, 1923) is directly inspired by Lamentations 3:22-23.

Quiz on Lamentations

Which city, according to chapter 1, has multiplied her sins and become an object of revulsion?

To what is Jerusalem compared in the first verse of the book?

When are the LORD’s compassions renewed?

There are many more questions like these in Bible Academy, each with its explanation and verse. Start your free trial.