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Texts -- Lamentations 5:1-16 (NET)

Context
The People of Jerusalem Pray:
5:1 O Lord , reflect on what has happened to us; consider and look at our disgrace . 5:2 Our inheritance is turned over to strangers ; foreigners now occupy our homes . 5:3 We have become fatherless orphans ; our mothers have become widows . 5:4 We must pay money for our own water ; we must buy our own wood at a steep price . 5:5 We are pursued – they are breathing down our necks ; we are weary and have no rest . 5:6 We have submitted to Egypt and Assyria in order to buy food to eat. 5:7 Our forefathers sinned and are dead , but we suffer their punishment . 5:8 Slaves rule over us; there is no one to rescue us from their power . 5:9 At the risk of our lives we get our food because robbers lurk in the countryside . 5:10 Our skin is hot as an oven due to a fever from hunger . 5:11 They raped women in Zion , virgins in the towns of Judah . 5:12 Princes were hung by their hands ; elders were mistreated . 5:13 The young men perform menial labor ; boys stagger from their labor . 5:14 The elders are gone from the city gate ; the young men have stopped playing their music . 5:15 Our hearts no longer have any joy ; our dancing is turned to mourning . 5:16 The crown has fallen from our head ; woe to us, for we have sinned !

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • This book does not identify its writer. The common view that Jeremiah wrote it rests on a preface in the Greek Septuagint, which the Latin Vulgate adopted and elaborated on. The Septuagint version of Lamentations begins, "And...
  • The book consists of five laments (funeral or mourning songs, elegies). All but the third of these describe the Babylonians' destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and its aftermath. Each chapter exhibits its own special qualit...
  • There are two books in the Old Testament that deal primarily with the problem of suffering. Job treats the problem of personalsuffering, and Lamentations deals with the problem of nationalsuffering. Both books present the pro...
  • The church at the beginning of the twenty-first century is very similar to Judah at the beginning of the sixth century B.C. Our times are very similar to Jeremiah's times. We minister in a cultural context that is remarkably ...
  • I. The destruction and misery of Jerusalem (the first lament) ch. 1A. An observer's sorrow over Jerusalem's condition 1:1-11B. Jerusalem's sorrow over her own condition 1:12-22II. The divine punishment of Jerusalem (the secon...
  • As mentioned previously, this lament is an acrostic in triplets; the same succeeding Hebrew consonant begins three verses instead of just one, as in the previous chapters. The verses are about one third as long as most of tho...
  • 4:21 The Edomites, kinsmen of the Judahites, were rejoicing over Judah's destruction (cf. Ps. 137:7; Jer. 49:7-22; Ezek. 25:12-14; 35), but the same fate was sure to overtake them (Deut. 30:7). They would have to drink the cu...
  • This poem, like the one in chapter 3, contains verses of only two lines each. It is the only non-acrostic chapter in the book, though like chapters 1, 2, and 4, it consists of 22 verses. The doleful qinahmeter is also absent ...
  • 5:1 Jeremiah called on Yahweh to remember the calamity that had befallen His people and to consider the reproach in which they now lived (cf. 3:34-36). The humbled condition of the Judahites reflected poorly on the Lord becau...
  • The writer now turned from reviewing the plight of the people to consider the greatness of their God."In 5:19-20 the writer carefully chose his words to summarize the teaching of the entire book by using the split alphabet to...
  • 18:1-2 The Lord told Ezekiel to ask the people what they meant when they used a proverb that implied that the present generation of Israelites was suffering because of the sins of their forefathers (cf. Jer. 31:29). They were...
  • 1:2-3 Joel called on everyone, from the most respected ruling elders of the land (cf. 1 Sam. 30:26-31; 2 Sam. 19:11-15; 2 Kings 23:1; Ezra 10:8; Prov. 31:23; Jer. 26:17; Lam. 5:12, 14) to the ordinary inhabitants, to pay atte...
  • 3:1-3 When God would restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem in that future day (cf. Deut. 30:3), He would gather the other nations to the valley of Jehoshaphat (lit. "Yahweh judges"). This is the only passage in Scriptur...
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