The book of lamentations is a detailed account of the sufferings of jerusalems people, through the siege and its later conquest, due togods punishment for their individual and national sins. Although the poems are traditionally ascribed to the prophet jeremiah, this is unlikely. That event was a nightmare for the people of israel, and it is chilling to read about the extreme suffering that occurred. As a result of judahs continued and unrepentant idolatry, god allowed the babylonians to besiege, plunder, burn, and destroy the city of jerusalem. The book of lamentations was likely written between 586 and 575 b. Jeremiah lamented about all the sins of the people of israel. In the english bible lamentations is placed between the prophetic books of jeremiah and ezekiel. Notes on lamentations from king james bible old testament.
Jeremiah, also known as the weeping prophet writes this after the destruction of jerusalem by the babylonians. The book of lamentations is a reflection by the prophet jeremiah on the destruction of jerusalem and the temple in 586 bc, with the subsequent babylonian exile. Book of lamentations an old testament book lamenting the desolation of judah after the destruction of jerusalem in 586 bc. Gregory of nareks monumental book of lamentations is.
The book of lamentations was written soon after the fall of jerusalem in 586 b. And that date, itself, was used for the day of the desolation of the temple built by herod on the hands of the roman titus in the year 70 a. The greek word was transliterated from the hebrew word ekah, which appears as the first word of 1. Completed towards the end of his life, circa 100203, the work has been described as a monologue, a personal lyric and confessional poem, mystical and meditative.
The septuagint the greek translation of the old testament gives this prefix. Commentary on the prayers and lamentations of grigor narekatsi. There are a number of helpful commentaries on this book, and the following are five of. The book of lamentations by rosario castellanos a reader. A leader of the welldeveloped school of written shortly before the first millenium of christianity, the prayers of st. Jewish tradition tells us that lamentations was written by jeremiah, though no author is identified in the book itself. According to the international standard bible encyclopaedia, the rabbis call this little book ekhah how, according to the word of lament with which it begins, or qinoth. Book of lamentations definition of book of lamentations. Some view the last chapter of jeremiah as an introduction to lamentations.
Metz yeghern and proclamation of st gregory of narek. As a result, the difficulties of earthly life would disappear. It was his hope that it would serve as a guide to prayer for people of all stations around the world. Book of lamentations lamentations chapter 1 lamentations chapter 2 lamentations chapter 3 lamentations chapter 4 lamentations chapter 5.
Regardless of who wrote it, the historical events of lamentations overlap significantly with those of jeremiah. The book of lamentations is book of sorrowful songs or poems. He is best known for his book of lamentations, a major piece of mystical literature. The entire book of lamentations is poetic in its form. As you may know, lamentations is made up of five poems, each of which is an expression of grief over the babylonian conquest of jerusalem in 587586 b. The book of lamentations the full text of lamentations in all its new revised translation glory. She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave. The author of the book of lamentations was attempting to show the fulfillment of the curses presented in deuteronomy 28. Book of lamentations is a compendium of prayers in poetry and prose comprising 11,000 lines written in old classical armenian krapar and organized into 95 elegies divided into 366 chapters. The destruction of jerusalem by the babylonians in 587 bc is the likely setting for the book of lamentations. The poems use the literary style of an acrostic where the poem is built around the alphabet 16. Among the several works for which st gregory is famous is his book of prayer, called speaking with. Julian old and gregorian new calendars are treated after the new calendar was adopted in 1923 by the armenian church. Book of prayer is known in armenian as girk aghotits literally, book of prayer or.
Also called eicha, the book of lamentations which is in the writingsketuvim section of the tanakhhebrew bible is an intricate set of dirges and descriptions of jerusalem under siege and of the destruction of the first temple. Also known as narek, it is comprised of 95 prayers, each of which is titled conversation with. The book contains five poems of 22 verses each, except for chapter 3 which contains 66 verses. On the basis of the latter term the septuagint calls it threnoi, or latin threni, or lamentations. The basic theme of the book is a lament over the terrible woes which have befallen sinful judah and the destruction of the holy city and the temple of god. The book of lamentations, a long mystical poem in 95 sections written by saint gregory of the monastery of narek 9511003 ad, is familiar to virtually all armenians, yet few can say they fully understand this piece of literature that uses old armenian, grabar. Smart folks talk lamentations a good breakdown of whats up with lamentations from an introduction to the hebrew bible course at yale. In the hebrew bible it is placed among the khethubim. The book of lamentations is a collection of five poems that serve as an anguished response to the destruction of jerusalem in 587 b. The book of lamentations translated by esther allen, marsilio publishing 1996 pages 400 exactly twenty years ago, the world became aware of the zapatista rebellion in the chiapas region of mexico. Each verse of the first four chapters begins with successive letters of the hebrew alphabet, chapter 3 having three lines for each letter.
