As Lamentations 2:1–22 is a further lament; continuing from Lamentations 1:1–22, there are some links between the chapters; for example, the theme of weeping (Lamentations 1:2, Lamentations 1:16; Lamentations 2:11, Lamentations 2:18, Lamentations 2:19); the past beauty of Jerusalem (Lamentations 1:6–7; Lamentations 2:1, Lamentations 2:15); continuation is seen in the alphabetic acrostic.1
Apart from this continuation, some themes are expanded and developed. An example of this is the day of God’s anger (Lamentations 1:12, Lamentations 1:21). The Lord’s judgment, which engulfed the people and Jerusalem, is intensified in Lamentations 2:1–22.2
Lamentations 1:1–22 describes the situation after the conquest of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., while Lamentations 2:1–22 focuses on the siege and destruction itself. It is seen as an act of the Lord. The day of his wrath has arrived, and the covenant people are bearing an unparalleled form of punishment. In contrast to Lamentations 1:1–22, which is more general and does not mention persons or groups in the description, song 2 is much more concrete in its description.3
1 How the Lord in his anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud! He has cast down from heaven to earth the splendor of Israel; he has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.