The Book of
LAMENTATIONS
Author: Probably Jeremiah
Date: 587 B.C.
Theme: Suffering as Punishment for Sin
Key Words: Hardship, Sorrow, Sin, Prayer
Name of the Book. As was their custom, the Jews used the first word of the book as its title, and it originally became known as ’ekah, “How!” This word was commonly used to mean something like “Alas!” Compare its use in 2:1; 4:1; and Isaiah 1:21. Some also referred to the book as qinot or “lamentations,” however, and this is how we arrived at the English title.
Author. The author is not named, but traditions long before Christ claim that Jeremiah wrote it. Some scholars have doubted this and point to a number of differences between the use of poetic style, words, and expressions in this book and those used in the Book of Jeremiah, as well as to certain differences in emphasis. However, the prophet was known to compose laments (2 Chr. 35:25), and there is an even more impressive array of similarities, as we shall see when we examine the text. The differences, therefore, could simply be due to the different circumstances under which Lamentations was written.
Historical Background. The Judahites had been able to think of themselves only as God’s chosen race. As such, they felt that they would always experience good things. God had made covenants of blessing with them, but these were conditional. Blatant disobedience would mean that the pleasurable aspects of blessing would be replaced by punishment. The fulfillment of the promises of blessing could always skip a few generations of disobedient Israelites.
The books of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles describe the moral decline of the kingdom of Judah (in spite of prophetic warnings) that would lead to its defeat and captivity (see 2:17). When King Zedekiah rebelled against the Babylonians, to whom Judah was subject, Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem (2 Kin. 24:20). While he was besieging it, the people inside were starving. When he breached the wall, Zedekiah and the soldiers managed to escape (2 Kin. 25:4). But they were soon taken captive. Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar’s official, destroyed most of Jerusalem, burned the temple, and carried all but the poorest people into exile (2 Kin. 25:8–12).
The poems of this book seem to have been composed during and after the time in which all this was happening. These poems are especially heartrending when they contrast the former blessings and strengths of Judah with the chaos and suffering their sin had brought on them (see note on 1:7). The chosen, favored people had lost everything and were in a hopeless position. Everything of significance had been destroyed. But the poems also describe the ministry of Jeremiah, sent again as a prophet to speak about the changed circumstances of God’s people. He helped them to give the necessary expression to their grief and to comfort them in it. He also encouraged them to think about the hand of God on them in punishment and helped them to submit penitently to the judgment they deserved until it had passed (3:28–33). Only after the people were completely humbled would they be able to think of restoration.
Structure. Laments were typically composed as poetry in the ancient world. Jeremiah had already written some (see Jer. 7:29; 9:10, 19), and so had other prophets. See Ezek. 19:1–14; Amos 5:1–3. But this book contains the longest and best known of such poems. There are five poems. The first four are acrostics, or poems in which each stanza begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. These were probably acknowledged as special artistic achievements in those days. A number of the Psalms are acrostics. See Psalms 25, 34, 37, and 119. This device may have assisted memorization, but it also seems to indicate here that the poet was expressing all his feelings from Aleph to Tau, or as we would say, from A to Z. He was working through every grief, hurt, and fear, and was opening up completely to both man and God.
The fifth poem is not an acrostic, probably because it is a personal prayer, which could have made the material unsuitable for the acrostic form.
There is little systematic arrangement of subject matter throughout the book as a whole, except for a possible climax in chapter 3 and a progressive conclusion in the final two chapters. But this is, after all, the nature of grief. It waxes and wanes, goes away, and returns again unexpectedly.
Themes. Lamentations features six major themes, all linked with the concept of suffering:
1. Their Suffering Was the Result of Their Sin. This strong theme is acknowledged in each chapter (as in 1:5; 2:14; 3:42; 4:13; 5:16). By the time the poems were written, this was obviously fully accepted. Even the Babylonians acknowledged the fact (Jer. 40:3). They knew that their suffering had not come upon them by chance. It was due to the wrath of God provoked by their sin (2:1). He was dealing with their spiritual condition, and they were supposed to take it personally.
2. Their Suffering Was Seen as Coming from God Rather Than from Men. The Babylonians were no more than an instrument in His hands. The fact that He was the ultimate cause is brought out throughout the book. No less than forty-four verses refer to this fact—an average of 1 out of every 3.5 verses. A few examples are 1:13, 15; 2:1, 4; 3:1, 37, 38.
