The Book of Lamentations

Jeremiah wrote a series of laments to express his deep sorrow and emotional pain over Jerusalem's destruction.


The book is a series of five laments - each one written as a complete work by itself. The first one describes Jerusalem's destruction and the prophets grief expressed as desperate cries to God. This lament is sometimes personified as the lament of Jerusalem. In his second lament Jeremiah describes the cause of this destruction as God's judgment toward a rebellious people who refused to repent. Judah's enemy (Babylon) was God's instrument of judgment. The third lament urges the nation to remember that God is merciful and faithful and that He is good to those who keep their trust and hope in Him. The fourth lament tells in different words the themes of the previous three. The references to Zion throughout the book are another way of describing Jerusalem. Zion was the name of an ancient Jebusite mountain fortress and part of King David's original conquest of the city.


The five laments of the book each have 22 verses (except chapter three which 22 times 3, or 66 verses). The number 22 is the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet.


Five major features characterize the book of Lamentations. 1. Although songs of individual and community lament and mourning occur in the psalms and in the prophetic books, Lamentations is the only book of the Bible composed only of poems of grief. . Its literary structure is entirely poetic, with four of the book's five laments being acrostic. 3. Only Lamentations gives a full picture of the emotions and feelings of those who actually experienced the tragedy. 4. At the center of the book is one of the most powerful statements about God's faithfulness and salvation found in the entire Bible. Though Lamentations begins with a lament, it rightly ends on a note of repentance and hope for restoration. 5. There are no quotations from this book in the New Testament and only a few possible hints of reference.


Like Romans 1:18; 3:20, the five chapters of Lamentations challenge us to reflect on the seriousness of sin and the certainty of God's judgment. At the same time, they remind us that because of the Lord's compassion and mercy, He makes salvation available for all who turn from their sins to follow Him.