10/24/2020 – Day 160 – Lamentations 1 – 5 – Introduction – Part 1 of ?
I’m actually jumping forward as I don’t know if I will be able to post for the next week or so. We should have extended our Jeremiah saturday study one more week to include the book of Lamentations? Why, because most bible scholars ascribe authorship to Jeremiah, by God’s hand of course.
I quote from my Haley’s Bible Handbook:
“A Funeral Dirge Over the Desolation of Jerusalem
Jeremiah’s Sorrow over teh city he had done his best to save, not without faith that the city would rise again from its ruins (3:21, 31, 32) Jerusalem did rise, and gave its name to the capital of a Redeemed World of Eterrnal Glory (Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 21:2)
An Appendage to Jeremiah
The last chapter of Jeremiah should be read as an introduction to this book. The Septuagint gives this prefix: ‘And it came to pass, after Israel was led into captivity and Jerusalem was laid waste , that Jeremiah sat weepng , and lamented over Jerusalem, and said:’…. This book of Lamentations, to this day, throughout the world, wherever there are Jews, is read in the synagogs, on the 9th day of the 4th month (Jermiah 52:6).
“Jeremiah’s Grotto”
Is the name of the place, just outside the north wall of Jerusalem, where tradition says. Jeremiah wept bitter tears and composed thsi sorrorful elegy. This grotto is under the knoll that is now called ‘Golgotha,’ the self-same hill on which the cross of Jesus stood. Thus the suffering prophet wept where later the suffering Saviour died.
An Alphabetic Acrostic
The book consists of five poems, four of which are acrostic, taht is, each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in alphabetic sequence. This was a favorite form of Hebrew poetry, adopted to help the memory. In chapters 1,2,4, there are 22 verses in each, 1 verse to a letter. In chapter 3 there were 3 verses to each letter, making 66 in all. Chapter 5 has 22 verses , but not in alphabetic order.
The Immediate Use
The book must have been composted int he 3 months between the burning of Jerusalem and the departure of the remnant to Egypt (Jeremiah 39:2; 41:1, 18; 43:7), during which the seat of government was at Mizpah (Jeremiah 40:8). Probably a number of copies were made; some token to Egypt; others sent to Babylon, for the captives to memorize and sing.”