The anonymous book of Lamentations is traditionally ascribed to Jeremiah. It does seem to be of a piece with Jeremiah's writing, though some have suggested it has multiple different authors. The five chapters can be read as separate poems and do show some distinctive characteristics. However asserting different authors for the different chapters is unnecessary.
HISTORICAL PERIOD
Lamentations seems quite clearly to be a reaction to the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., presumably written not long afterward. We recall that Josiah, the reformer, had died in 609. After Josiah's reign the kingdom progressively weakened. As Jerusalem rebelled against Babylon, the desire of Babylon to overthrow Jerusalem intensified until Jerusalem fell in 587.
LITERARY ANALYSIS
Lamentations is a series of poems of lament, typical of contemporary works. While the book divides easily into five poems, corresponding with the five chapters, they have more complexity in their internal structure than that. The first four chapters are acrostics. In the third chapter the lines of a stanza all start with the same letter, while in chapters one and two only the first line of the stanza starts with the acrostic letter. Chapters one through three are three line stanzas while chapter four is two line stanzas. Chapter five is not acrostic but alludes to an acrostic, having twenty-two lines. The style throughout is similar to a dirge.
THEOLOGICAL MESSAGE
Lamentations struggles with the same issues as Job. How can God allow suffering? Yet at the same time, how can we who are suffering not see that our sin has brought this suffering upon us? While there is hope that God does not abandon his people, this hope is veiled by the painful situation of the present.
APPROACHING THE NEW TESTAMENT
The New Testament points to Jesus as the one who will wage war with the forces of evil. Jesus will suffer. We see Jesus rising victorious, bringing deliverance to his people. While we weep and mourn for the presence, we can look forward to a time of rejoicing as our Lord delivers us from evil.
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