Structure and Meaning in Lamentations -- By: Homer Heater, Jr.

Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 149:595 (Jul 1992)
Article: Structure and Meaning in Lamentations
Author: Homer Heater, Jr.


Structure and Meaning in Lamentations

Homer Heater, Jr.

Professor of Bible Exposition
Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas

Lamentations is perhaps the best example in the Bible of a combination of divine inspiration and human artistic ability. The depth of pathos as the writer probed the suffering of Zion and his own suffering is unprecedented. Each chapter is an entity in itself, a complete poem.1 The most obvious literary device utilized by the poet is the acrostic; that is, poems are built around the letters of the alphabet. As is well known, chapters 1 and 2 have three lines in each of their 22 verses, and the first line of each verse begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet.2 Chapter 3 also has 66 lines, with the first three lines each beginning with the first letter of the alphabet, the second three lines beginning with the second letter of the alphabet and so forth. Chapter 4 has two lines per verse, with only the first line of each verse beginning with the successive letter of the alphabet. Chapter 5 is unique in that it has 22 lines (the number of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet), but the alphabetic structure is not used. Gottwald describes the tenor of this structure.

It is the belief of the present writer that the author of the Book of Lamentations selected the external principle of the acrostic to correspond to the internal spirit and intention of the work. He wished to play upon the collective grief of the community in its every aspect, “from Aleph to Taw,” so that the people might experience an emotional catharsis. He wanted to bring about a complete cleansing of the conscience through a total confession of sin. Even then his purpose was not spent. He was also determined to inculcate an attitude of submission and a prospect of hope. By intimately binding together the themes of sin, suffering, submission and hope, he intended to implant the conviction of trust and confidence in the goodness and imminent intervention of Yahweh. That this is the case is evident in the third poem where the acrostic form is intensified at precisely the point where hope becomes the strongest.3

The purpose of this article is to take another look at the structure of the Book of Lamentations in relation to the book’s content and message and to discuss the possibility of a “mini-acrostic” in You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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