Lamentations is a book that grips our emotions, not just our intellect. It is a personal account of the author's mourning over the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and the exile of the Jewish people to Babylon. But it is more than a book of grieving; it offers hope in the midst of suffering.

The title Lamentations is the translation of a Greek word that means "to cry aloud," aptly summarizing the content. This book has a different structure from other Bible books. It is composed of five melancholy poems (one per chapter) with a limping meter that was used for funeral dirges. In the Hebrew, the second line of two parallel lines is one beat short of the first one, thus producing a limp in the meter. In addition, four of the poems are written as acrostics. In chapters 1, 2 and 4 each verse starts with a word that begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, progressing in order. In chapter 3 three verses go with each letter.

These poems focus on the events described in 2 Kings 25 when the Babylonian army invaded Jerusalem and razed the city, carrying away most of the population. They also provide a sequel to the book of Jeremiah that warns about the coming invasion and fall of the city. Because of the similarity in events described, some commentators believe that Jeremiah was the author. However, since it is anonymous, we cannot be sure.

But Lamentations is more than one man's reaction to the loss of his home. It gives us a biblical approach to suffering. The author teaches us that we can't deal with suffering by ignoring it, pretending it doesn't exist, trying to get out of it, or minimizing its pain. Instead, we have to go through it, remembering that God is with us in it.