what is the meaning of the book of lamentations
Book of Lamentations The Book of Lamentations (Hebrew: אֵיכָה‬, ‘Êykhôh, from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem.[1] 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.[2] Jeremiah's authorship is no longer generally accepted, although it is generally accepted that the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 586 BC forms the background to the poems.[3] 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.[3] The tone is bleak: God does not speak, the degree of suffering is presented as undeserved, and expectations of future redemption are minimal.[4]
Dorcas Acts recounts that when she died, she was mourned by "all the widows...crying and showing (Peter) the robes and other clothing that she had made while she was still with them" (Acts 9:39).[1] The Greek construct used in this passage indicates that the widows were the recipients of her charity,[4] but she may also have been a widow herself.[5] It is likely that she was a woman of some means, given her ability to help the poor.[6] The disciples present called upon Peter, who came from nearby Lydda to the place where her body was being laid out for burial, and raised her from the dead.[6]