The Babylonians captured the city of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. In the Book of Lamentations, the writer grieves over Jerusalem being destroyed.
The Book of Lamentations is organized into five poems. The writer describes how God allowed Jerusalem to be destroyed because the people sinned against him. However, the writer also states that God is always loving and faithful to his people. (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin]] and [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/faith]])
The text of Lamentations does not give the name of the author. The traditional view is that Jeremiah wrote it. The writer seems to have personally seen Jerusalem destroyed. The serious and grieving words in the Book of Jeremiah are similar to those in the Book of Lamentations.
Translators may use the traditional title of "Lamentations." Or they may call the book "Poems of Sadness." If translators want to take the view that the prophet Jeremiah wrote this book, they might decide on a title such as "The Sad Sayings of Jeremiah." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-names]])
He rejected Israel for a period of time as the special place where he would be present. However, God remained faithful to what he promised Israel in his covenant.
While it was common in the ancient Near East to think that a god might leave his city, he usually did so because he was too weak to defend it. In Lamentations, Yahweh abandons Jerusalem because the people sinned against him, not because he was too weak to defend the city. (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/falsegod]])
People groups commonly sing songs after someone dies or during a funeral. Depending on the culture, these songs can sound either happy or sad. The Book of Lamentations is like a sad song, called a "lament," sung at a funeral. Some scholars think the rhythm of the poems in Hebrew makes them sound slow like a funeral procession.
Lamentations is a collection of five poems. The Jewish exiles living in captivity in Babylon may have sung or chanted these laments. The Jews who remained in Jerusalem after the Babylonians conquered it may also have sung them. In Chapters 1, 2, and 4, each line of the poem begins with a different Hebrew letter, in the order of the Hebrew alphabet. The third chapter repeats three lines starting with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The next three lines begin with next letter in the Hebrew alphabet.
The author uses the image of an abandoned woman and a persecuted man to represent Judah and Jerusalem. He uses this type of personification to help readers understand the pain. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-personification]])
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