What is Book of Lamentations?
The '''Book of Lamentations''' (''Eikha'', ʾēḫā(h)) is a book of the [[Bible]] [[Old Testament]] and [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[Tanakh]]. It is traditionally read by the Jewish people on [[Tisha B'Av]], the fast day that commemorates the destruction of the [[Temple in Jerusalem]]. {{Books of the Old Testament}} In Western Christianity, readings and songs from the book are used in the [[Lent|Lenten]] religious service known as Tenebrae (Latin for darkness). In the Church of England, readings are used at Morning and Evening Prayer on the Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week, and at Evening Prayer on Good Friday. In the Coptic Orthodox Church, the book's third chapter is [[chant|chanted]] on the twelfth hour of the [[Good Friday]] service, that commemorates the burial of [[Jesus]]. The book has been thought to be the work of [[The Prophet Jeremiah|Jeremiah]] by Jews from 200 B.C. and by Christians from 400 A.D. The book itself does not tell who wrote it, so the author is uncertain. It is a series of sad poems about the destruction of Jerusalem. Beginning with the reality of disaster, Lamentations ends with the thought that God may have finally rejected Israel (chapter 5:22). The poet says that this suffering is a just punishment, still God is held to have had choice over whether to act in this way and at this time. Hope arises from remembering God's past goodness. The poem says that the [[mercy|mercies]] of Yahweh (the God of Israel) never end, but are new every morning (3:22–33). The book was written in Hebrew. That language has 22 letters in its [[alphabet]]. Each of the verses in chapters 1, 2 and 4 start with the next letter of the alphabet. In Chapter 3 groups of 3 verses also start with the same letters. That is why chapters 1,2 and 4 have 22 verses and chapter 3 has 66 verses. Chapter 5 also has 22 verses, but does not follow the method of using a different letter for each verse. This type of structure is called an [[acrostic]] and may have been used as an aid to memory. {{Books of the Bible}} {{religion