A confession of sin and an acknowledgment of gods righteous and holy judgment upon judah. Book of lamentations synonyms, book of lamentations pronunciation, book of lamentations translation, english dictionary definition of book of lamentations. Gregory of narek or grigor narekatsi was an armenian monk, poet, mystical philosopher, theologian and saint of the armenian apostolic church and catholic. Gregory of narek is the author of book of lamentations 4. Saint gregory of narek, a monk of the tenth century, knew how to.
Grigor narekatsi book of prayer armenian literature. It was written soon after the fall of jerusalem in 586 b. The book of lamentations kjv audio holy bible high quality and best speed book 25 duration. Lamentations 1 how deserted lies the city, once so full of people. For the place of lamentations in the hebrew canon, see ap. The book consists of live elegies on the destruction of jerusalem. Gregory of nareks book of lamentation into the vernacular from the rare text of the classical armenian, published in 1858, is also included. Chapter 1a all verse 1b all verse 2 twentytwo verses. How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations. The key event in lamentations, as in jeremiah, is the capture and destruction of jerusalem by babylon in 586 b. Saint gregory has been depicted holding his book of prayer in a variety of artwork and a professor of psychiatry was able to develop a unique kind of therapy based on saint gregorys book of lamentations. Lamentations 1 niv bible how deserted lies the city. But one cannot properly appreciate the book of lamentations. In the hebrew scriptures it appears in the third division, called the writings, in a section called the festival scrolls megilloth between ruth and ecclesiastes the book of lamentations is read aloud in the synagogues on the 9th of ab in july or august on the roman calendar, a jewish national.
The elegy bewails jerusalem, once teeming with life and now sitting abandoned and alone like a solitary widow. He lamented that the lord was made an enemy to his people. Though the immediate reason for the revolt was the nafta treaty that opened the floodgates for usmanufactured goods into mexico, it was one among. Gregory of narek have long been recognized as gems of.
Every strata of society was guilty, but particularly the wealthy, the prophets, priests, and. It is not among the most popular old testament books, but it repays careful study. Biblical commentary and analysis lamentations, book of, in eastons bible dictionary 1897 lamentations in matthew henrys commentary on the whole bible 4. This was the most traumatic event in the whole of old testament history, with its extreme human suffering, devastation of the ancient city, national humiliation, and the undermining of all that was thought to be theologically guaranteed like the davidic monarchy, the city of zion, and. Saint gregory of narek also called grigor narekatsi was born in the city of. Each chapter of the book is comprised of a poem making five poems in all. The name implies that the topic is expressing grief over something to lament. The book of lamentations has been billed as a natural supplement to the book of jeremiah. Grigor narekatsi, book of lamentations, armenian classical. Gregorys masterpiece is considered to be his book of lamentations. The book of lamentations as it applies to america by ralph. Concert dedicated to the millenium anniversary of gregory.
In the hebrew bible it appears in the ketuvim writings, beside the song of songs, book of ruth, ecclesiastes and the book of esther the megilloth or five scrolls, although there is no set order. He said he saw all of the sins and was incapable of not weeping or lamenting. The book of lamentations was read in the ninth day of julyaugust to commemorate the desolation of jerusalem on the hands of nebuchadnezar. Book of prayer is known in armenian as girk aghotits literally, book of prayer or matean voghbergutyan literally book of tragedy or lamentation. On april 12, 1015, pope francis officially proclaimed gregory of narek as a doctor of the church. Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are on her cheeks. See 2 kgs 25 for a prose account of the fall of jerusalem. For narekatsi, peoples absolute goal in life should be to reach to god. Title lamentations was derived from a translation of the title as found in the latin vulgate vg.
322 1428 9 1204 89 740 114 1573 1402 200 946 690 1492 86 1361 244 287 1380 1553 1129 826 126 3 445 438 1589 594 1144 865 1553 217 1135 1120 1341 616 824 147 281 138 516 663 502 1226 1202 254 73