C.
Latin: The title to the book in the Latin Vulgate was a transliteration for the title
“lament” (Threni) and was subtitled in such a way that it became the basis for our English title “Lamentations.”
D.
It was written by an eyewitness of the destruction of Jerusalem, lamenting that fact, hence its name, Lamentations. It is a funeral song, written in the rhythm and style of ancient Jewish dirges.
III.
DATE OF THE BOOK. 586 B.C. and shortly after.
A.
Chapters 1 through 4 suggest an intensity which would have been right after the fall of Jerusalem.
B.
Chapter 5 may describe a time when the “sharp pains of defeat had dulled into the chronic ache of captivity”, but it need not necessarily describe a later period of up to 530 B. C.
IV.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.
A.
This collection of songs was composed after the fall of the city of Jerusalem in 587/6 B.C.
B.
This time might well be or should be identified with Jeremiah, 39:1-18.3.
C.
Historical accounts are in 2 Kings 24-25 and 2 Chronicles 36.
V.
CANONICAL PLACEMENT OF THE BOOK.
A.
The Hebrew Scriptures were probably originally canonized into a two-fold division: the Law and the Prophets.
B.
By around the second century B.C.11 a three-fold division of the Hebrew Scriptures arose. That division is known as The Law, The Prophets, and The Writings.
1.
The three-fold division included the same books as the two-fold division 2.
There are several possible reasons for a three-fold division.
a.
A distinction was made between books which were written by men who held the prophetic office, and men who only had the prophetic gift.
b.
Some at a later date may have felt that those books which were not written by “prophets” were not fully canonical.