Book Overview - Lamentations

by Arno Clemens Gaebelein

THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS

Introduction

In the Hebrew Bible, the small book which follows in our English Bible the book of Jeremiah, is placed in the portion which is called “Kethubim” (the writings). It is one of the five, so-called “Megilloth.” The Septuagint translation begins with a brief paragraph which is not found in our version: “It came to pass that, after Israel was taken captive and Jerusalem was made desolate, Jeremiah sat weeping and lamented with this lamentation over Jerusalem, and said ...;” then the first chapter begins. The Vulgate (Latin) translation has adopted this statement and also the Arabic version.