Biblical Archaeology Review

That there was a reordering of chapter 145 also seems unlikely because the ayin and pe lines of chapter 145 seem to have a parallel at Psalms 104:27–28.

The acrostics in the book of Psalms are found only in the first book and the fifth book.

The acrostic that runs through chapters 9 and 10 is missing seven of the 22 letters; the acrostic of chapter 25 is missing kof, and includes resh twice; and the acrostic of chapter 37 is missing ayin.

See Martin Heide, “Impressions from a New Alphabetic Ostracon in the Context of (Un)Provenanced Inscriptions: Idiosyncracy of a Genius Forger or a Master Scribe?” pp. 148–182, in Meir Lubetski, ed., New Seals and Inscriptions, Hebrew, Idumean and Cuneiform (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2007). Although the ostracon is unprovenanced, the prevailing view is that it is genuine. Allegedly, it came from the debris of the Temple Mount.

The acrostics of chapters 2, 3 and 4 of the Book of Lamentations follow the pe/ayin order. Although the acrostic in the first chapter in the received text follows the ayin/pe order, the text of the first chapter found in the Dead Sea texts follows the pe/ayin order. Surely the Dead Sea text reflects the original order.

Émile Pueche claims that a certain eighth century B.C.E. inscription from Lachish follows the ayin/pe order. But André Lemaire rejects Pueche’s readings as unsubstantiated. See David Ussishkin, The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish (1973–1994), vol. 4 (Tel Aviv: Yass Publications in Archaeology, 2004), pp. 2116–2117.

With regard to chapter 25, this chapter parallels chapter 34 in that both chapters lack a verse for the letter vav (the sixth letter) and both add an extra pe verse at the conclusion of the acrostic. This makes it very likely that chapter 25 originally paralleled chapter 34 in its pe/ayin order as well.

The suggestion that these verses need to be reordered was made long ago. See, for example, S.R. Driver, An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, 4th ed. (New York: Meridian, 1892), p. 346.

The pe and ayin are not as clear in the Tel Zayit inscription as they are in the Izbet Sartah inscription. But the prevailing view is that there is a pe and an ayin in this order in the Tel Zayit inscription.