<P> The Book of Lamentations ( Hebrew : אֵיכָה ‬ , ' Êykhôh , from its incipit meaning `` how '' ) is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem . In the Hebrew Bible it appears in the Ketuvim ( `` Writings '' ) , beside the Song of Songs , Book of Ruth , Ecclesiastes and the Book of Esther ( the Megilloth or `` Five Scrolls '' ) , although there is no set order ; in the Christian Old Testament it follows the Book of Jeremiah , as the prophet Jeremiah is its traditional author . Jeremiah 's authorship is no longer generally accepted , although it is generally accepted that the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 586 BCE forms the background to the poems . The book is partly a traditional `` city lament '' mourning the desertion of the city by God , its destruction , and the ultimate return of the divinity , and partly a funeral dirge in which the bereaved bewails and addresses the dead . The tone is bleak : God does not speak , the degree of suffering is presented as undeserved , and expectations of future redemption are minimal . </P>
<P> The Book of Lamentations ( Hebrew : אֵיכָה ‬ , ' Êykhôh , from its incipit meaning `` how '' ) is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem . In the Hebrew Bible it appears in the Ketuvim ( `` Writings '' ) , beside the Song of Songs , Book of Ruth , Ecclesiastes and the Book of Esther ( the Megilloth or `` Five Scrolls '' ) , although there is no set order ; in the Christian Old Testament it follows the Book of Jeremiah , as the prophet Jeremiah is its traditional author . Jeremiah 's authorship is no longer generally accepted , although it is generally accepted that the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 586 BCE forms the background to the poems . The book is partly a traditional `` city lament '' mourning the desertion of the city by God , its destruction , and the ultimate return of the divinity , and partly a funeral dirge in which the bereaved bewails and addresses the dead . The tone is bleak : God does not speak , the degree of suffering is presented as undeserved , and expectations of future redemption are minimal . </P>
who is speaking in the book of lamentations
who is speaking in the book of lamentations
the prophet Jeremiah
the prophet Jeremiah