Writers have the gift of words and one of the greatest exercises of this gift is to provide humans with language for our deepest suffering. Biblical writers did not neglect this essential function and wrote numerous laments. The most famous lament is the Book of Lamentations in the Bible.
Lamentations isn’t, however, the only biblical lament. Of the 150 Psalms, at least one-third are laments, making psalms of lament the most common category of psalm. The prophets Habakkuk and Jeremiah expressed great laments which means they often expressed great sorrow or regret. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines lament as crying out or wailing in grief, mourning aloud.
We all lament. Jesus warned His disciples that in this world, we will have trouble, but we should not lose heart because He has overcome the world (John 16:33). Even Jesus expressed lament. His lament over Jerusalem is recorded in Luke 13:34-35 ESV, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
However, when we think about lamentations in the Bible, most of us turn to the Old Testament book titled Lamentations in English Bibles. The Hebrew Bible titles books by their first words, so Lamentations is titled “eyka,” meaning “How” or “Alas,” an expression of suffering. In the Talmud, Lamentations is referred to as Qinot, which is translated as “elegies” or “laments.” The first verse of Lamentations reads:
“How lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like a widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
has become a slave.” (Lamentations 1:1 ESV)
What Is the Book of Lamentations About?
As the opening verse implies, the Book of Lamentations in the Bible is comprised of five poems grieving the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. This event occurred when, due to their relentless sins, God allowed the Babylonians to overtake the ancient Israelites and force them into captivity in foreign lands.
The narrator speaks as an eyewitness, sometimes personifying Jerusalem, such as in Lamentations 1:18 ESV:
“The Lord is in the right,
for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and see my suffering;
my young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.”
In English Bibles, Lamentations is included in the prophets and follows Jeremiah. In the Hebrew Scriptures, however, it is included in the writings, along with The Book of Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and the Book of Esther. Each of these is read at a specific festival. Lamentations is read on the fast day of Tisha B'Av (the Ninth of Av) (July–August) that commemorates the destruction of both the first (586 BC by the Babylonians) and second (70 AD by the Romans) temples.
Who Wrote the Book of Lamentations and Why?
Traditionally, authorship of Lamentations is attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, often known as “the weeping prophet.” There are several reasons for this including a) Jeremiah was an eyewitness to the fall of Jerusalem, b) there are similarities in style and vocabulary between Lamentations and the Book of Jeremiah, and c) some copies of the Greek Septuagint credit Jeremiah with its writing. However, the book of Lamentations itself does not identify its author and some scholars note key differences in the vocabulary as well as observing that Jeremiah doesn’t mention writing Lamentations in his book. What is clear is that the author was a skilled writer who witnessed the destruction of his beloved city, Jerusalem.
What Is the Historical Context of Lamentations?
From the time God gave the Law to Moses, He promised the Israelites that if they followed His laws and worshipped God alone rather than running after idols, they would prosper in the land He was giving them. However, He warned them that if they engaged in idol worship, they would suffer.
Through the time of Joshua, the Judges, and Saul, David, and Solomon, the Israelites cycled through periods of obeying and worshipping God alone, followed by disobeying and following after idols, suffering, repenting, and returning to God’s laws.
After Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was divided, with Jerusalem as the capital of the Southern Kingdom and Samaria as the capital of the Northern Kingdom. God allowed the Northern Kingdom to fall to the Assyrians in 722 B.C. God sent many prophets to warn the people of the Southern Kingdom that He would not put up with these cycles of rebellion forever, and finally, during the days of Jeremiah, God issued a declaration that destruction was imminent.
“Their houses shall be turned over to others,
their fields and wives together,
for I will stretch out my hand
against the inhabitants of the land,”
declares the Lord.
“For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,’
says the Lord” (Jeremiah 6:12-15 ESV)
Two hundred years after the fall of the North, God used Israel’s enemies to destroy their beautiful Jerusalem and conquer the Southern Kingdom. The armies of Babylon emptied the promised land and dragged God’s people into exile.
