Concentric Structures in Lamentations 4

Looking at this chapter was the first time I was prompted to think that concentric structures may be a important to the style of composition in Lamentations. The chapter breaks down in a fairly self-explanatory manner and several features present themselves through the structure.

A     4:1-10

a 1-2 the destruction of my people

b 2 the cruelty of my people

c 4 hunger

d 5 elites upended

e` 6 great iniquity

d` 7-8 elites upended

c` 9 hunger

b` 10a-c the cruelty of my people

a` 10d the destruction of daughter my people

B     4:11-16

a 11 Yhwh has done it

b 12 the nations against Zion

c 13-15b the sins and iniquities of prophets and priests

b` 15c the nations against Zion

a` 16 Yhwh has done it

C     4:17-20

a 17 our eyes

b 18a our steps

c our end was nigh

d our days are complete

c` our end is come

b` 19 their steps

a` 20 our life-breath

D     4:21-22

a 21 Daughter Edom

b 22a Daughter Zion

a` 22b Daughter Edom

Although the majority of chapter 4 is in the third-person, in the A section the first-person suffix is a hint that there is a person reporting this. The section works in from the destruction of my people, through the way the people have become cruel, the hunger evident in the populace, highlighted through the way the elites are now unrecognisable through their suffering. The centre of A coming in v6, as their iniquity is described as greater than that of Sodom, which earned Sodom a mercifully quick death, while Zion's death is ongoing.

The B section is bookended with the divine name, Yhwh, who is singled out for having wrought the punishment upon his people. The nations are mentioned, first directly, then indirectly as the voice of those rejecting refugees from Jerusalem. The centre is the iniquity of the prophets and priests, the seers who are now blind, and the purifiers who are now defiled.

I am less certain about the structure of the C section, but I am certain that it is a section, as in 4:17-20 the first-person plural appears for the first time, as the people together lament their state.this culminates in 4:18b-d, where the end is nigh, their days are complete, and the end is come.

Finally the D section describes the current and future states of both Edom and Zion, with Edom currently rejoicing but soon to be punished, while Zion is currently suffering but her punishment is complete.

Chapter 4 is a tightly structured chapter, with sin highlighted in the first two sections, the completeness in the third, and the extent of the punishment explained in the final section.