3. Their Suffering Could Direct Them Toward God. The prophet is constantly conscious of God, of His purposes, and of His dealings with His people. There is no indication here of suffering resulting in a total abandonment of God or an eradication of His principles from their minds.
4. Suffering, Tears, and Prayer Belong Together. They were encouraged to pour out their hearts to God, to weep before Him, and to tell Him all the details of their pain, grief, and frustration. Each chapter, except chapter 4, ends with a prayer. But then the whole of chapter 5 is a prayer, as though making up for this lack. The prayers are both detailed (2:20, 21; 5:1–10) and emotional (1:20, 21; 3:48–51). They contain the language of grief and repentance (1:20; 3:40–42), and are an indication that it is entirely appropriate to pray like this when the occasion demands it.
5. Prayer Should Always Look for Some Ray of Hope. It should never be completely given over to sorrow. After the detailed descriptions of suffering and sorrow in the first two and one-half chapters, a new understanding seems to surface in 3:21–24. Here the poet speaks about hope, and about God’s mercies, compassion, and faithfulness. It was a realization that a manifestation of God’s discipline did not mean that His love had ceased. When the discipline had accomplished His purpose, the circumstances would change (3:31, 32). God may have been using Babylon, but that did not mean that they were His elect or that He favored their cruel methods (3:34–36). The future held a vindication of Israel over their enemies (3:58–66).
6. Their Responsibility Was to Submit to Their Sufferings Patiently. Their sorrow had to be accepted in patience, with the realization that it would end when God’s will had been accomplished (3:26–32).
Personal Application. This book has a great deal to say to us today:
1. The best way to survive grief is to express it. It needs to be shared with others and with God. There is a therapeutic value in working through each aspect of sorrow.
2. The destruction of Jerusalem and the lessons God taught His people were so significant that the Jews started reading this book at an annual service to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem. They did not want the painful experience to be forgotten. Defeats as well as victories need to be remembered. If the church would commemorate some of its failures, for which God has had to discipline it, these failures would be less likely to be repeated.
3. When Christians have received much blessing and enlightenment from God, and then turn their backs on Him, it is an extremely serious matter. Privileges do not protect us either from responsibility or from discipline. They increase our responsibility and our culpability, and deserve more serious discipline. This is particularly true of church leaders.
4. To what extent does God punish His people for their sins today? Christ’s death for us and His resurrection have certainly redeemed us. We do not bear retributive punishment for any sin we commit, since Christ has suffered in our place. We are living under a different covenant than did the Jews of 587 B.C. Even unbelievers are not normally punished for their sins until the next life (2 Pet. 2:4–10). But both believers and unbelievers sometimes have to suffer the consequences of past sins, such as drug addiction, drunkenness, and murder. And God often allows suffering in our lives to discipline us (Heb. 12:3–17). Through it we learn to obey Him and become stronger Christians (vv. 9, 12, 13)./AN+ Another consideration is church discipline. Christians who turn their backs on God should undergo some discipline in their home church. God sometimes disciplines people Himself by allowing suffering (1 Cor. 5:1–6) and even death (Acts 5:1–11). The main purpose of discipline, however, is restoration (2 Cor. 2:5–8). Even though we are not retributively punished for our sins, God will sometimes allow us to suffer when we have sinned in order to restore us to fellowship with Him. We need to submit to what God is doing and attempt to learn from the experience. If it is God’s discipline, it will last as long as is necessary. There is no quick-fix solution to some of these problems and no easy way out. Discipline will direct us to God, drive us to prayer, and bring us into submission. We need it.
5. Of course, not all suffering is the result of God’s discipline. Satan, too, can bring suffering on us (Job 2:7; Luke 13:16), but the suffering he brings is destructive rather than restorative.
Christ Revealed. This book shows how weak people are under the Law, and how unable they are to serve God in their own strength. This drives them to Christ (Rom. 8:3). Even in these poems, however, glimpses of Christ shine through. He is our hope (3:21, 24, 29). He is the manifestation of God’s mercy and compassion (3:22, 23, 32). He is our redemption and vindication (3:58, 59).
The Holy Spirit at Work. Divine grief over the sins of Israel (2:1–6) reminds us that the Holy Spirit was, and still is, often grieved by our behavior (Is. 63:10). Repentance is also an indication of the work of the Holy Spirit among God’s people (3:40–42; John 16:7–11).
