
Study questions, maps, charts, key words, history, background, outlines, and links to help you study the Old Testament book of Lamentations.
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Basics
- Author: Jeremiah, probably soon after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC (although the author is not identified in the book).
- The title, “Lamentations,” was derived from a translation of the title as found in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Septuagint, and conveys the idea of “loud cries.”
- The entire book is poetic.
- Themes: Mourning over Jerusalem’s destruction; confession of sin and acknowledgment of God’s justice; hope in God’s future restoration
- Jeremiah sometimes speaks for himself, sometimes speaks for the captives and sometimes speaks for the personified city of Jerusalem.
For more detail, see: Chronology of Jeremiah
Outline
- Chapter 1 – The Destruction of Jerusalem
- Chapter 2 – The Anger of YHWH
- Chapter 3 – The Prayer for Mercy
- Chapter 4 – The Siege of Jerusalem
- Chapter 5 – The Prayer for Restoration
Structure
- The first, second, fourth and fifth laments all contain 22 verses, reflecting the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet.
- Each verse in the first and second laments contains three poetic lines.
- Each verse in the fourth contains two lines.
- Each verse in the fifth contains but one line.
- The first four laments are alphabetic acrostics.
- In the first, second and fourth, each numbered verse begins with the letter of the Hebrew alphabet dictated by the traditional order of that alphabet.
- The third (middle) lament the three lines of each unit all begin with the sequenced order of the letters of the alphabet (thus three aleph lines followed by three beth lines, etc.)
- The fifth lament continues to reflect the alphabetic pattern in its 22-line structure, but the initial letters of these lines do not follow the alphabetic sequence.
Background & Outlines
- Jeremiah Chronology
- Jeremiah in the New Testament
- Chart: Bible History at a glance
- Blue Letter Bible: Old Testament Timeline
- Biblehub: The Divided Kingdom
- Chart: Kings of Israel & Judah
- Bible Atlas: Assyria
- Bible Atlas: Babylon
- Bible Atlas: Jerusalem
- Ray C Stedman: Overview of the Book
- John MacArthur: Author, Date, Background
- NIV: Introduction to Lamentations
- ESV: Introduction to Lamentations
- ESV: The Global Message of Lamentations
- James van Dine: Analysis of Lamentations
- JVernon McGee: Notes and Outlines – Jeremiah and Lamentations
- David Malick: An Introduction to the Book of Lamentations
- David Malick: An Argument of the Book of Lamentations
- James Orr: Key to Lamentations
- Charles Swindoll: Book of Lamentations Overview
Maps from Bible-History.com
Maps from Studylight.org
The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah
- The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah
- The Rise of Assyria
- Israel & Judah in the days of Jeroboam II and Uzziah
- The Assyrian Empire under Tiglath-Pileser III
- Fall of Samaria and Deportation of Israelites
- The Fall of the Kingdom of Israel
- Assyrian Districts after the Fall of Samaria
- Prophets of the 8th Century BCE
Judah Alone amid International Powers
- Assyria in the 7th century BCE
- The Rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire
- The Reign of Josiah
- The Districts of Judah under King Josiah
- The Golden Age of King Josiah
- Nebuchadnezzar’s Campaigns against Judah
- Judah during the Exile
- The Kingdom of Judah
The Persian Period
- World Powers of the 6th century BCE
- The Conquests of Cyrus the Great
- The Persian Empire
- The Return of the Jewish Exiles to Judah
- Judah in the 5th century BCE
- Palestine afterthe Exile
Key Words
- LORD (46x/43v) – Strong’s H3068 in Lam 1:5; Lam 1:9; Lam 1:11; Lam 1:12; Lam 1:17; Lam 1:18; Lam 1:20; Lam 2:6; Lam 2:7; Lam 2:8; Lam 2:9; Lam 2:17; Lam 2:20; Lam 2:22; Lam 3:18; Lam 3:22; Lam 3:24; Lam 3:25; Lam 3:26; Lam 3:40; Lam 3:50; Lam 3:55; Lam 3:59; Lam 3:61; Lam 3:64; Lam 3:66; Lam 4:11; Lam 4:16; Lam 4:20; Lam 5:1; Lam 5:19; Lam 5:21; Strong’s H136 in Lam 1:14; Lam 1:15; Lam 2:1; Lam 2:2; Lam 2:5; Lam 2:7; Lam 2:18; Lam 2:19; Lam 2:20; Lam 3:31; Lam 3:36; Lam 3:37; Lam 3:58;
- how (6x/5v) -Strong’s H351a in Lam 1:1; Lam 2:1; Lam 4:1; Lam 4:2.; Strong’s H4100 in Lam 2:13.
- Jerusalem (7x) – Strong’s H3389 in Lam 1:7; Lam 1:8; Lam 1:17; Lam 2:10; Lam 2:13; Lam 2:15; Lam 4:12.
