THIS book, like the several books of the Pentateuch, is denominated in Hebrew איכה eicah, how, from its first word; and sometimes קינות kinnoth, lamentations, from its subject. In the Septuagint it is termed ΘΡΗΝΟΙ ΤΟΥ ΙΕΡΕΜΟΙΥ, for the same reason. The Syriac and Arabic copy or follow the Septuagint; and so does the Vulgate, from the Lamentationes of which, the book has that name which it bears in our language. In the Chaldee it has no name; and in it, and perhaps anciently in the Hebrew, it was written consecutively with the last chapter of Jeremiah. It is one of the books of the מגילות Megilloth, or Roll, among the Jews; and because it relates to the ruin of their affairs, and contains promises of restoration, it is peculiarly prized, and frequently read. The five Megilloth are: Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Lamentations, Ruth, and Esther. There has been little difference among learned men concerning the author of this book. The whole current of antiquity and modern times has pointed out Jeremiah as the writer: of this the style is a sufficient evidence. Mr. John Henry Pareau, in a Dissertation prefixed to his Translation and Notes on this book, (8vo. Lugd. Bat. 1790,) has proved this point amply from a general collation of the prophecy of Jeremiah with select passages in this book. I have heard of but one learned man who has entertained serious doubts on the subject, Mr. Herman Van der Hardt, who has supposed the five chapters were written by Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Jeconiah. To this opinion I suppose none has ever been converted. There has been more difference of opinion relative to the subject and occasion. Some have thought the book was composed on the death of Josiah; others that it was composed on occasion of the destruction of Jerusalem, and the various desolations connected with it. To this all its parts and its general phraseology seem best to apply; and this is the sentiment most generally embraced at present. This will receive much proof from a minute consideration of the book itself.
The composition of this poem is what may be called very technical. Every chapter, except the last, is an acrostic. Of the two first, each verse begins with a several letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in the order of the letters, with this exception, that in the second, third, and fourth chapters, the p phe is put before the [ ain; whereas in all the acrostic Psalms the latter preceded the former, as it does in all grammars of the Hebrew language. In the first and second chapters each verse is composed of three hemistichs or half verses, except the seventh verse of the first, and the nineteenth of the second chapter, which have each four hemistichs.
The third chapter contains sixty-four verses, each, as before, formed of three hemistichs, but with this difference, that each hemistich begins with the same letter, so that the whole alphabet is thrice repeated in this chapter. The fourth chapter is made up of twenty-two verses, according to the number of the Hebrew letters; but the composition is different from all the rest, for each verse consists of only two hemistichs, and those much shorter than any in the preceding chapters.
I have called this an inimitable poem; better judges are of the same opinion. “Never,” says Bishop Lowth, “was there a more rich and elegant variety of beautiful images and adjuncts arranged together within so small a compass, nor more happily chosen and applied.”
“One would think,” says Dr. South, “that every letter was written with a tear; every word, the sound of a breaking heart: that the author was compacted of sorrows; disciplined to grief from his infancy; one who never breathed but in sighs, nor spoke but in a groan.”
“Nor can we too much admire,” says Dr. Blayney, “the full and graceful flow of that pathetic eloquence in which the author pours forth the effusions of a patriotic heart, and piously weeps over the ruins of his venerable country. But it was observed before that the prophet’s peculiar talent lay in working up and expressing the passions of grief and pity; and, unhappily for him as a man and a citizen, he met with a subject but too well calculated to give his genius its full display.”
David in several places has forcibly depicted the sorrows of a heart oppressed with penitential sorrow; but where, in a composition of such length, have bodily misery and mental agony been more successfully painted? All the expressions and images of sorrow are here exhibited in various combinations, and in various points of view. Misery has no expression that the author of the Lamentations has not employed. Patriots! you who tell us you burn for your country’s welfare, look at the prophecies and history of this extraordinary man; look at his Lamentations; take him through his life to his death, and learn from him what true patriotism means! The man who watched, prayed, and lived for the welfare of his country; who choose to share her adversities, her sorrows, her wants, her afflictions, and disgrace, where he might have been a companion of princes, and have sat at the table of kings; who only ceased to live for his country when he ceased to breathe;-that was a patriot, in comparison with whom almost all others are obscured, minished, and brought low, or are totally annihilated!
THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH
Chronological notes relative to the Book of the Lamentations -Year from the Creation, according to Archbishop Usher, 3416. -Year of the Jewish era of the world, 3173.
-Year from the Deluge, 1760.
-First year of the forty-eighth Olympiad.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to the Varronian account, 166.
-Year before the birth of Christ, 584.
-Year before the vulgar era of Christ’s nativity, 588.
-Year of the Julian Period, 4126.
-Year of the era of Nabonassar, 160.
-Cycle of the Sun, 10.