Jack W. Hayford, Spirit Filled Life Study Bible
LAMENTATIONS
Author: Probably Jeremiah
Date: 587 B.C.
Theme: Suffering as Punishment for Sin
Key Words: Hardship, Sorrow, Sin, Prayer
Name of the Book. As was their custom, the Jews used the first word of the book as its title, and it originally became known as ’ekah, “How!” This word was commonly used to mean something like “Alas!” Compare its use in 2:1; 4:1; and Isaiah 1:21. Some also referred to the book as qinot or “lamentations,” however, and this is how we arrived at the English title.
Author. The author is not named, but traditions long before Christ claim that Jeremiah wrote it. Some scholars have doubted this and point to a number of differences between the use of poetic style, words, and expressions in this book and those used in the Book of Jeremiah, as well as to certain differences in emphasis. However, the prophet was known to compose laments (2 Chr. 35:25), and there is an even more impressive array of similarities, as we shall see when we examine the text. The differences, therefore, could simply be due to the different circumstances under which Lamentations was written.
Historical Background. The Judahites had been able to think of themselves only as God’s chosen race. As such, they felt that they would always experience good things. God had made covenants of blessing with them, but these were conditional. Blatant disobedience would mean that the pleasurable aspects of blessing would be replaced by punishment. The fulfillment of the promises of blessing could always skip a few generations of disobedient Israelites.
The books of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles describe the moral decline of the kingdom of Judah (in spite of prophetic warnings) that would lead to its defeat and captivity (see 2:17). When King Zedekiah rebelled against the Babylonians, to whom Judah was subject, Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem (2 Kin. 24:20). While he was besieging it, the people inside were starving. When he breached the wall, Zedekiah and the soldiers managed to escape (2 Kin. 25:4). But they were soon taken captive. Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar’s official, destroyed most of Jerusalem, burned the temple, and carried all but the poorest people into exile (2 Kin. 25:8–12).
The poems of this book seem to have been composed during and after the time in which all this was happening. These poems are especially heartrending when they contrast the former blessings and strengths of Judah with the chaos and suffering their sin had brought on them (see note on 1:7). The chosen, favored people had lost everything and were in a hopeless position. Everything of significance had been destroyed. But the poems also describe the ministry of Jeremiah, sent again as a prophet to speak about the changed circumstances of God’s people. He helped them to give the necessary expression to their grief and to comfort them in it. He also encouraged them to think about the hand of God on them in punishment and helped them to submit penitently to the judgment they deserved until it had passed (3:28–33). Only after the people were completely humbled would they be able to think of restoration.
Structure. Laments were typically composed as poetry in the ancient world. Jeremiah had already written some (see Jer. 7:29; 9:10, 19), and so had other prophets. See Ezek. 19:1–14; Amos 5:1–3. But this book contains the longest and best known of such poems. There are five poems. The first four are acrostics, or poems in which each stanza begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. These were probably acknowledged as special artistic achievements in those days. A number of the Psalms are acrostics. See Psalms 25, 34, 37, and 119. This device may have assisted memorization, but it also seems to indicate here that the poet was expressing all his feelings from Aleph to Tau, or as we would say, from A to Z. He was working through every grief, hurt, and fear, and was opening up completely to both man and God.
The fifth poem is not an acrostic, probably because it is a personal prayer, which could have made the material unsuitable for the acrostic form.
There is little systematic arrangement of subject matter throughout the book as a whole, except for a possible climax in chapter 3 and a progressive conclusion in the final two chapters. But this is, after all, the nature of grief. It waxes and wanes, goes away, and returns again unexpectedly.
Themes. Lamentations features six major themes, all linked with the concept of suffering:
1. Their Suffering Was the Result of Their Sin. This strong theme is acknowledged in each chapter (as in 1:5; 2:14; 3:42; 4:13; 5:16). By the time the poems were written, this was obviously fully accepted. Even the Babylonians acknowledged the fact (Jer. 40:3). They knew that their suffering had not come upon them by chance. It was due to the wrath of God provoked by their sin (2:1). He was dealing with their spiritual condition, and they were supposed to take it personally.
2. Their Suffering Was Seen as Coming from God Rather Than from Men. The Babylonians were no more than an instrument in His hands. The fact that He was the ultimate cause is brought out throughout the book. No less than forty-four verses refer to this fact—an average of 1 out of every 3.5 verses. A few examples are 1:13, 15; 2:1, 4; 3:1, 37, 38.
