The Meaning of Lamentations 1:1 Explained

Lamentations 1:1

KJV: How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!

YLT: How hath she sat alone, The city abounding with people! She hath been as a widow, The mighty among nations! Princes among provinces, She hath become tributary!

Darby: How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! She that was great among the nations is become as a widow; the princess among the provinces is become tributary!

ASV: How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! She is become as a widow, that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces is become tributary!

KJV Reverse Interlinear

How doth the city  sit  solitary,  [that was] full  of people!  [how] is she become as a widow!  she [that was] great  among the nations,  [and] princess  among the provinces,  [how] is she become tributary! 

What does Lamentations 1:1 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jeremiah bewailed the abandoned city of Jerusalem that had once been so glorious and independent. Sitting alone is sometimes a picture of deep sorrow and mourning (cf. Lamentations 2:10; Ezra 9:3; Nehemiah 1:4). Now the city was as solitary as a widow and as servile as a forced laborer. It had changed in three ways: numerically, economically, and socially.
"Jerusalem, a city which used to be close to God, has been changed by the choice of significant men. They have turned away from Him when they knew Him, and now their city is under siege. There is death in the city." [1]

Chapter Summary: Lamentations 1

1  The miseries of Jerusalem and of the Jews lamented
12  The attention of beholders demanded to this unprecedented case
18  The justice of God acknowledged, and his mercy supplicated

What do the individual words in Lamentations 1:1 mean?

How sits lonely the city [once] full of people she has become like a widow [once] great among the nations the princess among the provinces a slave -
אֵיכָ֣ה ׀ יָשְׁבָ֣ה בָדָ֗ד הָעִיר֙ רַבָּ֣תִי ! עָ֔ם הָיְתָ֖ה ! כְּאַלְמָנָ֑ה רַּבָּ֣תִי‪‬‪‬ בַגּוֹיִ֗ם שָׂרָ֙תִי֙ בַּמְּדִינ֔וֹת ! לָמַֽס ס

אֵיכָ֣ה ׀  How 
Parse: Interjection
Root: אֵיךְ 
Sense: how? interj.
יָשְׁבָ֣ה  sits 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: יָשַׁב 
Sense: to dwell, remain, sit, abide.
בָדָ֗ד  lonely 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בָּדָד  
Sense: isolation, withdrawal, separation.
הָעִיר֙  the  city 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: עִיר 
Sense: excitement, anguish.
רַבָּ֣תִי  [once]  full 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular construct
Root: רַב 
Sense: much, many, great.
! עָ֔ם  of  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
הָיְתָ֖ה  she  has  become 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
! כְּאַלְמָנָ֑ה  like  a  widow 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אַלְמָנָה  
Sense: widow.
רַּבָּ֣תִי‪‬‪‬  [once]  great 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular construct
Root: רַב 
Sense: much, many, great.
בַגּוֹיִ֗ם  among  the  nations 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: גֹּוי 
Sense: nation, people.
שָׂרָ֙תִי֙  the  princess 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: שָׂרָה  
Sense: princess, noblewoman, noble lady.
בַּמְּדִינ֔וֹת  among  the  provinces 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, feminine plural
Root: מְדִינָה  
Sense: province, district.
! לָמַֽס  a  slave 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מַס  
Sense: gang or body of forced labourers, task-workers, labour band or gang, forced service, task-work, serfdom, tributary, tribute, levy, taskmasters, discomfited.
ס    - 
Parse: Punctuation