What Are the Major Themes in Lamentations?
The primary theme of Lamentations is grief in the midst of devastating loss. Jerusalem was at the heart of Jewish life, central to everything that made them distinct from other nations. Sadly, the people had forfeited their distinction from other nations by worshipping idols rather than the One True God. Because of this, they witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem.
Chapters 1 and 5 provide summaries of the siege and fall of Jerusalem while chapters 2-4 provide horrifying, detailed descriptions of what the writer has witnessed. God warned them that judgement would come and He is true to His Word. This theme is a powerful warning for us now to avail ourselves of salvation in Christ before the final judgement that will also come.
Remarkably, in chapter 3, the writer pivots from detailing his sorrow to expressing confidence in the steadfast love of the Lord. Here, we find hope in the midst of sorrow and certainty of God’s faithfulness even in the midst of the consequences of sin. It is a powerful testimony to God’s enduring kindness even toward those who have rebelled against Him. It foreshadows what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:13 ESV, “if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.”
What Are the Most Important Verses in Lamentations?
At the heart of the Book of Lamentations are these six key verses:
“But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,
‘therefore I will hope in him.’
The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:21-26 ESV).
Even though the narrator is crushed, brokenhearted, and defeated by the enemy, He trusts in the nature of the God he knows. Even though the Israelites know they deserve this punishment, this one writer is clear that they can still trust God’s mercy and steadfast love. This is a remarkable witness to the reliability of God’s goodness, His unchangeable nature, and His promise to honor repentance and leave a remnant of His people despite the magnitude of their sins.
Laments were written by other ancient cultures. The Mesopotamians wrote laments for the destruction of Ur and of Sumer as well as other cities. The Book of Lamentations is similar and demonstrates the value of looking unflinchingly at suffering and detailing the horrors of it. Lamentations, however, also embraces the perspective that suffering is not the end for those whose faith is in the Lord.
How Does Lamentations Express Biblical Grief and Repentance?
In the New Testament, Paul wrote this admonition to the Thessalonian believers. “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 ESV). The author of Lamentations foreshadows this perspective as he expresses his grief and devastation in agonizing detail, but hinges his entire book on his unfailing hope in the steadfast love and mercy of the Lord.
The writers of Psalms also followed this pattern in their psalms of lament. They poured out their hearts to God about loss, betrayal, persecution, sorrow, sadness, and grief while always pointing toward their hope of deliverance, their confidence that God hears, and their certainty of God’s love and mercy.
While it is a foreign nation that besieges and defeats Israel, the narrator attributes what has happened to the allowance of God because of the sins of the Jews. Lamentations 1:14 ESV says,
“My transgressions were bound into a yoke;
by his hand they were fastened together;
they were set upon my neck;
he caused my strength to fail;
the Lord gave me into the hands
of those whom I cannot withstand.”
Lamentations 1:20 is a plaintive cry:
“Look, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.”
The writer spares no detail of his suffering and yet, his cry is to the Lord as he accepts responsibility for his sins and the sins of his people.
In chapter 3, the narrator calls the people to repent and to look to God for hope with these words from 3:28-33 ESV.
“Let him sit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
let him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
for he does not afflict from his heart
or grieve the children of men.”
What Hope Does Lamentations Offer Believers Today?
Lamentations is a powerful book for anyone facing great suffering, especially suffering they have brought upon themselves. It provides evidence that God does not turn away when we detail the consequences of tragedy in our lives and when we pour out our hearts in grief, loss, or sorrow. Furthermore, it provides evidence that even when we have authored our own destruction, we can turn to God, repent, and hope in His unfailing mercy and His steadfast love.
Conclusion
Lamentations is a relevant book for every Christian and seeker wanting to know that God understands suffering. The emotional honesty of the lament will resonate with modern men and women and serves as guide for those tempted to go silent with God in the face of the unimaginable. If an Old Testament writer can find hope in the midst of judgment, how much more can we hope in Christ to deliver us in every way?
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