-Cycle of the Moon, 3.
-Second year after the fourth Sabbatic year after the seventeenth Jewish jubilee, according to Helvicus.
-Twenty-ninth year of Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of the Romans: this was the seventy-ninth year before the commencement of the consular government.
-Thirty-eighth year of Cyaxares or Cyaraxes, the fourth king of Media. -Eighteenth year of Agasicles, king of Lacedæmon, of the family of the Proclidæ.
-Twentieth year of Leon, king of Lacedæmon, of the family of the Eurysthenidæ.
-Thirty-second year of Alyattes II., king of Lydia. This was the father of the celebrated Crœsus.
-Fifteenth year of Æropas, the seventh king of Macedon. -Nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
-Eleventh year of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah.
Joseph Benson
Argument
BEN_VOL5.PDF, source PDF p. 393
THE LAMENTATIONS OF
JEREMIAH.
ARGUMENT.
THIS book has no title in the Hebrew, but, like the five books of Moses, takes its name from the first word of it, איכה, Echah, How. The Jewish commentators, however, entitle it, as the Greeks, Latins, our translators, and others do, Lamentations; an appellation expressive of the subject matter of it, the prophet lamenting in it, and that most pathetically, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, the desolation of Judea, and the captivity of God’s ancient people. Some indeed, and those men of eminence in literature, have supposed that the death of Josiah is the chief subject of these mournful poems, and that these are the lamentations mentioned 2 Chronicles 35:25, as being composed by Jeremiah on that occasion. But, as Blaney justly observes, “whatever is become of those lamentations, these cannot possibly be the same; for their whole tenor, from beginning to end, plainly shows them not to have been composed till the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, and the depopulation of the country by the transmigration of all its inhabitants; which events are not at all described in the style of prophetic prediction, but are alluded to and bewailed as what had been already fully accomplished. And that this was the most ancient opinion held concerning them, appears from the introductory title prefixed to the Greek version of the LXX., and from thence, probably, transmitted to the Latin Vulgate:” (see note on verse 1.) but “the internal evidence is sufficient to ascertain both the date and the occasion of these compositions; nor can we admire too much the full and graceful flow of that pathetic eloquence, in which the author pours forth the effusions of a patriotic heart, and piously weeps over the ruins of his venerable country.” “Never,” says an unquestionable judge of these matters, “was there a more rich and elegant variety of beautiful images and adjuncts arranged together within so small a compass, nor more happily chosen and applied. What can be more elegant and poetical than the image of the city, which was formerly the pride of nations, sitting by herself, absorbed in grief, and a widow; deserted by her friends, betrayed by her relations, stretching out her hands in vain, and finding no one to comfort her? What can be more elegant than the image of the ways of Zion, which are represented as grieving, and demanding the celebration of their solemn festivals? But if we should produce all the beautiful passages, we should be obliged to transcribe the whole poem.” See Bishop Lowth, de Sacra Poesi Hebræorum, Prælec. 22. Indeed, as has been observed, the prophet’s peculiar talent lay in working up and expressing the passions of grief and pity; and, unhappily for him, as a man and a citizen, he met with a subject but too well calculated to give his genius its full display. These Lamentations of Jeremiah are very properly distributed into five chapters, each of them containing a distinct elegy, consisting of twenty-two periods, or stanzas, according to the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet; although it is in the first four chapters only that the several periods begin, acrostic-wise, with the different letters following each other in alphabetical order. By this contrivance the metre is more precisely marked and ascertained, particularly in the third chapter, where each period contains three verses, which have all the same initial letter. The first two chapters in like manner consist of triplets, excepting only the seventh period of the first, and the nineteenth of the second, which have each a supernumerary line. The fourth chapter resembles the three former in metre, but the periods are only couplets. In the fifth chapter the periods are couplets, but of a considerably shorter measure. See Blaney.
Daniel Whedon
Introduction.
WHD_CO07.PDF, source PDF p. 573
LAMENTATIONS
INTRODUCTION.
1. Name.
LIKE most of the books of the Pentateuch, this book is called in the Hebrew by its first word — איכה — How? “Three prophets have used the word איכה with reference to Israel: Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. To what are these to be likened? To three bridesmen who have seen the afterward widowed wife in three stages. The first has seen her in her opulence and her pride, and he said: ‘O how shall I bear alone your overbearing and your strife?’ Deuteronomy 1:12. The second has seen her in her dissipation and her dissoluteness, and he said: ‘O how is she become a harlot!’ Isaiah 1:21. And the third has seen her in her desolation, and he said: ‘O how does she sit solitary!’ Lamentations 1:1.” — Introduction to Echah Rabbathi.
