lamentations 1 and 2

Read Lamentations 1 and 2 at Bible Gateway.

Hebrew paragraph divisions:

Lamentations is a series of acrostic poems (like Psa 119 or Pro 31).

Lam chapters 1, 2, and 4 each contain 22 verses; verse 1 begins with the first letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet and continues in order through the 22nd verse. Each verse ends with an {s} paragraph division, except for the 22nd verse, which ends with a {p} paragraph division.

The strong themes:

Lam 1:1-22 {sx21+p} Zion desolate + devastated/ YHVH has judged me + none to comfort my sorrow
Lam 2:1-22 {sx21+p} YHVH has judged Zion in His fierce anger/ the daughter of Zion mourns

Lam 1:1-22 {sx21+p} reverse parallelism:

1a) Lam 1:1 {s} How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow is she, who was great among the nations! The princess among the provinces has become a slave;

1b) Lam 1:2-4 {sx3} She dwells among the nations + no one comes to the set feasts/ her priests sigh;

1a) Lam 1:2 {s} She weeps bitterly in the night, her tears are on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies;
1b) Lam 1:3a, Judah has gone into captivity under affliction and hard servitude;
1c) Lam 1:3b, She dwells among the nations;
central axis) Lam 1:3c {s} She finds no rest; all her persecutors overtake her in dire straits;
2c) Lam 1:4a, The roads to Zion mourn because no one comes to the set feasts; all her gates are desolate;
2b) Lam 1:4b, Her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted;
2a) Lam 1:4c {s} And she is in bitterness;

1c) Lam 1:5a, Her adversaries have become the master;

1d) Lam 1:5b, Her enemies prosper;

1e) Lam 1:5c, For the Lord has afflicted her because of the multitude of her transgressions;

1f) Lam 1:5d-7b, Her children + princes + people fallen before the enemy/ her splendor departed;

1a) Lam 1:5d {s} Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy;
1b) Lam 1:6a, And from the daughter of Zion all her splendor has departed;
central axis) Lam 1:6b {s} Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture, that flee without strength before the pursuer;
2b) Lam 1:7a, In her affliction, Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old;
2a) Lam 1:7b, When her people fell into the hand of the enemy;

2f) Lam 1:7c-9b, With no one to help her, her adversaries mocked/ her downfall + collapse awesome;

1a) Lam 1:7c, With no one to help her;
1b.1) Lam 1:7d, The adversaries saw her and mocked;
1b.2) Lam 1:7e {s} At her downfall;
central axis) Lam 1:8a, Jerusalem has sinned gravely, therefore she has become vile;
2b.1) Lam 1:8b {s} All who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness/ she sighs + turns away;
2b.2) Lam 1:9a. Her uncleanness is in her skirts; she did not consider her destiny; therefore her collapse was awesome;
2a) Lam 1:9b, She had no comforter;

2e) Lam 1:9c, O Lord, behold my affliction;

2d) Lam 1:9d {s} For the enemy is exalted!

2c) Lam 1:10a, The adversary has spread his hand over all her pleasant things;

2b) Lam 1:10b-11a, For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those whom You commanded not to enter Your assembly {s} All her people sigh;

2a) Lam 1:11b-22 {sx11+p} Jerusalem desolate, scorned, her enemies prevailed + her children gone into captivity.

The 2A pair also forms a structure, but I am not wise enough to complete it this year.