Up next in my chronological read through the Old Testament is Jeremiah's companion's book, Lamentations.
Talk Thru the Bible
In this reference book, it introduces Lamentations as "the funeral of a city", Jerusalem. I liked that description. In one year, 586 BC, we see centuries of sin and rebellion come to fruition. Jeremiah had a front row seat for the final rebellion, the finally judgement, and the not final punishment—with hope for the future.
Jeremiah is the mourning prophet for a reason, capturing this slow motion train wreck with five dirges of death. Each of the five poems starts with the first letter of the alphabet, A and continues to the end of the alphabet. Lament from A-Z as an acrostic.
The author is unnamed, but shown with internal and external evidence as Jeremiah.
The timeframe was soon after Jerusalem's destruction and before Jeremiah was carted off to Egypt in 586.
MacArthur Bible Commentary
This the only Old Testament Bible that only contains laments, as a funeral dirge.
This book was read yearly by the Jews to remember the destruction of Jerusalem and teaches us how to manage suffering.
Jeremiah spend 40 years warning of this impending doom. When it arrived, he still had compassion and sorrow for them, despite their unrepentant sins.
Ryrie Study Bible NASB95
Author: Jeremiah
Date: 586-585 BC
Credibility: Mentioned in
- II Chronicles 35:25
- Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) and Vulgate (Latin Bible): "Jeremiah sat weeping and lamented with this lamentation over Jerusalem."