The Rabbins use the name קינת (Kinoth) — Elegies or Lamentations; a term which is applied to David’s lament over Saul and Jonathan, and is repeatedly used in the Old Testament. (See Jeremiah 7:29; 9:10, 20, etc.) In 2 Chronicles 35:25, it is applied to the dirge composed by the prophet in memory of King Josiah, which some have conjectured to be identical with the fourth chapter of this book, though without sufficient reason.
In the Septuagint the title is Θρηνοι ‘Ιερεμιου — Lamentations of Jeremiah; which title is expanded in the Vulgate to Θρηνοι, that is, Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophets. But both in the English and German Versions the title is simply “Lamentations.”
2. Position.
In the Septuagint, followed by the leading subsequent Versions, this book stands in close connexion with that of the prophecies of Jeremiah. Bleek regards this as the original arrangement, while that of the Masoretes, which places it in the third division of the Old Testament — the Hagiographa — must, in his opinion, be held as of later origin. This is in harmony with the tradition plainly stated in the Septuagint, that Jeremiah was its author. But it is better to consider the Masoretic arrangement as the original one. The Jews kept the LAW by itself as the first division of their Scriptures, and the vital germ out of which the whole Jewish culture was developed. Then came the PROPHETS, into which division they admitted the earlier histories written by the seers, which set forth the straight, ongoing development of the Hebrew life as it went forward toward its divinely appointed goal — the spiritual kingdom of the Messiah; and also the writings which were strictly prophetical in the narrow and special sense of the term. Then came all the rest of the books, under the general name of WRITINGS, embracing those books which bore a less manifest and direct relation to the visible theocracy; all lyrical, philosophical, subjective, episodical, and supplementary books. On this principle of arrangement this book should stand where we now find it in the Hebrew Bible, in the third division, by the side of the other poetical books. At a later time it was arranged as one of the five Megilloth — Ruth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, and Lamentations.
3. Its Authorship.
Like many others of the biblical books it bears the name of no author, and so the inquiry as to its authorship is a legitimate and necessary one.
1. External testimony is practically unanimous in ascribing the book to Jeremiah. To the Septuagint Version the following words are prefixed: “And it came to pass after Israel had been carried away captive, and Jerusalem made desolate, Jeremiah sat weeping and lamented this lamentation over Jerusalem, and said.” This is copied with slight change into the Vulgate, and also into the Arabic Version. Josephus speaks of Jeremiah’s having composed “a dirge for Josiah’s funeral which remains unto this day;” words which probably identify the book though they misrepresent its subject. The Targum of Jonathan and the Talmud ascribe the book to Jeremiah, as does also the Syriac Version. When we add that such Christian Fathers as Origen and Jerome assume the authorship of Jeremiah as certain, and that the Jewish and Christian tradition to this effect is clear and unanimous down to the eighteenth century, it will appear that the external evidence for Jeremiah’s authorship is unusually full and perfect, and hence as nearly conclusive as external evidence in its nature can be.
2. Internal evidence is also in harmony with this view. The book must have proceeded from one occupying such a position as Jeremiah — an eye witness of the downfall of Judah and Jerusalem. The spirit and tone of the book accords perfectly with the character of Jeremiah, the tenderness, pathos, sorrow, severity, spirituality, and sense of isolation in whose writings constitute very marked and distinguishing peculiarities. The general style of these poems answers well to what we see in the prose writings of Jeremiah, in that it is simple almost to negligence, repetitious, and at the same time full of allusions to the earlier Hebrew literature. And if we look for the particular words and turns of expression which most characterize Jeremiah, we find not a few of them in these poems. For a specimen list of these consult Keil’s Introduction to the Old Testament, and also Keil’s Introduction to this book in his commentary. The two most weighty objections to this view are: 1. That there are contradictions of sentiment between Lamentations and Jeremiah; and 2. That some things in this book were taken from Ezekiel. For specifications under this last head consult the Introduction of Nagelsbach in his commentary, and also Keil. The one contradiction which has been pointed out and insisted on is between Lamentations 5:7, and Jeremiah 31:29, 30. In the former it is said, “We have borne the iniquities” of the fathers; and in the latter it is said, “In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity,” etc. But here is no contradiction, but, on the contrary, perfect harmony. The things which are stated are different, indeed, but perfectly congruous, for both are true. And as to correspondences in language with Ezekiel which have been pointed out, they are all adequately explained by the simple fact that Jeremiah and Ezekiel shared a common life, and may even have known one another’s writings.
We see in these criticisms nothing conclusive, and, indeed, nothing of considerable weight in the considerations urged against the traditional view as to the authorship of this book, and hence do not hesitate to ascribe it to Jeremiah.
