Lamentations Resources

This 1953 movie is actually mostly about what happened after the Jews were allowed to head back to Jerusalem after the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE (for full details see the Book of Daniel). Lots of princes and princesses in this one.

The full text of Lamentations in all its New Revised translation glory. Read it and weep. Literally.

A good breakdown of what's up with Lamentations from an Introduction to the Hebrew Bible course at Yale. You'll feel smarter after only a few minutes.

Want to know a little more about Babylon and the other empires of the time? John Green explains the Fertile Crescent in just a few short minutes.

A short video about the history of the Jews during the Babylonian exile. Don't worry. It ends well for our biblical friends.

Music to weep by. The composer sets the first chapter of Lamentations to music and (as you might have guessed) it'll really tug at your heart strings.

This funeral anthem for Queen Caroline of England quotes pretty heavily from Lamentations including the title, "The ways of Zion do mourn and she is in bitterness" (1:4). Lamentations is definitely funeral material.

This English hymn gets its title from Lamentations 1:12—"All you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow."

What Solomon's Temple might have looked like pre-destruction.

A map of Israel showing the divided kingdoms. By the time the Babylonians came along, the Northern Kingdom had gone bye-bye.

Seriously, how many more miles?

What a page from Lamentations looked like around 350 CE.

Man, watching Jerusalem get burnt to a crisp has really got me down. My therapist suggested I do some journaling. Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. 1630. Public domain.

Quick! Call the fire department. What? We don't have a fire department. Oh, drat. "Destruction of Jerusalem Under Babylonian Rule" from The Nuremberg Chronicle. 1493. Public domain.

The Flight of the Prisoners by James Tissot. 1896-1902. Public domain.

This exile thing's a drag. The Mourning Jews in Exile by Eduard Bendemann. 1832. Public domain.

Just because we're exiled doesn't mean I can't look fabulous. By the Waters of Babylon by Arthur Hacker. 1888. Public domain.

All this weeping is really giving me a headache. By the Rivers of Babylon by Gebhard Fugel. 1920. Public domain.

Exile is tough, but things aren't so great here in the city either. Lamentations of Jeremiah by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. 1851-1860. Public domain.