|
Bible Overview is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in Bible study. Each month we feature a book of the Bible (in order) by Bible scholar and lecturer, Mary Jane Chaignot. This month we have two entries, Lamentations and Ezekiel.
Lamentations is a short book consisting of five laments. The English Bible, which follows the LXX, positions the book between Jeremiah and Ezekiel and refers to them as the laments of Jeremiah. Indeed, its opening lines are: “And it came to pass after Israel had been taken away into captivity and Jerusalem had been laid waste that Jeremiah sat weeping and lamented this lamentation over Jerusalem and said….” The Hebrew Bible does not attribute authorship to anyone and includes the book in the Writings as one of the five scrolls (Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Esther, and Song of Songs). If you want to read some of the history previous to this selection, you can find the earlier books in our archives.
The Book of Ezekiel, named for its author, is one of the three major books of prophetic material. Like the works of Isaiah and Jeremiah, which preceded this book, Ezekiel is also found in the second division, known as The Prophets. Like Jeremiah, he, too, addresses the nation of Israel prior to the fall of Jerusalem, but he does it from Babylon. After the fall, his warnings turned to assurances, culminating in a vision of what life would be like after they returned to their homeland. If you want to read some of the history previous to this selection, you can find the earlier books in our archives.
The Bible Time-Line is another quick reference for locating individuals or specific books. We encourage readers to share their Bible Study success stories on this site. Email us at overview@biblewise.com to be included on next month's site.
Lamentations
The title of the book differs in the English and Hebrew Bibles. The LXX is the source for Lamentations, but in the Hebrew canon, it is simply ekah, or “How,” which is the first word of three of the laments. Like the other minor scrolls, it is read as part of the Jewish liturgy on designated feast days. This one is read on the 9th day of Ab, which is the fifth month of the Jewish calendar. This feast commemorates both destructions of the Temple, and falls in late summer between Pentecost and Tabernacles.
The most interesting feature of Lamentations is that four of the five chapters are alphabetic acrostics. Simply stated, each verse of the first four chapters begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet – all twenty-two letters. The fifth chapter is a twenty-two-line poem, but its verses do not follow the acrostic pattern. There are several thoughts on this. One is that it made it easier to memorize. Another is that it was intended to illustrate complete comprehensiveness, as though the author was saying it covered everything from A to Z. In either case, scholars recognize the skill and ingenuity required in order to follow the format of the pattern.
There is considerable consensus that the event precipitating the poem is the destruction of Jerusalem in 586-7BCE. There is little agreement, however, on whether this was, indeed, an eyewitness account or if it was compiled later on. The eyewitness theory attributes authorship to Jeremiah. Even though there are similarities in the writing (which could be attributed to anyone writing in that general period), there are several verses that cannot be ascribed to him. The author of Lamentations saw the destruction as incomprehensible and not expected, whereas Jeremiah had been preaching the demise of the city his whole ministry. The author expressed great disappointment with alliances that failed; Jeremiah spoke continually against the need for any outside help and diligently exhorted people to depend solely on the Lord. There is also the sense from the book that the Temple was inviolate; Jeremiah preached otherwise. Nor is he likely to have written in chapter three that his prophetic work was under God’s anger. And the final words of chapter five were written some time after the event, at a time when Jeremiah was already long gone to Egypt. So, most scholars allocate Lamentations to an anonymous author or authors.
Theologically speaking, the book attributes the people’s suffering to their sins and God’s sense of justice, while still including expressions of hope that God would be also merciful and just. In a sense, then, it deals with the issue of suffering on a national scale, much like Job deals with it on an individual level. Truth be known, however, this author cannot accept the fact that their sins were that bad, to result in complete destruction. It is overwhelming to him (or her). In fact, the great paradox is that even though the author believes God has abandoned them, he also knows they have no hope apart from God. In a very deep way, it is similar to Jesus’ cry from the cross – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” If he really believed God had done so, what would have been the point of crying out to him? The author of Lamentations foreshadows that. But it is a theology that doesn’t have a tidy resolution by the end of the book. Nor is it limited to one particular disaster. That makes it particularly relevant for modern readers. We are able to empathize with the people who are suffering, to feel their frustration. We are also able to participate in their attempt to understand, to experience the reality of God in spite of the challenges of suffering and disaster. Lamentations does not give us the answers. It asks the questions and invites us to learn from the voice that is silent.
Each of the five laments is distinctive. The first is a city-lament spoken by a narrator. The second describes the destruction of the city and, with forceful language, the suffering endured by the people. The third is different from the others in that it is the voice of a “strong man,” someone who has suffered and has survived. The fourth reverts back to the narrator, who identifies with the sufferers and calls for revenge on the oppressors. The fifth chapter is comprised of general statements about the city’s miseries. |
