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Background to the Book of Lamentations Historical: The five chapters appear to be the work of one man, who lived when Jerusalem was facing one crisis after another. Josiah was killed in 609 BCE in a battle with the Egyptians. It was a disaster in more ways than one. The reforms begun by Josiah came to an end and the kings following Josiah did not have ability to lead. After a brief period Babylon became the superior power and it was the begriming of the end for Judah. The over-all style, vocabulary, and content of all the chapters support unity of authorship. In chap. 1, the author has experienced the first of the disasters at least which is the recent and preliminary crisis of 597. In chs. 2 and 4, the experience of the 587-586 debacle intensifies his grief and poetry. Chapters 3 and 5 reflect the chaos, exhaustion, and political oppression that followed upon the fall of the city and the second deportation (Guinan:558-562). Lamentations speaks about the period 609-586 and supplements the material of 2 Kgs 22-25, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. When we read this book the impact of the siege, with the consequences of famine, death, disgrace and loss of all that had been promised by the Patriarchs, is very poignant . A vain attempt to overthrow Neo-Babylonian domination resulted in 597 in the deportation of King Jehoiachin and important elements of the population. After ten more years under Babylon, Jerusalem rebelled again unsuccessfully; the city was besieged and leveled, and new deportations followed. As we have been reading in previous weeks about Jeremiah, so this is the same period from which these Lamentations come. Whether, as some scholars suggest the book was written later and was not the immediate response to the horrendous tragedy of these years is not really important (O'Connor: 1015). It stands as a nation's expression of grief and loss at what is happening to them. Literary Background to the Book: The name of the book comes to us through the Greek translation (threnoi) via the Latin Vulgate (Lamentationes). The Jews use the first word "eka" (alas) as the name which is how the books of Hebrew Scriptures are all named. Unlike some books which had difficulty getting into the the Hebrew Scriptures there has never been any problems of acceptance for the Book of Lamentations. The poems have often been inscribed to Jeremiah because of similar period of time, but it was only later in the Greek version of the Hebrew text that the following line was added, "Jeremiah sat weeping and lamented this lamentation over Jerusalem" (O'Connor: 1016). In the Masoretic Text (between 800-1,000 CE the Masoretes added vowels to the Hebrew Scripture) the Book of Lamentations is placed among the Writings and not immediately after Jeremiah. The Jews read Lamentations every year on a set date which commemorates five calamities which includes the destruction of the First and Second Temples. Because poetry uses images and other poetic devices the message has more impact than a simple narrative of Jerusalem’s fall. All the poems collected here are written in a particular Hebrew metre called by many scholars "qina" or lament metre. It is often difficult to translate the Hebrew into English and retain the same sense of rhyme and metre because words do not exactly match between the languages. A further specialty about these poems is their creation using acrostics, that is, each new stanza begins with the a letter of the alphabet in sequence, aleph, beth, gimmel - in English it would be, a, b, c (Lam 5 is the exception). Scholars are uncertain why this particular form is used, although some suggest it is an aid to memory or it is simply a poetic device which shows the creative genius of the author. The poems are created as follows: Lam 1 = acrostic, 22 verses of 3 lines each, 66 lines; Lam 2= acrostic 22 verses of 3 lines each, 66 lines; Lam 3 = acrostic, 66 verses of one line each with three verses per letter; Lam 4 = acrostic, 22 verses of two lines each, 44 lines; Lam 5 = not acrostic, 22 verses of one line each, 22 lines (O'Connor: 1018). |
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Context of Lamentations 1:1-6 In the Christian Scriptures Lamentations comes directly after the Book of Jeremiah. Lamentations 1 describes the desolation of the city of Jerusalem which is personified as a woman (Salter's:73). Chapter two concentrates on the cause of the lamentation and further mourns their situation. The lament becomes more personal in chapter three and at one point has a statement of trust which is followed by a sceptical statement about whether Yahweh is really in control. The author returns to the desperate state of Jerusalem and describes in detail the scenes in the streets before the last poem which calls on Yahweh to consider the affliction of Jerusalem and a final prayer for its restoration. Berlin says of these laments that they," eternalize the catastrophic moment and its aftermath, freezing it in time, probing it from various perspectives, and preserving it forever" (Berlin:1). |