- city (6x) – Strong’s H5892b in Lam 1:1; Lam 1:19; Lam 2:12; Lam 2:15; Lam 3:51; Strong’s H7151 in Lam 2:11.
- Zion (15x) – Strong’s H6726 in Lam 1:4; Lam 1:6; Lam 1:17; Lam 2:1; Lam 2:4; Lam 2:6; Lam 2:8; Lam 2:10; Lam 2:13; Lam 2:18; Lam 4:2; Lam 4:11; Lam 4:22; Lam 5:11; Lam 5:18.
- daughter (21x/19v) – Strong’s H1323 in Lam 1:6; Lam 1:15; Lam 2:1; Lam 2:2; Lam 2:4; Lam 2:5; Lam 2:8; Lam 2:10; Lam 2:11; Lam 2:13; Lam 2:15; Lam 2:18; Lam 3:48; Lam 4:3; Lam 4:6; Lam 4:10; Lam 4:21; Lam 4:22.
- enemy (9x)- Strong’s H340 in Lam 1:9; Lam 1:16; Lam 2:3; Lam 2:4; Lam 2:5; Lam 2:7; Lam 2:17; Lam 2:22; Lam 4:12; enemies (6x) – same word in Lam 1:2; Lam 1:5; Lam 1:21; Lam 2:16; Lam 3:46; Lam 3:52.
- adversary (5x) – Strong’s H686c in Lam 1:5; Lam 1:7; Lam 1:10; Lam 2:4; Lam 4:12; adversaries (4x) – same word; Lam 1:5; Lam 1:7; Lam 1:17; Lam 2:17.
- nations (5x) – Strong’s H1471 (among the) in Lam 1:1; Lam 1:3; Lam 1:10; Lam 2:9; Lam 4:15; Lam 4:20.
- sin (1x) – Strong’s H2403b in Lam 4:6; sinned (3x) – Strong’s H2398 in Lam 1:8; Lam 5:7; Lam 5:16.
- transgression (4x) – Strong’s H6588 in Lam 1:5; Lam 1:14; Lam 1:22.
- anger (9x) – Strong’s H639 in Lam 1:12; Lam 2:1; Lam 2:3; Lam 2:6; Lam 2:21; Lam 2:22; Lam 3:43; Lam 3:66; Lam 4:11.
- wrath (4x) – Strong’s H5678 Lam 2:2; Lam 3:1; Lam 4:11. ; Strong’s H2534 in Lam 2:4.
- reject/rejected (5x) – Strong’s H2186a in Lam 3:31; Lam 2:7 Lam 3:17; Strong’s H5541a in Lam 1:15; Strong’s H3988a in Lam 5:22.
- restore (4v) – Strong’s H7725 in Lam 1:11; Lam 1:19; Lam 2:14; Lam 5:21.
- hope (4x) – Strong’s H8431 in Lam 2:18; Strong’s H3176 in Lam 3:21; Lam 3:24; Strong’s H8651b in Lam 3:29.
Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
- Lamentations Of Jeremiah – Smith’s Bible Dictionary
- Lamentations Of Jeremiah – Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
- Lamentations, Book of – Easton’s & Intl Std Bible Encyclopedia
- Lamentation – Hastings’ Dictionary of the New Testament
- Lamentations of Jeremiah – American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
- Lamentations – Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
- Lamentations – Chabad Knowledge Base
- Lamentations – Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
- Lamentations – 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
- Lamentations – Kitto’s Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
- Lamentations – The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
Commentaries & Study Bibles
- Top 5 Commentaries on the Book of Lamentations by Keith Mathison
- Best Commentaries on Lamentations – Challies Dot Com
- Best commentaries lamentations
- Calvin’s Commentary on the Bible: Lamentations
- Matthew Henry: Lamentations
- Albert Barnes Notes: Lamentations
- Reformation Study Bible Notes: Lamentations
- Geneva Study Bible: Lamentations
- Precept Austin Commentaries & Sermons: Lamentations
Articles
- Donald Curtis: Lamentations: The Fall of Jerusalem
- Kay Daigle: Lamentations 3:22-23 (And other Scriptures) Anchored during Times of Grief
- Bob Deffinbaugh: The New Covenant in Jeremiah
- Homer Heater: Notes on Book of Lamentations
GotQuestions.org
- Book of Lamentations – Bible Survey
- What are the Major Prophets and Minor Prophets?
- What should we learn from the life of Jeremiah?
- What is the Wailing Wall / Western Wall?
- What is the meaning of sackcloth and ashes?
- How can I learn to trust in the faithfulness of God?
- What is the Christian’s hope?
- His mercies are new every morning
- What does the Bible say about compassion?
- What is Tisha B’Av?
Bible Study Helps
- Bible Study 101
- Interpreting Prophecy
- Interpreting Hebrew Poetry
- Study Software & websites
- More Maps & Charts
- Hebrew word studies by Precepts Austin
- Books on how to study the Bible
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Previous: Jeremiah
Resources: by Book of the Bible
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