Lamentations 4-5 | Obadiah

The book of Lamentations was largely written in the form of a Hebrew poem, with the first four chapters written an an acrostic, with each stanza (or verse) beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This is seen in chapters 1, 2, and 4, with twenty-two verses each, and the practice is repeated 3 times in chapter 3, with the first three verses starting with Aleph, etc…

We don’t know much about Obadiah, and there are different theories as to when he wrote this small book. The main thrust of the book is a warning against the Edomites (descendants of Esau), telling them not to rejoice over the desolation of Judah and Jerusalem. God is telling them through the prophet that Judah and Jerusalem will be restored in the future, and they will ultimately possess the land of Esau. Because of this warning, this book is placed alongside of Lamentations, where it seems to fit with the recent destruction of Jerusalem.