“Elegies,” this is a title representing the content of the book and the melancholy meter of its ve poems The Qinoth title was retained in the Greek Bibles, with the Greek translation Threnoi (“lamentations,” from threomai, “to cry aloud”) This was carried over into the Latin Bibles as Liber Threnorum (“Book of Lamentations”), and thence into the English Bibles as Lamentations B PLACE IN THE BIBLE In the threefold Hebrew Bible (Law, Prophets, Writings), Lamentations appears in the last part, in a section called Megittoth Recall that the Megilloth is a group of ve Old Testament books which the Jews read publicly on national holidays Lamentations is read on the ninth day of Ab (about midJuly), the anniversary of the destructions of Jerusalem in 586 B.C and A.D 70 In some ancient versions of the Bible, Lamentations appeared as an appendix to Jeremiah, and often was not included in the listing of the Old Testament books In our English Bible, Lamentations very appropriately follows the book of Jeremiah The translators of the Greek Septuagint (100 B.C.), recognizing its Jeremianic authorship, also placed it here C AUTHOR AND DATE Lamentations was very likely written soon after 586 B.C., while memories of the appalling siege of Jerusalem were still fresh Some think that the author wrote chapter a little later than the rst four chapters, “when the intense anguish of the catastrophe had given way to the prolonged ache of captivity.”1 As to authorship, the evidence points strongly, though not conclusively, to Jeremiah.2 Such evidence includes the following: The Septuagint introduction to the book: “Jeremiah sat weeping and lamented with this lamentation over Jerusalem, and said.” Hebrew and Gentile tradition Similarities between Lamentations and poetical portions of Jeremiah (cf also Chron 35:25).3 The writer was an eyewitness of Jerusalem’s destruction, with a sensitivity of soul (cf Jer 9:1; 14:17-22), and ability to write D COMPOSITION AND STYLE Lamentations is a set of ve elegies (melancholy poems), the rst four of which follow an acrostic pattern ( rst letter of lines, or groups of lines, representing each of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet) The poetic meter is described as a limping meter, with three beats in the rst line trailing away in a mourning two-beat line When publicly read, the chanting of the Hebrew text gave support to the mood of the words Many poetic styles and devices appear in these poems Vivid imagery is perhaps the most prominent one One of the distinctive features of the book is the acrostic format of chapters 1-4.4 In chapters 1, 2, and 4, each verse begins with a word whose rst letter is successively one of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet chapter has sixty-six verses, each successive letter of the alphabet having three verses allotted to it instead of one Various views are held as to why the author used this acrostic device Among ... Jeremiah, and often was not included in the listing of the Old Testament books In our English Bible, Lamentations very appropriately follows the book of Jeremiah The translators of the Greek Septuagint... (melancholy poems), the rst four of which follow an acrostic pattern ( rst letter of lines, or groups of lines, representing each of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet) The poetic meter... while memories of the appalling siege of Jerusalem were still fresh Some think that the author wrote chapter a little later than the rst four chapters, “when the intense anguish of the catastrophe