Lamentations 1 is the first chapter of the

Book of Lamentations The Book of Lamentations ( he, אֵיכָה, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megill ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Old Testament of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

, part of the Ketuvim ("Writings").

Text

Book of Lamentations on Codex sinaiticus

The original text was written in

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. The chapter is acrostic, divided into 22 stanzas or verses. The stanzas consist of triplets of lines (except Lamentations 1:7a, which contains four lines) each beginning with the letters of the

Hebrew alphabet The Hebrew alphabet ( he, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewi ...

in regular order (twenty-two in number).

Textual versions

Some early witnesses for the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

, which includes

Codex Leningradensis The Leningrad Codex ( la, Codex Leningradensis [Leningrad Book]; he, כתב יד לנינגרד) is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. According to its colopho ...

(1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

, i.e., 4Q111 (4QLam; 30‑1 BCE) with extant verses 1–15, 17, 16, 18 and 3Q3 (3QLam; 30 BCE–50 CE) with extant verses 10‑12. There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

, made in the last few centuries BCE. The Septuagint translation added an introductory line before the first stanza: :''And it came to pass, after Israel was taken captive, and Jerusalem made desolate, that Jeremias sat weeping, and lamented with this lamentation over Jerusalem, and said,'' Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(S; BHK:

\mathfrak

^S; 4th century),

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century) and

Codex Marchalianus Codex Marchalianus designated by siglum Q is a 6th-century Greek manuscript copy of the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament) known as the Septuagint. The text was written on vellum in uncial letters. Palaeographically it ...

(Q;

\mathfrak

^Q; 6th century).

Verse 1

: ''How doth the city sit solitary,'' :: ''that was full of people!'' : ''how is she become as a widow!'' :: ''she that was great among the nations,'' : ''and princess among the provinces,'' :: ''how is she become tributary!'' * "How" (Hebrew: איכה ''Eichah''): the Hebrew word (the first word of the book, starting with " Aleph", the first letter of

) is the title more frequently given by the Jews to these Elegies.Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, Andrew Robert; Brown, David. '' Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible''
"Lamentations 1"
1871. In the Septuagint the initial word is gr, πως, ''pós''. This is the characteristic introductory word of an elegy (cf. ; ), and adopted as the title of the Book of Lamentations. It is repeated at the opening of

chapter 2 Chapter Two, Chapter 2, or Chapter II may refer to: Film, television, and theatre * ''Chapter Two'' (play), a 1977 play by Neil Simon * ''Chapter Two'' (film), a 1979 adaptation of Neil Simon's play Television episodes * "Chapter 2" (''American H ...

and chapter 4. * "Sit solitary": The city of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

here is "poetically personified and distinguished from the persons who accidentally compose her population". The word "solitary" does not mean "into solitude", but "deserted by her inhabitants" (the same word as in the first clause of : ''the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken'' in the Revised Standard Version).Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors)
"Lamentations 1"
23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2018. * "Great among the nations": one that "ruled over many nations" and, in the times of

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

and Solomon, received tribute from the Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, and Syrians, but later was forced to pay tribute herself, e.g. to

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

Necho, king of Egypt, then, in the times of Jehoiakim until Zedekiah, to the king of Babylon. Gill, John
''Exposition of the Entire Bible''. "Lamentations 1".
Published in 1746-1763. * "Tributary" has the sense of "personal labor" . Barnes, Albert
''Notes on the Bible'' - "Lamentations 1"
James Murphy (ed). London, Blackie & Son, 1884. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998.

Verse 7

: ''Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction'' :: ''and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old,'' : ''when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her:'' :: ''the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths.'' Mockery at her " sabbaths" reflects the wording in the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

: ''deriserunt sabbata ejus''. "Mocking over her downfall" is the standard translation in modern English versions. There is an alternative reading in 4QLam (4Q111),Kotzé, Gideon
"Text-Critical Analysis of Lamentations 1:7 in 4QLam and the Masoretic Text,"
Old Testament Essays 24/3 (2011): 590-611. Quote: "4QLam preserves a large number of variant readings and is, therefore, a unique representative of the wording and content of this chapter. The wording of Lam 1:7 in 4QLam is a good example of this manuscript’s unique character...

: : :

English: ''Remember O YHWH l our pains that existed from days of old. When her eoplefell in/by the hand of a foe and there was no helper, her foes laughed about her ruins.''" which reads: : ''Remember O YHWH l our pains that existed from days of old.'' : ''When her eoplefell in/by the hand of a foe and there was no helper,'' : '' her foes laughed about her ruins.''

Verse 9

:''Her uncleanness is in her skirts;'' :''She did not consider her destiny;'' :''Therefore her collapse was awesome;'' :''She had no comforter.'' ::''“O Lord, behold my affliction,'' ::''For the enemy is exalted!”'' This verses introduces a transition to the first person, similarly in verse 11b. "Such movement from one

grammatical person In linguistics, grammatical person is the grammatical distinction between deictic references to participant(s) in an event; typically the distinction is between the speaker ( first person), the addressee ( second person), and others ( third pe ...

to another, found throughout the book, is not at all unusual in

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

Uses

Music

* The

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

of verse 12 from this chapter are cited as texts in the English-language

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

" by George Frideric Handel (HWV 56). * Edward Gibbons adapted some of the text in his

verse anthem In religious music, the verse anthem is a type of choral music, or song, distinct from the motet or 'full' anthem (i.e. for full choir). In the 'verse' anthem the music alternates between sections for a solo voice or voices (called the 'verse') ...

''How hath ye City sate solitary''.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Jewish

Lamentations 1 Hebrew with Rashi's Commentary

Christian

Lamentations 1 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
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