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I'm not into "bible codes" but I noticed that in the the 3rd and 5th perakim of Eicha every pasuk is no less than 4 words and no more than 7. This is if you count hyphenated words as 1 word (I'm using the Stone Artscroll tanach). I would assume this was a literary device to connote a sense of halting to the reader, but it's odd to me that it would only be employed in those perakim.

Has this pattern been noticed before, and if so, is there any meaning assigned to it?

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    I don't think this has anything to do with "Bible codes." It's a poetic convention.
    – Isaac Moses ♦
    Jul 29, 2012 at 23:58
  • @IsaacMoses I thought that it might be but then it is hard to understand why only two, non-consecutive chapters would contain this convention.
    – not-allowed to change my name
    Jul 30, 2012 at 1:50
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    @vram Why is it so hard to suggest that each chapter is a different poem?
    – Double AA ♦
    Jul 30, 2012 at 3:12
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    @DoubleAA The chapters are too well connected for that.
    – avi
    Jul 30, 2012 at 6:04
  • @avi As connected as many of the kinnot from tisha bav morning? The use of acrostics and destructive imagery doesn't prove essential connectedness.
    – Double AA ♦
    Jul 30, 2012 at 6:14

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R. Yitz Etshalom has a really good article about the structure of Eicha. Basically, you are noticing the common A B C B A pattern of much of Tanach literature. I believe this structure is also explained by Nechama Leibowitzes work on Tanach.

In this case, Chapter 4 set's the "fold" of those 3 chapters.

While the article of R. Etshalom does not discuss this issue explicitly, it can be derived from the rest of his work.
http://gt.torah.org/advanced/mikra/5762/hagim/eikhah1.pdf
http://gt.torah.org/advanced/mikra/5762/hagim/eikhah2.pdf

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