Lamentations 3
Lamentations 3 is the third chapter of the Book of Lamentations in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, part of the Ketuvim ("Writings"). This book contains the elegies of the prophet Jeremiah. In this chapter he refers to his own experience under affliction as an example as to how the people of Judah should behave under theirs, so as to have hope of a restoration. Text. The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter, the longest in the book, is divided into 66 verses. The chapter is acrostic, divided into 22  stanzas. The stanzas consist of three lines (each line is numbered as one verse), each of which begins with the same Hebrew letter of the Hebrew alphabet in regular order (22 letters of alphabet in number, make up the total of 66 verses). Textual versions. Some early witnesses for the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, i.e., 3Q3 (3QLam; 30 BCE‑50 CE) with extant verses 53-62 There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as  the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; formula_1; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; formula_1; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; formula_1; 6th century). Verse 22. King James Version: English Standard Version: Verse 22 in Hebrew. Masoretic text: Transliteration: An example of a change from singular to plural, compare also . Verse 23. Cross reference: ; Verse 23 in Hebrew. Transliteration Verses 46–51. In , two initial letters, "Ayin" and "Pe", are transposed. This is found is three instances in the whole book (Lamentations 2:16–17; 3:46-51; 4:16–17). Grotius thinks the  reason for the inversion of two of the Hebrew letters, is that the Chaldeans, like the Arabians, used a different order from the Hebrews; in the first Elegy (chapter), Jeremiah speaks as a Hebrew, in the following ones, as one subject to the Chaldeans, but Fausset thinks it is doubtful.