Study notes

Lamentations 2

Introducing LamentationsWho wrote it, when, why, and what to look for as you read

1:1–2:22 Section

Chapters 1 and 2 are alphabet poems.

Chapter 1 compared Jerusalem to a woman who weeps. The city was described as a widow whose children had been killed. This described how the people of Jerusalem felt when Babylon attacked them.

Babylonian armies surrounded Jerusalem for many months. The people in Jerusalem didn’t have enough food and they couldn’t get more. They suffered terribly. People were so hungry that they ate the bodies of their children who had died.

In 587 and 586 BC the Babylonians entered the city. They killed many people and forced many others to live in Babylon. They also destroyed the temple. These terrible events were part of the covenant curses.

In the first poem, the people of Jerusalem recognised why they were suffering. It was because they had refused to obey God. God had finally brought judgement against them for the evil things they had done.

Chapter 2 described this judgement as the cloud of God’s anger. In these chapters the speakers recognised that God was right to bring judgement. At the same time, the speakers urged the people to pray to God for mercy.

The speakers also complained against God. They accused him of being their enemy. They accused God of killing his people (God’s people) without pity. It was hard for the people of Jerusalem to accept what had happened to them.

The speakers were honest with God about how they felt. They asked God many questions. They told God how much they had been crying. They complained to God about things that were hard. They protested about things that seemed to be unfair. They asked God to punish their enemies. In these ways the poems were like many poems in the book of Psalms.

2:1

heaven: Jerusalem’s buildings were beautiful and impressive. Some were covered with precious metals and decorated with jewels. The city was known as the sacred city of the Lord.
his footstool: Compare 1 Chronicles 28:2; Psalms 99:5; 132:7.

2:1–22

This chapter vividly shows the Lord acting as the one who destroys Jerusalem.

2:3–4

bent His bow: In the past, the Lord had been a powerful warrior for Israel (see Exodus 14:13–15:21; Joshua 23:9–11; Judges 7; 2 Kings 19:32–35). Now he waged war against Jerusalem (see Isaiah 63:10; Ezekiel 24:25).

2:6

A garden shelter was a temporary structure that harvesters set up to provide shade. God had promised to care for his temple forever (1 Kings 9:3), but now it seemed he had abandoned it.

2:7

The temple was destroyed because the priests and the people sinned inside it. Their sins made the temple ceremonially unclean and brought God’s judgment on it (see Jeremiah 7:3–15; 26:3–6, 12–13; Ezekiel 24:21).

2:8

Ramparts were stone walls or earth mounds built around a city to protect it from enemy attacks.

2:9

no vision: Daniel and Ezekiel were prophets of the Lord. They had visions while living among the exiles far from Judah (Ezekiel 1:1; Daniel 7:1). This verse, however, speaks about prophets in Jerusalem. These prophets claimed to receive visions from God, but their visions were false.

2:10

Burlap, also known as sackcloth, was made from goat or camel hair. People often used it for grain sacks or to carry items on pack animals. Poor people wore it as clothing because it was cheap. People in mourning wore it to show their deep sorrow. Its dark color matched their mood, and its roughness matched their discomfort.
Throwing dust on their heads and clothing signaled to neighbors that a family member had died.

2:13

Who can ever heal you?: There was no one left who could bring healing. The prophets and healers who were trusted by the people had spoken lies and given false hope (Jeremiah 6:13–14).

2:16

Their enemies were glad that Jerusalem was defeated.

2:17

His decree, which He ordained in days of old: God's promises of blessings depended on Israel's obedience to the law (Deuteronomy 8). He had promised to destroy them if they disobeyed it (Leviticus 26).

2:18–19

Repentance and prayer are the proper responses when facing the devastation of God’s judgment.

2:20

Jeremiah had warned that the same cannibalism (people eating human flesh during extreme hunger) that happened during the siege of Samaria (2 Kings 6:28–29) would also happen in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 19:9; see also Lamentations 4:10; Ezekiel 5:10; compare Deuteronomy 28:53–57).

2:22

summoned … for the day of an appointed feast: The poet compares Jerusalem's destruction to a feast where war, famine, wild animals, and sickness consume the wicked in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 28:15–68; compare Revelation 19:17–21).

Verse notes: Adapted by Mission Mutual (Aquifer Open Study Notes) from Tyndale Open Study Notes © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. CC BY-SA 4.0. Section notes: Biblica Study Notes © 2023 Biblica, Inc. CC BY-SA 4.0, via BibleAquifer. About the sources