The book of Lamentations is disturbing, says highly regarded Old Testament scholar Mark J. Boda. It forces readers to encounter the honest pain of a community and to struggle with the various strategies employed for processing that pain. Its presence in the scriptural canon of all streams of Judaism and Christianity is testimony to its enduring value.

This substantive and useful commentary on Lamentations is both critically engaged and sensitive to the theological contributions of the text. It is grounded in rigorous scholarship but accessible to those who preach and teach. In addition to paragraph-level commentary, all volumes of the Baker Commentary on the Old Testament (BCOT) series feature

· a fresh translation of the Hebrew text;
· incisive comments based on the author's translation;
· linguistic, historical, and canonical insights;
· concluding reflections; and
· footnotes addressing technical matters.

Lamentations is the fourth volume on the prophetic books in the BCOT series, following Hosea-Micah by John Goldingay, Isaiah by J. Gordon McConville, and Daniel by Stephen L. Cook. Series editors are Mark J. Boda (McMaster Divinity College) and J. Gordon McConville (University of Gloucestershire).