Editing Book of Lamentations (section)

===Acrostic===
The first four chapters are written as [[acrostic]]s. Chapters 1, 2, and 4 each have 22 verses, corresponding to the 22 letters of the [[Hebrew alphabet]], the first lines beginning with the first letter of the alphabet, the second with the second letter, and so on. Chapter 3 has 66 verses, so that each alphabet letter begins three lines.{{sfn|Berlin|2018|p=1163}}

The fifth poem, corresponding to the fifth chapter, is not acrostic but still has 22 lines.{{sfn|Berlin|2018|p=1163}}

Although some claim that purpose or function of the acrostic form is unknown,{{sfn|Hillers|1993|p=420}} it is frequently thought that a complete alphabetical order expresses a principle of completeness, from {{Transliteration|he|[[aleph|alef]]}} (first letter) to {{Transliteration|he|[[taw|tav]]}} (22nd letter); the English equivalent would be "from A to Z".{{sfn|Berlin|2018|p=1163}}{{sfn|Berlin|2014}}{{sfn|Assis|2007|p=712}}

English translations that attempt to capture this acrostic nature are few in number. They include those by [[Ronald Knox]]{{sfn|Dobbs-Allsopp|2002|p=17}} and by [[David R. Slavitt]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cprw.com/i-form-the-light-and-create-darkness |title=I Form the Light and Create Darkness |last=Renau |first=J.S. |date=20 July 2010 |website=[[Contemporary Poetry Review]] |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229044122/https://www.cprw.com/i-form-the-light-and-create-darkness |archive-date=2024-02-29}}</ref> In both cases their mapping of the 22 Hebrew letters into the [[Latin alphabet]]'s 26 uses 'A' to 'V' (omitting W, X, Y and Z), thus lacking the "A to Z" sense of completeness.

====Acrostic ordering====
{{see also|Hebrew alphabet#Order}}
Unlike standard alphabetical order, in the middle chapters of Lamentations, the letter {{Transliteration|he|[[Pe (Semitic letter)|pe]]}} (the 17th letter) comes before {{Transliteration|he|[[ayin]]}} (the 16th). In the first chapter, the [[Masoretic text]] uses the standard modern alphabetical order; however, in the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] version of the text ([[4QLam]]/[[4Q111]], {{circa|37 BCE – 73 CE}}), even the first chapter uses the {{Transliteration|he|pe-ayin}} order found in chapters 2, 3, and 4.{{sfn|First|2017}}{{sfn|First|2014}}