The book of Lamentations consists of long laments (Lamentationes in Latin) over the defeat of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 587 BC, although this date is not mentioned in the text. The prophet Jeremiah, who witnessed these events first-hand, is often thought to have uttered these laments. And indeed, the Septuagint adds at the beginning of the book that Jeremiah, after Israel had gone into exile and Jerusalem was laid waste, sat down weeping and composed