The book of Lamentations consists of five chapters of Hebrew poetry. The first four are acrostic poems. This means the letter of the first word in each verse will follow the Hebrew alphabet in chapters one, two, and four. Chapter three has three verses per letter, so for instance chapter three verses 1, 2 and 3 begin with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, aleph. The sixteenth and seventeenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet are Ayin and Pe which are the first letters of the first word in Lam. 1:16 and 17 respectively. These two letters are reversed in chapters two through four. Commentaries will usually mention this but don’t give an opinion as to why they are reversed in these chapters. The CSB translation gives the Hebrew letter as well as the name at each verse. The Holman Concise Bible Commentary (HCBC) discusses this on page 311 under the article on Literary Form. The link to the Bible Project Summary Video may be found here.

While Lamentations is anonymous since it doesn’t state the author’s name, tradition says that Jeremiah was the author. One reason for the tradition is found in 2 Chron. 35:25 which says that Jeremiah composed a lament or dirge for Josiah. Then at the end of the verse it says that these laments or dirges are written in the Laments or Dirges. Most Old Testament scholars however don’t believe this refers to the book of Lamentations but to a document that has been lost. The Greek version of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint has an introduction to Lamentations that states that Jeremiah was the author. One early English translation of this Septuagint introduction says, “And it came to pass, after Israel was taken captive, and Jerusalem made desolate, that Jeremias sat weeping, and lamented with this lamentation over Jerusalem, and said”^[1] then gives the translation of what we know as Lamentations. Josephus as well as early Jewish tradition and the early Church Fathers agreed that Jeremiah was the author.

Lamentations was written after Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians and most of the people that weren’t killed by the Babylonian army or had died from starvation during the two-year siege were exiled to Babylon. This was a horrible time for Jeremiah who witnessed the starvation and defeat of his people. It was made even more emotional for Jeremiah because he had preached a message for forty years that if the people had believed and responded to God’s word their suffering could have been avoided. Second Kings chapter twenty-five provides a summary of the fall of Jerusalem. Lamentations is far more descriptive in telling the story of Jerusalem’s destruction. Some have even described Lamentations as the saddest book in the Bible. As you read these five chapters you will notice that it is the people’s sin that brought about the judgment by God. Even during these horrific times for the Jewish people, Jeremiah remained faithful. In Jer. 3:22-24 he wrote,

²²Because of the Lord’s faithful love
we do not perish,
for his mercies never end.
²³They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness!
²⁴I say, “The Lord is my portion,
therefore I will put my hope in him.”^[2]

Lamentations chapter four gives a graphic description of the two-year siege of Jerusalem. Stephen Smith in his commentary on Lamentations warns, “Lamentations 4 is not suitable for all audiences.”^[3]

^[1] Brenton, Lancelot Charles Lee. 1870. The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament: English Translation. London: Samuel Bagster and Sons.

^[2] Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

^[3] Smith, Steven. 2019. Exalting Jesus in Jeremiah, Lamentations. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.