4. Its Form and Structure.
The book consists of five lyric poems, answering to the different chapters of the English Version. The first four of these are highly artificial in their structure, each one being arranged in twenty-two portions, answering to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The verses or divisions of the first three of these consist each of three double clauses, which clauses in the third chapter all begin with the same letter of the alphabet, as a, a, a, b, b, b, etc., etc. In chapter four the verses consist of two clauses. In chapter five the alphabetical feature is not presented, but there is the same number of verses. Probably the departure from the alphabetic peculiarity is due to the fact that the character of the thought, being rather a prayer than an elegy, calls for less artificiality of structure.
There is one striking fact, however, as to the order of the letters in these alphabetic poems. In the first, the established order of the Hebrew alphabet is observed; but in the three others the verse beginning with pe (p) precedes that beginning with ayin, ([.) This cannot be attributed to the mistake of the copyist, for the relations of the thought forbid this theory, as well as the fact that the same order is observed in three chapters successively. Michaelis, Ewald, and others conclude that there has been a change in the order of the letters; but of this there is no proof, and it is opposed to the testimony of the alphabetic psalms, most if not all of which are certainly older than this book. While, therefore, we are unable to explain this irregularity satisfactorily, we yet find that it stands not alone. Similar irregularities appear in the alphabetic psalms. The only thing really remarkable and exceptional is, the repetition of the same peculiarity in three poems successively.
5. Subject-Matter.
The general theme of these elegiac poems is the destruction of Jerusalem, the overthrow of the kingdom of Judah by the Chaldeans, and the consequent misery which had befallen the covenant people. But beneath all is the theocracy itself, apart from the fortunes of individuals, which had seemed to come into overthrow and ruin before the powers of this world. So that this saddest wail in all literature is born, not of sorrow and disappointment as to merely human and earthly interests, but of that deeper agony of soul which comes of the prostration of spiritual hopes. These five poems bring to view different aspects of the common calamity. In the first, the sufferings of the people are dwelt upon; in the second, these are more distinctly referred to God, and counted as evidences of his displeasure in view of their sins; in the third, the spiritual sorrow and disappointment is made more prominent; in the fourth, all is referred to the sins of the people and the leaders; and finally, in the fifth, the prophet prays that Jehovah will remove the reproach of his people, and restore to them his favour.
6. Date.
The manifest organic relation of these poems necessitates the conclusion that they were written at or about the same time. The only possible exception is as to the last, and this is neither probable nor important. They must follow immediately the downfall of Jerusalem and Judah, for their vivid expressions of grief betoken the freshness and fearfulness of the calamity. It is possible, then, that the book originated in the interval between the destruction of Jerusalem and Jeremiah’s departure for Egypt. Or, with even greater probability may the book be referred to the month which elapsed between the capture of Jerusalem and its destruction. (Bleek.)
7. Liturgical Use.
“The Book of Lamentations has always been much used in liturgical services as giving the spiritual aspect of sorrow. It is recited in the Jewish synagogues on the ninth of Ab, the day on which the temple was destroyed. In the Roman Catholic Church it is sung at Vespers in Holy Week. In our own Church (the Church of England) the first, second, and third chapters were appointed in the first book of Edward VI. to be read on the Wednesday and Thursday before Easter. This having been discontinued in the second book of Edward VI., and in all subsequent revisions of the Prayer Book, was restored in 1871, when the whole of chap. iii, and portions of chaps. i, ii, and iv, were ordered to be read on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Holy Week. For this choice two chief reasons may be given: the first, that in the wasted city and homeless wanderings of the chosen people we see an image of the desolation and ruin of the soul cast away from God’s presence into the outer darkness because of sin; the second and chief, because the mournful words of the prophet set Him before us who has borne the chastisement due to human sin, and of whom instinctively we think as we pronounce the words: —
Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?
Behold and see
If there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow
Which is done unto me,
Wherewith Jehovah hath afflicted me
In the day of his fierce anger?”
