The Book of Lamentations

Introduction to Lamentations

Initial Impressions

Author

Date

Occasion

The Style of Lamentations

Poetry

Lament

Confession

Brutal Language

Multiple Voices

One Silent Voice...

The Structure of Lamentations

5 Poems

No plot or narrative flow

Chapter 3 – welcome

relief?

Chapter 5 – still nothing

from God!

Acrostics...

The Structure of Lamentations

Lam 1 Lam 2 Lam 3 Lam 4 Lam 5

Acrostic Acrostic Acrostic Acrostic No

Acrostic

22 verses

with 3

lines each

22 verses

with 3

lines each

66 verses

with 1 line

each

22 verses

with 2

lines each

22 verses

with 1 line

each

Each

verse

begins

with

acrostic

letter

Each

verse

begins

with

acrostic

letter

3 verses

per letter

Each

verse

begins

with

acrostic

letter

No

acrostic

The Structure of the 5 Poems

Why Acrostic?

Poetic Style?

Memory aid?

Symbolic of

Completeness?

Recovery of Order?

Restore some Humanity?

Why 5 poems in this order?

The Structure of the 5 Poems

The Themes of Lamentations Sin, Punishment and the Violence

of God

Suffering (Theodicy) and

Complaint (Anti-Theodicy)

Covenant and Presence

Faith, Hope and Worship

Witness and Advocacy

Suffering, Silence and

Salvation...

Early Christians didn’t seek to explain evil and suffering, at least not in the abstract,

rationalistic way of theodicists. Instead they chose to frame evil and suffering quite

differently. Their response to the problem of evil and the existence of suffering was

not to question God’s goodness, love, and power, but rather to develop faithful forms

of community within which the impact of evil and suffering could be absorbed,

resisted, and transformed as they waited for God’s return. The early Christians did

not separate the question of suffering from their calling to be people of faith.

 John Swinton, Raging with Compassion