Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Elegies

How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger,
and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel,...
Lamentations 2:1

 "Jeremiah is thought to have written Lamentations. The prophet very likely witnessed Jerusalem’s destruction, and Lamentations bears a striking resemblance to his book in subject and wording. The Talmudic title is Ginoth, “Elegies” or “Lamentations,” describing the book’s topic.


Lamentations has been likened to the “funeral” of Jerusalem, the once-proud city now in ruins.

Four of the book’s five poems are written in a meter typical of Hebrew elegies, while the fifth reads more like a prayer. In the original Hebrew, the five poems are acrostic, with each verse starting with a succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

In the midst of calamity Jeremiah called out, “Great is Thy faithfulness!” This great faith demonstrates that we too can find hope and comfort in God in the middle of disappointment. Even in judgment, God extends love, hope and deliverance." BibleUniverse