— Speaker’s Commentary.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER 1. — THE MISERIES DESCRIBED; LAMENTATIONS IN VIEW OF PRESENT MISERIES
CHAPTER 2. — THE JUDGMENT; THE LAMENTATION; THE CALL TO PRAYER; THE PRAYER
CHAPTER 3. — PERSONAL LAMENTATION FOR GRIEVOUS SUFFERINGS; PIOUS ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND MERCY;
CONFESSION OF SIN, AND LAMENTATIONS OVER THE EVIL WHICH HAS COME
CHAPTER 4. — JERUSALEM’S SUFFERINGS FOR HER SIN; SUFFERINGS OF THE PROPHETS AND PRIESTS; THE VAIN TRUSTS OF THE PEOPLE; LIGHT AT EVENING
CHAPTER 5. — THE GENERAL DISTRESS; INDIVIDUALIZING ILLUSTRATIONS; THE PRAYER
Adam Clarke
Introduction to the Lamentations of Jeremiah
CLA_LAM.PDF, source PDF p. 3
INTRODUCTION TO THE LAMENTATIONS OF
JEREMIAH
THIS book, like the several books of the Pentateuch, is denominated in Hebrew איכה eicah, how, from its first word; and sometimes קינות kinnoth, lamentations, from its subject. In the Septuagint it is termed ΘΡΗΝΟΙ ΤΟΥ ΙΕΡΕΜΟΙΥ, for the same reason. The Syriac and Arabic copy or follow the Septuagint; and so does the Vulgate, from the Lamentationes of which, the book has that name which it bears in our language. In the Chaldee it has no name; and in it, and perhaps anciently in the Hebrew, it was written consecutively with the last chapter of Jeremiah. It is one of the books of the מגילות Megilloth, or Roll, among the Jews; and because it relates to the ruin of their affairs, and contains promises of restoration, it is peculiarly prized, and frequently read. The five Megilloth are: Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Lamentations, Ruth, and Esther. There has been little difference among learned men concerning the author of this book. The whole current of antiquity and modern times has pointed out Jeremiah as the writer: of this the style is a sufficient evidence. Mr. John Henry Pareau, in a Dissertation prefixed to his Translation and Notes on this book, (8vo. Lugd. Bat. 1790,) has proved this point amply from a general collation of the prophecy of Jeremiah with select passages in this book. I have heard of but one learned man who has entertained serious doubts on the subject, Mr. Herman Van der Hardt, who has supposed the five chapters were written by Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Jeconiah. To this opinion I suppose none has ever been converted. There has been more difference of opinion relative to the subject and occasion. Some have thought the book was composed on the death of Josiah; others that it was composed on occasion of the destruction of Jerusalem, and the various desolations connected with it. To this all its parts and its general phraseology seem best to apply; and this is the sentiment most generally embraced at present. This will receive much proof from a minute consideration of the book itself.
The composition of this poem is what may be called very technical. Every chapter, except the last, is an acrostic. Of the two first, each verse begins with a several letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in the order of the letters, with this exception, that in the second, third, and fourth chapters, the p phe is put before the [ ain; whereas in all the acrostic Psalms the latter preceded the former, as it does in all grammars of the Hebrew language. In the first and second chapters each verse is composed of three hemistichs or half verses, except the seventh verse of the first, and the nineteenth of the second chapter, which have each four hemistichs.
The third chapter contains sixty-four verses, each, as before, formed of three hemistichs, but with this difference, that each hemistich begins with the same letter, so that the whole alphabet is thrice repeated in this chapter. The fourth chapter is made up of twenty-two verses, according to the number of the Hebrew letters; but the composition is different from all the rest, for each verse consists of only two hemistichs, and those much shorter than any in the preceding chapters.
I have called this an inimitable poem; better judges are of the same opinion. “Never,” says Bishop Lowth, “was there a more rich and elegant variety of beautiful images and adjuncts arranged together within so small a compass, nor more happily chosen and applied.”
“One would think,” says Dr. South, “that every letter was written with a tear; every word, the sound of a breaking heart: that the author was compacted of sorrows; disciplined to grief from his infancy; one who never breathed but in sighs, nor spoke but in a groan.”
“Nor can we too much admire,” says Dr. Blayney, “the full and graceful flow of that pathetic eloquence in which the author pours forth the effusions of a patriotic heart, and piously weeps over the ruins of his venerable country. But it was observed before that the prophet’s peculiar talent lay in working up and expressing the passions of grief and pity; and, unhappily for him as a man and a citizen, he met with a subject but too well calculated to give his genius its full display.”
David in several places has forcibly depicted the sorrows of a heart oppressed with penitential sorrow; but where, in a composition of such length, have bodily misery and mental agony been more successfully painted? All the expressions and images of sorrow are here exhibited in various combinations, and in various points of view. Misery has no expression that the author of the Lamentations has not employed. Patriots! you who tell us you burn for your country’s welfare, look at the prophecies and history of this extraordinary man; look at his Lamentations; take him through his life to his death, and learn from him what true patriotism means! The man who watched, prayed, and lived for the welfare of his country; who choose to share her adversities, her sorrows, her wants, her afflictions, and disgrace, where he might have been a companion of princes, and have sat at the table of kings; who only ceased to live for his country when he ceased to breathe;-that was a patriot, in comparison with whom almost all others are obscured, minished, and brought low, or are totally annihilated!
THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH
Chronological notes relative to the Book of the Lamentations -Year from the Creation, according to Archbishop Usher, 3416. -Year of the Jewish era of the world, 3173.
-Year from the Deluge, 1760.
-First year of the forty-eighth Olympiad.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to the Varronian account, 166.
-Year before the birth of Christ, 584.
-Year before the vulgar era of Christ’s nativity, 588.
-Year of the Julian Period, 4126.
-Year of the era of Nabonassar, 160.
-Cycle of the Sun, 10.
-Cycle of the Moon, 3.
-Second year after the fourth Sabbatic year after the seventeenth Jewish jubilee, according to Helvicus.
-Twenty-ninth year of Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of the Romans: this was the seventy-ninth year before the commencement of the consular government.
-Thirty-eighth year of Cyaxares or Cyaraxes, the fourth king of Media. -Eighteenth year of Agasicles, king of Lacedæmon, of the family of the Proclidæ.
-Twentieth year of Leon, king of Lacedæmon, of the family of the Eurysthenidæ.
-Thirty-second year of Alyattes II., king of Lydia. This was the father of the celebrated Crœsus.
-Fifteenth year of Æropas, the seventh king of Macedon. -Nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
-Eleventh year of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah.
Joseph Benson
Argument
BEN_VOL5.PDF, source PDF p. 393
THE LAMENTATIONS OF
JEREMIAH.
ARGUMENT.
THIS book has no title in the Hebrew, but, like the five books of Moses, takes its name from the first word of it, איכה, Echah, How. The Jewish commentators, however, entitle it, as the Greeks, Latins, our translators, and others do, Lamentations; an appellation expressive of the subject matter of it, the prophet lamenting in it, and that most pathetically, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, the desolation of Judea, and the captivity of God’s ancient people. Some indeed, and those men of eminence in literature, have supposed that the death of Josiah is the chief subject of these mournful poems, and that these are the lamentations mentioned 2 Chronicles 35:25, as being composed by Jeremiah on that occasion. But, as Blaney justly observes, “whatever is become of those lamentations, these cannot possibly be the same; for their whole tenor, from beginning to end, plainly shows them not to have been composed till the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, and the depopulation of the country by the transmigration of all its inhabitants; which events are not at all described in the style of prophetic prediction, but are alluded to and bewailed as what had been already fully accomplished. And that this was the most ancient opinion held concerning them, appears from the introductory title prefixed to the Greek version of the LXX., and from thence, probably, transmitted to the Latin Vulgate:” (see note on verse 1.) but “the internal evidence is sufficient to ascertain both the date and the occasion of these compositions; nor can we admire too much the full and graceful flow of that pathetic eloquence, in which the author pours forth the effusions of a patriotic heart, and piously weeps over the ruins of his venerable country.” “Never,” says an unquestionable judge of these matters, “was there a more rich and elegant variety of beautiful images and adjuncts arranged together within so small a compass, nor more happily chosen and applied. What can be more elegant and poetical than the image of the city, which was formerly the pride of nations, sitting by herself, absorbed in grief, and a widow; deserted by her friends, betrayed by her relations, stretching out her hands in vain, and finding no one to comfort her? What can be more elegant than the image of the ways of Zion, which are represented as grieving, and demanding the celebration of their solemn festivals? But if we should produce all the beautiful passages, we should be obliged to transcribe the whole poem.” See Bishop Lowth, de Sacra Poesi Hebræorum, Prælec. 22. Indeed, as has been observed, the prophet’s peculiar talent lay in working up and expressing the passions of grief and pity; and, unhappily for him, as a man and a citizen, he met with a subject but too well calculated to give his genius its full display. These Lamentations of Jeremiah are very properly distributed into five chapters, each of them containing a distinct elegy, consisting of twenty-two periods, or stanzas, according to the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet; although it is in the first four chapters only that the several periods begin, acrostic-wise, with the different letters following each other in alphabetical order. By this contrivance the metre is more precisely marked and ascertained, particularly in the third chapter, where each period contains three verses, which have all the same initial letter. The first two chapters in like manner consist of triplets, excepting only the seventh period of the first, and the nineteenth of the second, which have each a supernumerary line. The fourth chapter resembles the three former in metre, but the periods are only couplets. In the fifth chapter the periods are couplets, but of a considerably shorter measure. See Blaney.
Daniel Whedon
Introduction.
WHD_CO07.PDF, source PDF p. 573
LAMENTATIONS
INTRODUCTION.
1. Name.
LIKE most of the books of the Pentateuch, this book is called in the Hebrew by its first word — איכה — How? “Three prophets have used the word איכה with reference to Israel: Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. To what are these to be likened? To three bridesmen who have seen the afterward widowed wife in three stages. The first has seen her in her opulence and her pride, and he said: ‘O how shall I bear alone your overbearing and your strife?’ Deuteronomy 1:12. The second has seen her in her dissipation and her dissoluteness, and he said: ‘O how is she become a harlot!’ Isaiah 1:21. And the third has seen her in her desolation, and he said: ‘O how does she sit solitary!’ Lamentations 1:1.” — Introduction to Echah Rabbathi.
The Rabbins use the name קינת (Kinoth) — Elegies or Lamentations; a term which is applied to David’s lament over Saul and Jonathan, and is repeatedly used in the Old Testament. (See Jeremiah 7:29; 9:10, 20, etc.) In 2 Chronicles 35:25, it is applied to the dirge composed by the prophet in memory of King Josiah, which some have conjectured to be identical with the fourth chapter of this book, though without sufficient reason.
In the Septuagint the title is Θρηνοι ‘Ιερεμιου — Lamentations of Jeremiah; which title is expanded in the Vulgate to Θρηνοι, that is, Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophets. But both in the English and German Versions the title is simply “Lamentations.”
2. Position.
In the Septuagint, followed by the leading subsequent Versions, this book stands in close connexion with that of the prophecies of Jeremiah. Bleek regards this as the original arrangement, while that of the Masoretes, which places it in the third division of the Old Testament — the Hagiographa — must, in his opinion, be held as of later origin. This is in harmony with the tradition plainly stated in the Septuagint, that Jeremiah was its author. But it is better to consider the Masoretic arrangement as the original one. The Jews kept the LAW by itself as the first division of their Scriptures, and the vital germ out of which the whole Jewish culture was developed. Then came the PROPHETS, into which division they admitted the earlier histories written by the seers, which set forth the straight, ongoing development of the Hebrew life as it went forward toward its divinely appointed goal — the spiritual kingdom of the Messiah; and also the writings which were strictly prophetical in the narrow and special sense of the term. Then came all the rest of the books, under the general name of WRITINGS, embracing those books which bore a less manifest and direct relation to the visible theocracy; all lyrical, philosophical, subjective, episodical, and supplementary books. On this principle of arrangement this book should stand where we now find it in the Hebrew Bible, in the third division, by the side of the other poetical books. At a later time it was arranged as one of the five Megilloth — Ruth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, and Lamentations.
3. Its Authorship.
Like many others of the biblical books it bears the name of no author, and so the inquiry as to its authorship is a legitimate and necessary one.
1. External testimony is practically unanimous in ascribing the book to Jeremiah. To the Septuagint Version the following words are prefixed: “And it came to pass after Israel had been carried away captive, and Jerusalem made desolate, Jeremiah sat weeping and lamented this lamentation over Jerusalem, and said.” This is copied with slight change into the Vulgate, and also into the Arabic Version. Josephus speaks of Jeremiah’s having composed “a dirge for Josiah’s funeral which remains unto this day;” words which probably identify the book though they misrepresent its subject. The Targum of Jonathan and the Talmud ascribe the book to Jeremiah, as does also the Syriac Version. When we add that such Christian Fathers as Origen and Jerome assume the authorship of Jeremiah as certain, and that the Jewish and Christian tradition to this effect is clear and unanimous down to the eighteenth century, it will appear that the external evidence for Jeremiah’s authorship is unusually full and perfect, and hence as nearly conclusive as external evidence in its nature can be.
2. Internal evidence is also in harmony with this view. The book must have proceeded from one occupying such a position as Jeremiah — an eye witness of the downfall of Judah and Jerusalem. The spirit and tone of the book accords perfectly with the character of Jeremiah, the tenderness, pathos, sorrow, severity, spirituality, and sense of isolation in whose writings constitute very marked and distinguishing peculiarities. The general style of these poems answers well to what we see in the prose writings of Jeremiah, in that it is simple almost to negligence, repetitious, and at the same time full of allusions to the earlier Hebrew literature. And if we look for the particular words and turns of expression which most characterize Jeremiah, we find not a few of them in these poems. For a specimen list of these consult Keil’s Introduction to the Old Testament, and also Keil’s Introduction to this book in his commentary. The two most weighty objections to this view are: 1. That there are contradictions of sentiment between Lamentations and Jeremiah; and 2. That some things in this book were taken from Ezekiel. For specifications under this last head consult the Introduction of Nagelsbach in his commentary, and also Keil. The one contradiction which has been pointed out and insisted on is between Lamentations 5:7, and Jeremiah 31:29, 30. In the former it is said, “We have borne the iniquities” of the fathers; and in the latter it is said, “In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity,” etc. But here is no contradiction, but, on the contrary, perfect harmony. The things which are stated are different, indeed, but perfectly congruous, for both are true. And as to correspondences in language with Ezekiel which have been pointed out, they are all adequately explained by the simple fact that Jeremiah and Ezekiel shared a common life, and may even have known one another’s writings.
We see in these criticisms nothing conclusive, and, indeed, nothing of considerable weight in the considerations urged against the traditional view as to the authorship of this book, and hence do not hesitate to ascribe it to Jeremiah.
4. Its Form and Structure.
The book consists of five lyric poems, answering to the different chapters of the English Version. The first four of these are highly artificial in their structure, each one being arranged in twenty-two portions, answering to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The verses or divisions of the first three of these consist each of three double clauses, which clauses in the third chapter all begin with the same letter of the alphabet, as a, a, a, b, b, b, etc., etc. In chapter four the verses consist of two clauses. In chapter five the alphabetical feature is not presented, but there is the same number of verses. Probably the departure from the alphabetic peculiarity is due to the fact that the character of the thought, being rather a prayer than an elegy, calls for less artificiality of structure.
There is one striking fact, however, as to the order of the letters in these alphabetic poems. In the first, the established order of the Hebrew alphabet is observed; but in the three others the verse beginning with pe (p) precedes that beginning with ayin, ([.) This cannot be attributed to the mistake of the copyist, for the relations of the thought forbid this theory, as well as the fact that the same order is observed in three chapters successively. Michaelis, Ewald, and others conclude that there has been a change in the order of the letters; but of this there is no proof, and it is opposed to the testimony of the alphabetic psalms, most if not all of which are certainly older than this book. While, therefore, we are unable to explain this irregularity satisfactorily, we yet find that it stands not alone. Similar irregularities appear in the alphabetic psalms. The only thing really remarkable and exceptional is, the repetition of the same peculiarity in three poems successively.
5. Subject-Matter.
The general theme of these elegiac poems is the destruction of Jerusalem, the overthrow of the kingdom of Judah by the Chaldeans, and the consequent misery which had befallen the covenant people. But beneath all is the theocracy itself, apart from the fortunes of individuals, which had seemed to come into overthrow and ruin before the powers of this world. So that this saddest wail in all literature is born, not of sorrow and disappointment as to merely human and earthly interests, but of that deeper agony of soul which comes of the prostration of spiritual hopes. These five poems bring to view different aspects of the common calamity. In the first, the sufferings of the people are dwelt upon; in the second, these are more distinctly referred to God, and counted as evidences of his displeasure in view of their sins; in the third, the spiritual sorrow and disappointment is made more prominent; in the fourth, all is referred to the sins of the people and the leaders; and finally, in the fifth, the prophet prays that Jehovah will remove the reproach of his people, and restore to them his favour.
6. Date.
The manifest organic relation of these poems necessitates the conclusion that they were written at or about the same time. The only possible exception is as to the last, and this is neither probable nor important. They must follow immediately the downfall of Jerusalem and Judah, for their vivid expressions of grief betoken the freshness and fearfulness of the calamity. It is possible, then, that the book originated in the interval between the destruction of Jerusalem and Jeremiah’s departure for Egypt. Or, with even greater probability may the book be referred to the month which elapsed between the capture of Jerusalem and its destruction. (Bleek.)
7. Liturgical Use.
“The Book of Lamentations has always been much used in liturgical services as giving the spiritual aspect of sorrow. It is recited in the Jewish synagogues on the ninth of Ab, the day on which the temple was destroyed. In the Roman Catholic Church it is sung at Vespers in Holy Week. In our own Church (the Church of England) the first, second, and third chapters were appointed in the first book of Edward VI. to be read on the Wednesday and Thursday before Easter. This having been discontinued in the second book of Edward VI., and in all subsequent revisions of the Prayer Book, was restored in 1871, when the whole of chap. iii, and portions of chaps. i, ii, and iv, were ordered to be read on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Holy Week. For this choice two chief reasons may be given: the first, that in the wasted city and homeless wanderings of the chosen people we see an image of the desolation and ruin of the soul cast away from God’s presence into the outer darkness because of sin; the second and chief, because the mournful words of the prophet set Him before us who has borne the chastisement due to human sin, and of whom instinctively we think as we pronounce the words: —
Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?
Behold and see
If there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow
Which is done unto me,
Wherewith Jehovah hath afflicted me
In the day of his fierce anger?”
— Speaker’s Commentary.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER 1. — THE MISERIES DESCRIBED; LAMENTATIONS IN VIEW OF PRESENT MISERIES
CHAPTER 2. — THE JUDGMENT; THE LAMENTATION; THE CALL TO PRAYER; THE PRAYER
CHAPTER 3. — PERSONAL LAMENTATION FOR GRIEVOUS SUFFERINGS; PIOUS ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND MERCY;
CONFESSION OF SIN, AND LAMENTATIONS OVER THE EVIL WHICH HAS COME
CHAPTER 4. — JERUSALEM’S SUFFERINGS FOR HER SIN; SUFFERINGS OF THE PROPHETS AND PRIESTS; THE VAIN TRUSTS OF THE PEOPLE; LIGHT AT EVENING
CHAPTER 5. — THE GENERAL DISTRESS; INDIVIDUALIZING ILLUSTRATIONS; THE PRAYER