Lamentations 1

Lamentations 1 is the first chapter of Lamentations. It mourns the devastation that followed the Babylonian army's destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation of its people, events recorded in Jeremiah 52, the final chapter of the preceding book.

Outline

• Verses 1–7: The speaker laments that the city once full of people now sits solitary like a widow. Judah has gone into captivity, and no one comes to the solemn feasts on the ways of Zion. The cause is stated plainly: "the LORD hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions" (v. 5).
• Verses 8–11: Jerusalem is likened to an unclean person. The passage depicts the heathen entering the sanctuary and the people giving their treasures in exchange for food. At intervals Jerusalem herself cries out to the LORD (vv. 9, 11).
• Verses 12–16: Speaking in the first person, Jerusalem appeals to those who pass by to behold her sorrow. She describes the LORD's wrath through the images of fire, a net, a yoke, and a winepress.
• Verse 17: The speaker interjects once more, observing that Zion spreads forth her hands, but there is none to comfort her.
• Verses 18–22: Jerusalem confesses the LORD's righteousness and her own rebellion, then prays that her enemies may suffer as she has.

Key Verses

• Lamentations 1:1, "How doth the city sit solitary": The first Hebrew word, ekah ("how"), became the Hebrew name of the book.
• Lamentations 1:12, "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?": Christian tradition has read this verse in light of the sufferings of Christ.
• Lamentations 1:18, "The LORD is righteous": A confession that accepts suffering as the consequence of one's own sin rather than as injustice on God's part.

People and Places

• Jerusalem and Zion: Personified as a widow and a virgin; in the latter part of the chapter Jerusalem speaks directly.
• Judah: The southern kingdom and its people.
• Jacob: In this chapter, his descendants, the people of Israel (v. 17).
• Priests and elders: Leaders who collapse from hunger within the city (v. 19).

Points for Reflection

• Authorship: The text does not name its author. The Septuagint and Jewish tradition attribute the book to Jeremiah, and the book's Korean title ("Lamentations of Jeremiah") follows this tradition. Scholars hold other views as well.
• Form: The chapter is an alphabetic acrostic in which each verse begins with a successive letter of the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet. This structure is not visible in translation.
• Refrain: The statement that there is none to comfort recurs several times (vv. 2, 9, 16, 17, 21).
• Prayer concerning enemies: Interpretations of the plea for retribution in verses 21–22 differ. Some read it, like similar prayers in the Psalms, as an appeal that commits justice to God; others also ask how it relates to the New Testament teaching on love for enemies.
• Relationship to the New Testament: The New Testament does not quote this chapter directly. Connecting verse 12 with the sufferings of Christ reflects the interpretation of the later church.