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Insights/Message of Lamentations 1:1-6 Literary structure: The lament over a city is quite a common literary form in the Ancient Near East. However, the form has been adapted so that Jerusalem becomes personified and is not associated with a goddess. Images of women suffering are portrayed in these poems as wives who become widows and mothers who have lost children. Images of woman as harlot have been used a great deal in the prophetic material and come to the fore later in this chapter. Lam 1 begins with Jerusalem as a widow. This image not only evokes loneliness but as widow she is without means of support and is totally dependent on others for survival (Laws in Deuteronomy provide for the widow, orphan and sojourner). As women in a different time and place there are many who find the images of harlotry offensive and this is understandable. We are asked to read the poetry with the eyes of the world as it was and with the view that adultery was a shameful practice and the women was usually blamed. So, when it is applied to Jerusalem, the city, we are being asked to accept that Jerusalem has brought upon herself the disaster which she is experiencing at this time. Lam 1:1-6 is part of a longer lament vv.1-22 which can be divided into 1-11b = She has no-one to comfort her; 11c-22 = no-one to comfort me. The reference to Daughter Zion in v.6 becomes the first person speaker in 11c -22 (O'Connor: 1027). The use of different voices in the Book of Lamentations emphases the the depth of the disaster. The structure of the verses move back and forward between what was the situation of Zion and her present disaster. Message / Theology: Jerusalem is destitute without means of support or survival. A lament can be an expression of anger, despair, blame, grief, hopelessness and many other feelings. This city is feeling all the pain and loss suffered by those who are devastated by war. The fact that they may have brought it on themselves by their rebellion against Babylon does not lessen the severe feelings evoked by all their losses. The contrasts described in v.1 highlight the loss: loneliness, nothingness, and servitude. The once frequented city is now without those who would travel into her gates and the people who live within her walls are gone into exile. The suffering is caused by the city's transgressions in the past.Many of us are not good at mourning; we hide away from the pain and the grief of our losses. The people of Old Testament don't hide their pain and anger when they suffer any loss. In this instant their losses are more severe than any they have experienced previously. They have lost the temple, the city, their land and the Davidic King has gone into exile. So along with the physical hardships and conditions they have lost the promises given to Abraham in relation to land and a great nation and the later promise to David that his line will be forever. It is hard for us to realize just how devastating this was for the people. For some it would suggest that the foreign gods are more powerful than Yahweh. We can lament many situations in the world today. Indeed, some of those situations have been caused by the sin of greed or need for power and corporately, we are part of that. However, there is personal loss which is not the consequence of sin - illness or accident. It is helpful to give permission to people to lament their loss in whatever ways are helpful. |
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Resources/Worship for Lamentations 1:1-6 Worship: Christians often use readings from Lamentations during the Holy Week liturgies of Tenebrae and Good Friday. I think it would be helpful to talk about the historical situation and the losses as described in the above material to help people understand the devastated feelings of the people. It is helpful on a pastoral leel to preach this for people who might never have grieved. It could be that the prayers are formed as a lament, confession and intercession. Resources: Commentaries The Old Testament Guides (OTG) by Sheffield Academic Press are an excellent small resource which give many suggestions for readings on particular aspects in the book. The New Interpreter's Bible is another very helpful resource and published in the late 1990's - 2002 is more up to date than some earlier works. Guinan, Michael D. "Lamentations, " pp.558-62 in The New Jerome
Biblical Commentary, edited by Raymond E. Brown et al. Englewood cliffs,
NJ.: Prentice - Hall, 1990 The Dramatised Bible: ed. Michael Perry. London: Marshall Pickering: Bible Society, 1989 Web sites with helpful lectionary resources: These links were updated 23/11/06
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