Commentary on the book of Lamentations of Jeremiah

Book title. In the Hebrew Bible this book is called etcha “as”, that is, the particle with which the 1st century begins. first chapter. The rabbis called it kinotti - sobs, which name was adopted by the Greek translators who called it θρηνοι - weeping, sobs. This title completely defines the content of the book, which is a series of lamentable songs about the destruction of Jerusalem, similar to those songs that were composed on the occasion of the death of loved and respected persons (for example, David’s song about the death of Saul and Jonathan). The writer of the book and the time it was written. LXX translators (hereinafter the word “translators” is absent) directly attribute the book of Lamentations to the prophet Jeremiah, calling it “Lamentations of Jeremiah.” In addition, LXX has a special inscription for the book, which is also included in our Slavic Bible. It reads as follows: “And it came to pass that Israel was carried into captivity, and Jerusalem was devastated, and Jeremiah the prophet sat down weeping: and he wept with this lamentation over Jerusalem and said.” From here it is clearly seen that sacred tradition from ancient times considered the author of the book of Lamentations to be the prophet Jeremiah. The same tradition was preserved among the Jews. The impression one gets from the book fully corresponds to this legend. All parts of Lamentation clearly reflect the characteristics of Jeremiah's character, his views, and even the speech of the book undoubtedly indicates that this book belongs to the prophet Jeremiah. Then, the author of Lamentations, obviously, has just experienced the horrors of the siege and capture of Jerusalem and writes under the fresh impression of the catastrophe that has taken place. It is clear that the book was written shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem, even before the time when Jeremiah was carried away by his fellow tribesmen to Egypt. Subject of the book. The entire book is a depiction of the unfortunate fate of Jerusalem, interrupted at times by confession of the sins of the Jewish people, and then by prayers to God for help. It is divided into five chapters or songs, the first of which is entirely imbued with inconsolable sorrow about the taking of the Jews into captivity and the destruction of Zion, and is also dedicated to depicting the misfortunes of the Jews who remained on the ruins of destroyed Jerusalem. The second song contains a new and intensified complaint about the destruction of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah; The prophet recognizes this death as a well-deserved punishment for the crimes of the Jewish people before God. The third song is a manifestation of the highest tension of the prophet’s grief. If earlier, in the first two songs, only the sounds of an approaching thunderstorm were heard, then here the thunderstorm breaks out with all its force. But, just as a thunderstorm clears the air, so great sorrow enlightens the soul, and after painful and bitter complaints, the prophet reveals to his readers a horizon of bright hopes. The fourth song represents the complaint of the prophet in a confused state. The bitterness of sorrow here is tempered by the clear consciousness of one’s guilt before God. The misfortune that befell Jerusalem is here the punishment that the inhabitants of Jerusalem brought upon themselves by their sins. In the fifth canto, finally, the community of believers, together with the prophet, achieves complete peace regarding their fate, and if more complaints are repeated here, they are expressed calmly; they only state the known position of the Jews. Place of the book in the Hebrew and Greek Bibles. If in the Greek Bible the book of Lamentations follows directly after the book of prophecies of Jeremiah, then in the Hebrew it is classified in the section of the so-called Ketubim, or hagiographs, and is placed after the book of Song of Songs. The basis for the collectors of the Jewish canon in this case could be the fact that in the book. Lamentation, in fact, does not contain direct prophecies, but the feelings of a believing heart are expressed, and therefore this book is more like works of a lyrical nature, which, for the most part, are the books of Ketubim. Features of the external form of the book. Each of the five songs of Lamentation has 22 verses, according to the number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and only in the third song each verse is divided into three parts, so that there are 66 verses. The first four songs are acrostics, that is, the initial letters of their verses are the initial letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the third song, each of the three parts, or members of the verse, begins with the same letter. This whole construction has a deep meaning. The Prophet seems to want to say by this that he expressed the fullness of the suffering of his people, that he did not miss anything that can be expressed in ordinary human words, no matter what letters they begin with. Only when his grief subsides, precisely by the 5th canto, does he cease to observe this acrostic order and the 5th canto retains only the number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet, but is not an acrostic. You might be interested in: