Lamentations

In Hebrew, the book is named after the first word of Eikh! ("How!"). The Babylonian Talmud uses the expression Kinot, that is, "Weeping," "Elegy." In the Septuagint, the book is called Dr. Greek. θρῆνοι (“Lamentations”, “Lamentations”), in the Vulgate respectively Lamentationes , which became the basis for the title of the book in many European languages.

In Latin and Russian translations of the Bible, the Lament is placed after the book of the prophet Jeremiah, in the Septuagint, between the book of the prophet Jeremiah and the Lament of Jeremiah, Baruch is placed. In the Jewish canon, Crying is usually found in the section of hagiographers, or Scriptures, which also includes the songs of the Song of Songs, Ruth, Ecclesiastes and Esther, five scrolls collected under the general name Megillot (Scrolls). In some modern editions of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Lament of Jeremiah is placed between the book of Ruth or Esther and the book of Ecclesiastes, but in ancient manuscripts he stood after the book of Jeremiah.

The book is a lamentable song expressing sorrow for the calamity that befell the Israeli people in 586 BC. e., when the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem.

Traditionally, the author of the book is considered the prophet Jeremiah (the book was first entitled in the Septuagint ), which, however, has not been proved ^{[1] [2]} . It is believed that the book was written near Jerusalem after its destruction in 586 BC. e.

In the Septuagint, the book is accompanied by the following opening words: “And it happened, after Israel was taken captive, and Jerusalem was devastated, Jeremiah the prophet sat in tears and wept with this weeping over Jerusalem, and said ...” Jerome , the creator of the first Latin translation, considered these words added and omitted them in his translation. Nevertheless, Jews traditionally attribute the authorship of the Weeping to the prophet Jeremiah. (In addition, his authorship is supported by the Syrian Bible ( Peshitta ), the Latin Vulgate , Targum Jonathan, the Babylonian Talmud and other translations.)

However, some modern biblical scholars give a different attribution of the book. It is believed that the book was written between 587 and 582. The fact is that a number of signs make one doubt that Jeremiah could have been its author.

• Some scholars see the Cry as regretting that Israel did not receive help from Egypt (4.17). But the prophet Jeremiah was strongly opposed to the hope of such help (35.5-10). However, others see in this verse only the false hopes of the Jews conveyed by Jeremiah, in which he had earlier exposed the fellow citizens (37.5-10).
• The Book of Lamentation reveals with great respect the king of Zedekiah and the hopes placed on his rule (4.20). These words could not come from Jeremiah, who denounced this king. Other scholars, again, see in this only the general opinion of the Jerusalemites, conveyed by the author, who at the same time, traditionally for a pious Jew, reverently treats the royal dignity.
• The exquisite style of the poem speaks of the author, who wrote in a calm atmosphere, while the last years of Jeremiah's life passed in different conditions. ^[3]

Jeremiah's Lament contains five songs. In the first, second and fourth songs of 22 verses - the number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each verse is “numbered” by the corresponding letter and begins with the same letter (for example, in Vulgate Lam 1.1: ALEPH. Quomodo sedet ..., Lam 1.2: BETH. Plorans ploravit ..., Lam 1.3: GIMEL. Migravit Judas ... etc.) ^[4] . The third song contains 66 verses organized in 22 three-song groups; each verse within one trichisthe begins with the letter of the Hebrew alphabet with which it is preceded (in Vulgate, verses Lam 3.1,3.2,3.3 begin with the words ALEPH, Lam 3.4,3.5,3.6 - with the word BETH, etc.). The fifth song also consists of 22 verses, but does not contain their literal numbering (and, accordingly, does not contain an acrostic).

The acrostic in the Hebrew Bible could not be sustained in translations into other languages. The names of the letters are formally exposed in the Vulgate (despite the fact that the initial letters of the verses are, of course, “alphabetically” in no way consistent with the named letter), in some editions of the Septuagint and in the Church Slavonic Bible. In the critical edition of the Septuagint A. Ralphs, in Protestant translations and in the Russian Synodal translation of the Lament, they are not.

A similar structural and poetic principle is observed in Psalm 118 and, in a simpler form (one phrase for each letter), in a number of other psalms, for example, 9-10 .

Separate verses from the Lamentation of Jeremiah were sung for centuries (in a special psalm tone ) on the passionate morning of Catholics on Great Thursday, Great Friday and Great Saturday, known in the West under the metaphorical name Tenebrae . Each verse, as a rule, ends with a textual musical refrain (the text is also from the Lamentation of Jeremiah) Ierusalem, convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum ("Jerusalem, return to the Lord your God!").

Composer's vocal compositions (with or without instruments) on Lamentationes texts (usually sung to music that has nothing to do with typical psalm tones) are known from the Renaissance (second half of the 15th century) until the 20th century; among the authors of The Cries, Pierre de la Rue (publication 1549; authorship is disputed), F. de Peñalosa , H. Isac ( Oratio Jeremiae prophetae ), J. Arcadelt , C. Festa , C. de Cermisi , C. de Morales , J. .P. Palestrina (four collections for various vocal compositions), O. Lasso (three collections), T. Tallis , A. Lobo , F. Dentice , O. Vecchi , E. Cavalieri , J. Carissimi , F. Durante , Y.D. Zelenka , G.F. Handel , E. Kshenek , I.F. Stravinsky ^[5] , V.I. Martynov . On the verses of "Lamentation" relied on the genre of chamber (vocal and instrumental) French Baroque music called fr. Leçons de Ténèbres (lit. “reading in the dark”), in which M.A. Charpentier , F. Couperin , M.R. Delaland and others. Composer's "Lamentations" since the Baroque era was a very refined concert music (like a cantata or oratorio) and was not intended for worship.

In reference and scientific literature, the musical arrangements of the Lamentation of Jeremiah are sometimes called lamentations .

• Old Testament: Weeping of Jeremiah, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs. Translation into Russian by I. M. Dyakonov, L. E. Kogan, with the participation of L. V. Manevich. M .: RSUH, 1998.

• Mehrstimmige Lamentationen aus der ersten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts, hrsg. v. Günther Massenkeil. Mainz: Schott, 1965. 163 S.

• Weeping of Jeremiah - article from the Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia
• Jeremiah weeping // Orthodox Encyclopedia
• Lamentations (Crying of the Prophet Jeremiah) on medieval.org