Raymond B. Dillard and Tremper Longman III
AN INTRODUCTION to the OLD TESTAMENT
The physical, psychological, and spiritual devastation of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. was horrific. The extent of the destruction is described in 2 Kings 25:1-21— city walls torn down, palace and great houses burned, but perhaps most debilitating of all, the temple set on fire and its precious metals carted away as plunder. In addition, the Babylonian officials led all but the poorest inhabitants off into exile. The narrative account of the exile well captures the event, but it is the poetic book of Lamentations that records the utter despair felt at this momentous time. This book expresses the emotion following the discovery that the power behind the carnage was ultimately not the Babylonian war machine—it was God himself.