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Book of Lamentations

Book of Lamentations

1 9.0
A book of the Bible with sad poems about Jerusalem's destruction
  • proper noun
translation icon : Libro de Lamentaciones
  • On this day, he heard the Jews recite the Book of Lamentations on the Temple Mount and saw them tear their clothes as a sign of mourning.

Examples

  • On this day, he heard the Jews recite the Book of Lamentations on the Temple Mount and saw them tear their clothes as a sign of mourning.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Perhaps she has heard these words from the Book of Lamentations.

  • But the ultimate biblical 'sad songs' are those collected in the Book of Lamentations.

Synonyms

Lamentations
vsBook of Lamentations
  • Literature
8.6

A book of the Old Testament about deep sorrow for Jerusalem after it was destroyed

uses the formal full title including the word that marks it as a book

Surface Forms

Morphology

book + of + Lamentations

This is a compositional proper-name: 'book' + 'of' + 'Lamentations' straightforwardly denotes a book containing lamentations (expressions of sorrow). The structure matches cross-linguistic patterns for titling biblical books, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Book of Lamentations is a short book in the Old Testament made of sad poems called lamentations that 'mourn' the destruction of Jerusalem. One popular belief says a prophet named Jeremiah wrote them after the city fell, so the book is used to remember and feel that loss today.