Bible Fact · Lamentations 3:22–23 — 'The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.'
The Hebrew Alphabet in the Bible
The Fact
The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. Several biblical texts are deliberately composed as acrostics, with each line or section beginning with successive letters of the alphabet. The most elaborate is Psalm 119, which has 176 verses divided into 22 sections of 8 verses each — every verse within a section begins with the same Hebrew letter, cycling through all 22. The entire book of Lamentations (5 chapters) is an acrostic: chapters 1, 2, and 4 each have 22 verses beginning with successive letters; chapter 3 has 66 verses (three per letter); chapter 5 has 22 verses but is not a strict acrostic. Psalms 9–10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, and 145 are also acrostics. Proverbs 31:10–31 (the 'woman of valor') is an acrostic. The use of acrostics in Scripture may indicate completeness — covering the whole subject 'from A to Z' — or may have served as a memory aid for oral communities.
Context
Lamentations uses the acrostic form to express total grief — grief from A to Z — over the destruction of Jerusalem. The form imposes order on chaos, suggesting that even in utter devastation, language and structure (and therefore God's order) remain.
Significance
The acrostic Psalms and Lamentations show that biblical poetry is sophisticated art — crafted with care, not just improvised emotion — and that Scripture rewards close, attentive reading.
Reflection
Lamentations pours out complete grief in a precise poetic form — honest pain within disciplined structure. What does that model tell you about bringing your own grief to God?