Lamentations Introduction

One of the main arguments against an early date for Lamentations is its poetic style. Chapters 1–4 of Lamentations are alphabetic acrostics. That is, the first word of each verse starts with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet (chap. 3 has three verses for each letter). Those who argue for a much later date question whether the people of Jeremiah’s time were capable of such sophisticated formal poetry. They also question whether a person actually experiencing such emotions could force his words into such a restricted form (many scholars also perceive a poetic rhythm in Lamentations). For these reasons, they conclude that it was composed long after the events depicted. Further, since the last chapter is not an acrostic, skeptics question its inclusion.

Some scholars argue that there was not enough time between the invention of alphabetic writing early in the second millennium BC and the writing of this book for such sophisticated literary forms to develop. That is not necessarily the case. Sophisticated forms of literature and poetry would likely develop when stories and traditions were passed along orally. These forms would have been incorporated in writing.

Certainly the alphabetic acrostic is not a form that would have developed in an oral society, yet it would have been one of the first forms to arise as writing spread. Just as our books that teach the alphabet have an apple, a boy, and a cat, so the ancient writing lessons would have had an ox, a house, and a camel. Later lessons might feature sentences starting with each successive letter. From these lessons could arise alphabetic acrostic poetry, which appears frequently in the Bible (Pss 9–10; 25; 34; 37; 111–112; 119; 145; Pr 31:10-31).

But would a person overcome with grief express his feelings in such formal verse? One might expect a heart cry to come out in sentence fragments or free verse. However, deep emotions and formal poetry are compatible. Indeed, people turn to poetry precisely for its ability to express emotion. Consider Shakespeare’s sonnets. Also, the form itself sometimes contributes to meaning: the acrostic may have been employed to express the completeness of the destruction and despair—from A to Z, as it were. This also suggests an explanation for why chapter 5 is not an acrostic (nor does it have the rhythm perceived in the other chapters): the lack of form expresses the chaos and despair of the time.