3. Their Suffering Could Direct Them Toward God. The prophet is constantly conscious of God, of His purposes, and of His dealings with His people. There is no indication here of suffering resulting in a total abandonment of God or an eradication of His principles from their minds.
4. Suffering, Tears, and Prayer Belong Together. They were encouraged to pour out their hearts to God, to weep before Him, and to tell Him all the details of their pain, grief, and frustration. Each chapter, except chapter 4, ends with a prayer. But then the whole of chapter 5 is a prayer, as though making up for this lack. The prayers are both detailed (2:20, 21; 5:1–10) and emotional (1:20, 21; 3:48–51). They contain the language of grief and repentance (1:20; 3:40–42), and are an indication that it is entirely appropriate to pray like this when the occasion demands it.
5. Prayer Should Always Look for Some Ray of Hope. It should never be completely given over to sorrow. After the detailed descriptions of suffering and sorrow in the first two and one-half chapters, a new understanding seems to surface in 3:21–24. Here the poet speaks about hope, and about God’s mercies, compassion, and faithfulness. It was a realization that a manifestation of God’s discipline did not mean that His love had ceased. When the discipline had accomplished His purpose, the circumstances would change (3:31, 32). God may have been using Babylon, but that did not mean that they were His elect or that He favored their cruel methods (3:34–36). The future held a vindication of Israel over their enemies (3:58–66).
6. Their Responsibility Was to Submit to Their Sufferings Patiently. Their sorrow had to be accepted in patience, with the realization that it would end when God’s will had been accomplished (3:26–32).
Personal Application. This book has a great deal to say to us today:
1. The best way to survive grief is to express it. It needs to be shared with others and with God. There is a therapeutic value in working through each aspect of sorrow.
2. The destruction of Jerusalem and the lessons God taught His people were so significant that the Jews started reading this book at an annual service to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem. They did not want the painful experience to be forgotten. Defeats as well as victories need to be remembered. If the church would commemorate some of its failures, for which God has had to discipline it, these failures would be less likely to be repeated.
3. When Christians have received much blessing and enlightenment from God, and then turn their backs on Him, it is an extremely serious matter. Privileges do not protect us either from responsibility or from discipline. They increase our responsibility and our culpability, and deserve more serious discipline. This is particularly true of church leaders.
4. To what extent does God punish His people for their sins today? Christ’s death for us and His resurrection have certainly redeemed us. We do not bear retributive punishment for any sin we commit, since Christ has suffered in our place. We are living under a different covenant than did the Jews of 587 B.C. Even unbelievers are not normally punished for their sins until the next life (2 Pet. 2:4–10). But both believers and unbelievers sometimes have to suffer the consequences of past sins, such as drug addiction, drunkenness, and murder. And God often allows suffering in our lives to discipline us (Heb. 12:3–17). Through it we learn to obey Him and become stronger Christians (vv. 9, 12, 13)./AN+ Another consideration is church discipline. Christians who turn their backs on God should undergo some discipline in their home church. God sometimes disciplines people Himself by allowing suffering (1 Cor. 5:1–6) and even death (Acts 5:1–11). The main purpose of discipline, however, is restoration (2 Cor. 2:5–8). Even though we are not retributively punished for our sins, God will sometimes allow us to suffer when we have sinned in order to restore us to fellowship with Him. We need to submit to what God is doing and attempt to learn from the experience. If it is God’s discipline, it will last as long as is necessary. There is no quick-fix solution to some of these problems and no easy way out. Discipline will direct us to God, drive us to prayer, and bring us into submission. We need it.
5. Of course, not all suffering is the result of God’s discipline. Satan, too, can bring suffering on us (Job 2:7; Luke 13:16), but the suffering he brings is destructive rather than restorative.
Christ Revealed. This book shows how weak people are under the Law, and how unable they are to serve God in their own strength. This drives them to Christ (Rom. 8:3). Even in these poems, however, glimpses of Christ shine through. He is our hope (3:21, 24, 29). He is the manifestation of God’s mercy and compassion (3:22, 23, 32). He is our redemption and vindication (3:58, 59).
The Holy Spirit at Work. Divine grief over the sins of Israel (2:1–6) reminds us that the Holy Spirit was, and still is, often grieved by our behavior (Is. 63:10). Repentance is also an indication of the work of the Holy Spirit among God’s people (3:40–42; John 16:7–11).
Jack W. Hayford, Spirit Filled Life Study Bible
